When it comes to the well-known earphone brands, in addition to those old-fashioned earphone manufacturers, Beats is a brand that cannot be ignored anyway. This young company was born in 2008. With the endorsement of many singers and first-class appearance design, it has become a headphone The world’s “tide brand”, and the traditional audio-visual products such as headphones are gradually transitioning to consumer digital products.
Since Beats was acquired by Apple in 2014, its earphones have gained greater exposure along with Apple products, and have also been operated by Apple in the Chinese market. You can often see Apple products hitting time It is no wonder that the gifted Beats headphones are unsuccessful in this background. But for headphone enthusiasts, Beats is a brand that has been “hacked” countless times. The general sound performance and extremely low cost performance are often ridiculed.
But taunting is taunting, we need to look at Beats products with a proper attitude, and treat it as a 3C digital product, rather than pure audio and video products. Therefore, the headphones we evaluated this time are exactly one of the main models of Beats brand in-ear headphones: urBeats 3, which is currently priced at 499 yuan and belongs to the relatively low-priced model of Beats brand.
1.Packaging and accessories
There are two interface versions of urBeats 3, one is the Lightning interface, and the other is the 3.5mm version in our hands. The two have some differences in packaging.
The ring on the top of the package facilitates the sale of the product in the physical store, and the anti-counterfeit label is attached to the top of the box. The back of the package is printed with a brief introduction of the earphone features, and there is not much additional information. The contents of the manufacturer’s barcode and the like are placed in the box. You can see that the Beats products have instructions from Apple.
Front of the box
The packaging box of urBeats3 is a typical nested packaging. After the white paper shell is drawn out, the black inner packaging can be taken out. After opening the box, you can see the headphone body. After removing the headphone tray, the instruction manual and spare earplug sleeve are placed below.
The storage bag on urBeats3 is not available, and the LOGO sticker is still there. In addition, the accessories are a total of four sets of silicone sleeves, including a pair of double sets, no other accessories. According to the posts posted by other netizens on the Internet, the urBeats3 in our hands belongs to the new version of the packaging, because the previous version of urBeats3 contains the earphone bag and two sports ear support accessories. Absolutely!
1.Appearance and workmanship
Headphone body
The earphones of this model urBeats are now in the third generation. The appearance of the first and second generation products has not changed much. The metal cavity and exquisite workmanship have left a very good impression, and urBeats3 The changes in design are very large compared to the previous two generations.
urBeats 3 abandoned the metal shell used by the previous generation, so it changed to a cavity made of all-plastic material, and a skin-like coating was sprayed on the rear part of the cavity. The cavity of the earphone is smaller than the previous two generations, and it has also become much lighter, but it does not have the exquisite feeling that the previous metal casing gives.
Plastic cavity
In fact, the cavity design of urBeats 3 is the same as the Beats X Bluetooth headsets currently on sale, except that one is wired and the other is wireless. urBeats3 also designed an inclined catheter, which has a certain guarantee in wearing comfort. The urBeats series has also been co-branded with many brands, and has launched some limited styles.
Design details
It can be said that urBeats 3 is a simplified operation of the previous urBeats series products in appearance design, which makes the line design more rounded, less square, and directly reduces the cavity volume. In addition, urBeats 3 also incorporates the magnetic attraction structure commonly found in Bluetooth headsets. Such a design is rare in wired in-ear headphones.
The oblique in-ear design also makes it easier to distinguish the left and right channels, so urBeats3 simply prints the channel logo directly on the wire part without placing it in the cavity itself, and there is no design blind spot, it doesn’t matter.
Cavity with magnetic attraction structure added
Beats ’headphone products have always been excellent in workmanship, but urBeats 3 is obviously slightly worse, especially compared to the previous two generations. The simple structure brings a direct cost reduction. The previous urBeats cavity back LOGO was embedded in the metal shell using plastic LOGO, and urBeats3 is also embedded, but it lacks some metal + plastic fusion texture, but still Excellent workmanship details.
