Hall of Fame and Shame #2
Powerbeats by dr. dre
Powerbeats by dr. dre
"Beats" by Dr. Dre are a brand of "High Performance Headphones" headlined by hip-hop legend Dr. Dre. Their unparalleled sound quality is supposed to serve as justification for their unparalleled exorbitantly high price tag. The main question I seek to answer is whether or not Dre Beats are deserving of their price tag. Pictured below are Powerbeats, which are supposed to be designed for athletes.
Powerbeats by Dr. dre
Form Factor
You can see at the top of the headphones that there are rubber bands that are designed to wrap around your ear. These rubber bands happen to be the best thing about these headphones, as it all goes downhill from here.
The body of each of the headphones is very aesthetically pleasing. They are available in red, black and white. The main issue is that the bodies are constructed of plastic that feels cheap and poorly put-together,like a snap-together children’s toy. Connecting the black earbud to the body of theheadphone is a silver connecter that is painted to look like metal, which would be nice, were it not made out of the same type of cheap plastic. One must be very careful when handling these headphones, as they break very easily.
As for the earbud itself, it is constructed out of rubber that isvery flimsy. It has no degree of sturdiness at all. As a result, if you sweat a lot while wearing the headphones, the earbud doesn’tblock the moisture and it can seep into the speaker which may reduce soundquality. It may also seep down the left side of the headphone into the volumecontrol/microphone (because it’s too close), which makes that fizzle out as well. Perhaps more troubling is that for some strange reason, the earbud is faced forward. It’sboth uncomfortable and in the opposite direction of any normal person's ear canal. So you can’twear them for more than a few minutes because they irritate your ears, and youdon’t hear the sound that well since it isn’t going into the part of your earthat discerns sound, nor is the sound that impressive to begin with.
You can see at the top of the headphones that there are rubber bands that are designed to wrap around your ear. These rubber bands happen to be the best thing about these headphones, as it all goes downhill from here.
The body of each of the headphones is very aesthetically pleasing. They are available in red, black and white. The main issue is that the bodies are constructed of plastic that feels cheap and poorly put-together,like a snap-together children’s toy. Connecting the black earbud to the body of theheadphone is a silver connecter that is painted to look like metal, which would be nice, were it not made out of the same type of cheap plastic. One must be very careful when handling these headphones, as they break very easily.
As for the earbud itself, it is constructed out of rubber that isvery flimsy. It has no degree of sturdiness at all. As a result, if you sweat a lot while wearing the headphones, the earbud doesn’tblock the moisture and it can seep into the speaker which may reduce soundquality. It may also seep down the left side of the headphone into the volumecontrol/microphone (because it’s too close), which makes that fizzle out as well. Perhaps more troubling is that for some strange reason, the earbud is faced forward. It’sboth uncomfortable and in the opposite direction of any normal person's ear canal. So you can’twear them for more than a few minutes because they irritate your ears, and youdon’t hear the sound that well since it isn’t going into the part of your earthat discerns sound, nor is the sound that impressive to begin with.
Powerbeats Microphone/Volume Control
Microphone/Volume Control
Pictured above is the apparatus that serves as both microphone for phone calls, and volume control. It is also built out of the same flimsy plastic as the rest of the headphones. It's constructed out of two pieces of plastic that are clipped together, so the top half frequently falls off. Sincethe two plastic pieces are clipped together and the top half breaks off somuch, there is a slight slit between the two plastic halves. If you sweat toomuch, the moisture can go inside of the apparatus because it isn’t enclosed,and then the microphone and volume cease to work – either indefinitely or they maysometimes work again when it dries out, but most of the time not even then.
It’sshaped like a diamond, which is aesthetically pleasing, but impractical becausea lot of the time when you click either + or - volume, the opposite oneregisters as well since the diamond is too flat. This is often very problematic andannoying.