The skin-like coating on the back of the urBeats 3 cavity feels very comfortable. As if the cavity is made of rubber material, neither the sub-line card and the wire control part of the cable have any rubber burrs, nor the headphone cavity part. The mold line and the details are almost perfect. This is also a difference between the genuine and imitation products of Beats earphone products. It is difficult to deal with the details in imitation products.
Workmanship details
When wearing and using urBeats 3, remember to replace the one that is smaller than your usual silicone sleeve, otherwise if you wear it directly, the ear canal will be very uncomfortable due to the seal. At least in terms of wearing comfort, urBeats 3 can get a full score. The small and round urBeats 3 is also very friendly for users with small ears, and does not require any adjustment when wearing.
But urBeats 3 does not provide a beam slider like the previous two generations, plus the flat wire, resulting in a stethoscope effect is very obvious, unless urBeats3 is equipped with a cable clip, it can play a slight improvement.
Rubber breakout card
The flat cable has always been the characteristic of Beats products. From the first generation of “noodle headphones”, the flat cable has accompanied Beats in-ear headphones to the present. urBeats 3 has been specially reinforced on the wire distribution card part to ensure that it will not be too easily damaged. This time, the Beats logo was not seen on the distribution card part.
The plug is still a 3.5mm straight plug with a flat tail. The wire control is a three-key. After actual testing, the volume key cannot be used normally on the Android side, but the answer key can be used, and there is no such problem on the iOS side. The remote control feels good, but the volume buttons are somewhat loose.
The weight of the whole machine is about 15.8g
2.Sound performance (The conclusion of the sound performance of the headset is more subjective, and the following content represents only interesting views. If possible, we recommend to refer to the content published by other media together.)
Most users ridicule Beats headphones more than sound performance. It is true that Beats products have always been known for their sound quality. Coupled with higher prices, of course, they will be “spiked” by some products of the same price. In many people ’s impressions, Beats ’sound style means“ moving times ”, and even some of the imitations are better than the authentic ones (unconfirmed). Big expectations, but at least hope that the sense of hearing will not be too bad.
The specific parameters of urBeats 3 are unknown, and the specifications of the unit should not be too high. Since it is adapted to the iPhone design, there will not be too many problems with the front-end driver.
This evaluation mainly uses mobile phones and portable players as the front end. For comparison, refer to Philips S2, Vistacon VSD1Si, Chenmu ST08, Edifier H297, and Apple EarPods. For the audition track, please refer to “Fun Listening Headphones Evaluation Test Collection”.
FiiO M9 portable music player
Apple iPhone6s smartphone
Sense of hearing and style impression: When you hear urBeats3, you may have a reaction “This is indeed the sound of Beats!”, The rich low frequency, not the outstanding high frequency and the relatively relaxed middle frequency, constitute the urBeats3 Sound style. For some of the most exciting dance performances, urBeats3 can directly bring you a rather sensational listening experience, which is far from what Sony XB55 / 75AP and other products can achieve.
When you carefully listen to and feel the sound of urBeats3, you will understand why so many people have ridiculed and ridiculed the sound of Beats headphones. To be honest, the sound resolution of urBeats3 is not bad, and the detailed performance is about 200 yuan. The price of headphones will not be too bad, but in terms of actual hearing, unless it is a user who is beloved by the large-volume low-frequency style, no one may think that urBeats3 has a good hearing.
In fact, if you play music with less low-frequency information, urBeats3’s relaxed mid-frequency style is actually quite flattering, and the sound will not look too boring. It still has a certain degree of transparency, but if there are more low-frequency content At that time, urBeats3 immediately returned to its original shape, it is an uncompromising subwoofer plug. In terms of sound field performance, urBeats3 is still relatively regular, slightly narrower in the vertical direction, and has a good width in the horizontal direction, not too flat.
Contrast Edifier H297
High frequency: The high frequency of urBeats 3 is still a little dark, which is relative to the low frequency. From the frequency response chart, it can be seen that urBeats 3 forms a peak around 3K. EarPods and VSD1Si are bright and have certain advantages in resolution. Compared with plugs such as H297 and Philips S2, there is no comparison.
The high-frequency style of urBeats 3 is soft, and the connection between the middle and high-frequency parts is acceptable. This is helpful for the sense of hearing, but the actual high-frequency quality of urBeats 3 is still only an entry-level level, and the ductility VSD1Si is stronger than urBeats 3. , Because there is still a slight glitch in some extremely high frequency.
The dynamic performance of the high-frequency part is still good, at least it can be regarded as listening. Compared with EarPods’ dim high frequency, urBeats 3 has made significant progress. It can be said that the high frequency of urBeats 3 is the same as most headphones with a price of 100 yuan in terms of quality and style, which is not particularly bad, at least it is justified.
Compare Apple EarPods
Mid-range: urBeats 3 is quite pleasing in mid-range style. The density is not large but relatively slack and soft, which is better than the low-frequency effect with a large sense of volume. Details of the IF section.
The mid-frequency resolution of urBeats 3 is slightly better than VSD1Si, but the gap is not too large. When there is a lot of low-frequency volume, this part of the advantage also disappears. The urBeats 3’s vocal density is higher than VSD1Si and EarPods, but the vocals are a bit thin, and the image is not satisfactory. Fortunately, the vocal part of urBeats 3 is not too close to the face, otherwise the vocals are too forward, that is simply.
The mid-to-low frequency transition is not very good. This is still because the low-frequency sense of urBeats 3 is too large. Although the mid-frequency style is relatively soft, it ca n’t resist the fact that the surging low-frequency covers most of the details of the mid-frequency To the purity of urBeats 3 mid-frequency, so we intend to talk about the low-frequency aspects of urBeats 3 carefully.
Compare VSD1Si
Low frequency: It can be said that urBeats 3 is a typical American “heavy-tasting” tuning product. The large volume of low frequency is really right for some dance music and rock, especially in a dry environment. If what kind of headphones can be regarded as “subwoofer”, then urBeats 3 must be included in it, and a “Super” must be added.
The low-frequency style of urBeats 3 is typical of “weight is not heavy”. The low-frequency dive performance is very general and relatively loose, but there is a relatively good low-frequency density. Remember that it is relatively good. Compared with the “balanced” headphones with relatively low frequencies such as H297, urBeats 3 seems to be a version with low-frequency enhanced EQ. You can feel a little low-frequency elasticity in urBeats 3, but it is actually very heady.
In fact, the low frequency sense of urBeats 3 does not need to be so “perverted” at all. It can be seen from the frequency response graph that its low frequency part reaches 20dB at 20Hz, which is already a relatively large sense of volume. According to the actual audition, even if you are not a headphone enthusiast, the low frequency of urBeats 3 is not necessarily acceptable. Unless you admit that you are a bass control, we believe that not many users will like this Low frequency.
urBeats 3 left and right channel frequency response curve
Summary: It can be said that the sound of urBeats 3 is indeed what we thought it was at first. Subwoofer, American tuning, not very outstanding sound quality, constitute the sound part of this headset. Indeed, if you are pursuing high-quality sound reproduction, then buying urBeats 3 or other Beats products is not a very wise choice.
However, Beats still shows us the status that a pair of consumer digital products should have. Exquisite workmanship, comfortable wearing and Beats iconic appearance design are all favored by users who do not pay much attention to sound quality, so you There is no need to completely deny the brand because of its relatively general sound performance. At least the attitude towards the workmanship and appearance of the product is still worth learning. But for the practice of updating packaging to cut corners and reduce accessories, it must also be spurned. After all, this is not the first time Beats has done this.