Pictured above is the apparatus that serves as both microphone for phone calls, and volume control. It is also built out of the same flimsy plastic as the rest of the headphones. It's constructed out of two pieces of plastic that are clipped together, so the top half frequently falls off. Sincethe two plastic pieces are clipped together and the top half breaks off somuch, there is a slight slit between the two plastic halves. If you sweat toomuch, the moisture can go inside of the apparatus because it isn’t enclosed,and then the microphone and volume cease to work – either indefinitely or they maysometimes work again when it dries out, but most of the time not even then.
It’sshaped like a diamond, which is aesthetically pleasing, but impractical becausea lot of the time when you click either + or - volume, the opposite oneregisters as well since the diamond is too flat. This is often very problematic andannoying.
Cable
The cable is covered with a thin layer of rubber, and it feels easily breakable. The auxiliary cable is connected at the bottom, which works well enough.
The cable is covered with a thin layer of rubber, and it feels easily breakable. The auxiliary cable is connected at the bottom, which works well enough.
Suggestions, And Room For Improvement
Ifthey’re going to make the headphones cost so much money, they need to ditch thecheap plastic that is used to construct the entire headphone, and use either aharder & thicker plastic or some type of stronger material. Basically any materialthat is more dense than the plastic that is currently being used.
Themicrophone/volume control needs to be moved further down the length of thecord. Where it is now, it’s too close to the earbuds and your ear, and if you’redoing something strenuous like cross country running, sweat may drip right downinto the microphone. If it was further down the cord, then less sweat woulddrip into it. There is a tradeoff however, because if the microphone is movedfurther down the cord, then it would be more difficult to speak into thereceiver, so that definitely needs to be taken into consideration. Also, although it looks nice, the flat diamond shape isnot logical. It would be better to have two distinct buttons as opposedto being locatedon the same plastic strip, because ambiguity would be reduced and you’d be lesslikely to hit both of the buttons at the same time. The two buttons could even be shaped like diamonds, but they have to be distinct.
Thecord needs to be thicker, and longer. It’s too easily breakable now, and it’sso short that I often tug on it too hard and yank my iphone out of my pocket. Alonger and thicker cord would provide more durability, and less accidents.
The earbudsneed to face either directly into the ear, or be turned slightly backwards.Forwards makes absolutely no sense - it is completely uncomfortable and reduces the quality of the sound.
Ifthey’re going to make the headphones cost so much money, they need to ditch thecheap plastic that is used to construct the entire headphone, and use either aharder & thicker plastic or some type of stronger material. Basically any materialthat is more dense than the plastic that is currently being used.
Themicrophone/volume control needs to be moved further down the length of thecord. Where it is now, it’s too close to the earbuds and your ear, and if you’redoing something strenuous like cross country running, sweat may drip right downinto the microphone. If it was further down the cord, then less sweat woulddrip into it. There is a tradeoff however, because if the microphone is movedfurther down the cord, then it would be more difficult to speak into thereceiver, so that definitely needs to be taken into consideration. Also, although it looks nice, the flat diamond shape isnot logical. It would be better to have two distinct buttons as opposedto being locatedon the same plastic strip, because ambiguity would be reduced and you’d be lesslikely to hit both of the buttons at the same time. The two buttons could even be shaped like diamonds, but they have to be distinct.
Thecord needs to be thicker, and longer. It’s too easily breakable now, and it’sso short that I often tug on it too hard and yank my iphone out of my pocket. Alonger and thicker cord would provide more durability, and less accidents.
The earbudsneed to face either directly into the ear, or be turned slightly backwards.Forwards makes absolutely no sense - it is completely uncomfortable and reduces the quality of the sound.
Closing Thoughts
The Dre Beats are all hype, they are definitely not worth the high price tag. The only reason the Beats sell so much is probably because of how well they are marketed, and having Dr. Dre as a spokesperson and face of the product. The final verdict - they're okay, but worth the expensive price? Meh.
The Dre Beats are all hype, they are definitely not worth the high price tag. The only reason the Beats sell so much is probably because of how well they are marketed, and having Dr. Dre as a spokesperson and face of the product. The final verdict - they're okay, but worth the expensive price? Meh.
