Beats 360 Review: IPX4 Over-Ears With Swappable Cushions

At a Glance#

Product : Beats 360 Over-Ear Headphones, Black with Black Performance Knit Cushions

Brand : Beats

Best For : Workouts and sweaty commutes

Water Resistance : IPX4, rated for non-water sports and exercise

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Key Highlights:

• Rated IPX4 for non-water sports and exercise, but not for swimming or showering
• Both ear cushions and the headband cushion come off to be cleaned or swapped
• Up to 32 hours with Active Noise Cancellation and Personalized Spatial Audio enabled
• Adaptive EQ works only with noise cancelling and Transparency off, in an Off mode you first enable in settings
• Plan on Bluetooth only: it has no 3.5 mm jack, and as of 1 October 2026 Beats' spec sheet lists nothing else for connectivity

How we reviewed it: we have not used the Beats 360 ourselves. This review weighs Beats' and Apple's own product pages, launch notes and support guides against four hands-on reviews, from Tom's Guide, T3, SoundGuys and Engadget.

Who Should Buy This#

Buy the Beats 360 if your headphones go to the gym. Beats pitches its "Sweat and water resistance (IPX4 rating) and a secure fit" as making it "the perfect Beats headphone for working out or running in", and T3's reviewer agreed on the grip: the 360 "stays reassuringly planted during exercise, from cycling to strength workouts and beyond." When one set of cushions gets sweaty you can swap in another, though extra Cushion Kits are sold separately.

Skip it if you need to listen over a cable (more on that below).

Comfort is a split decision. Tom's Guide found the weight distribution "keeps them feeling light during extended wear", and SoundGuys calls them "comfortable". T3 found both cushion types "comfortable enough to wear", but with either one its reviewer had to take them off for a few minutes after a couple of hours to let their ears cool down, and Engadget's cons include a "Tight fit on larger heads".

Design & Build Quality#

Beats calls the 360 "our first headphone with interchangeable ear and headband cushions". This version comes with color-matched Performance Knit cushions, and Beats sells extra Cushion Kits "in multiple colors and materials" separately. Apple publishes a cleaning routine for the cushions and the headband once they are removed.

Telescoping stainless steel arms and independent earcup rotation set the fit, and the headphones fold flat to hang around your neck or go into the included woven ripstop case. They weigh 294.5 g, and the case weighs 88.0 g.

The controls are physical buttons: volume and play/pause on the right earcup, power and listening mode on the left. Tom's Guide calls them "Intuitive physical thumb controls"; T3 and Engadget found them hard to find by touch, and Engadget says three of the buttons are "hard to tell apart by touch alone".

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Key Features#

Sweat and Water Resistance#

Apple rates the 360 IPX4 "for non-water sports and exercise" and is plain about the limits: the headphones "are not waterproof or sweatproof", are not designed for swimming or showering, and their resistance "can diminish over time". Apple also says not to wear them in a sauna or steam room. After a workout, it says to wipe them with a soft, dry, lint-free cloth. If they are exposed to liquid in one of the ways Apple warns against, it says to let them dry completely, for at least two hours, before using them, and warns that "Charging when wet may damage your Beats 360."

Noise Cancelling and Transparency#

Eight of the 360's nine microphones serve Active Noise Cancellation, which works "after adapting to your environment and unique fit", in Beats' words. The reviews split on how much it blocks. Tom's Guide found it does "an impressive job deadening ambient gym chatter, clanging weights and questionable overhead playlists", but also that it is "not best-in-class when it comes to noise cancellation". T3 lists "Strong ANC performance" among its reasons to buy, while SoundGuys and Engadget both found that voices get through. On Transparency mode, SoundGuys calls it "much-improved" and Engadget calls it "natural-sounding", while T3 says it "needs refinement".

Sound and Adaptive EQ#

A custom dual-magnet dynamic driver and a high dynamic range amplifier do the work. Adaptive EQ "scans your individual fit and seal and adjusts acoustic frequencies", but SoundGuys found it "only works when both ANC and transparency mode are off". Apple's guide adds that "On Beats 360, Off listening mode is not enabled by default"; you switch it on in Settings on an iPhone or in the Beats app on Android. With noise cancelling or Transparency on, SoundGuys found the bass heavy, and it lists the lack of a custom EQ among its dislikes. T3 heard a presentation that "feels powerful" but is "far from muddy".

Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking is an Apple-device feature: Beats lists it among the 360's Apple ecosystem features, not its Android ones.

Battery and Charging#

Beats rates the battery at up to 32 hours of listening "with Active Noise Cancellation and Personalized Spatial Audio enabled", and at 24 hours of continuous playback in Transparency mode. Fast Fuel adds up to 1 hour of playback from a 5-minute charge. Tom's Guide and Engadget found no wear detection, so Tom's Guide advises you to "power them off manually when you throw them in your bag". The USB-C charging cable and the power adapter are both sold separately.

Wired Listening#

Three of the four reviews quoted here say there is none. SoundGuys found the USB-C port "only for power and charging", Engadget says the 360 "doesn't even support wired listening", and T3 lists "No wired listening" among its reasons to avoid it. Tom's Guide reports the opposite: "you can stream lossless audio over USB-C". As of 1 October 2026, Beats' spec sheet lists only Bluetooth 5.3 under Connectivity, so plan on Bluetooth; SoundGuys reports AAC and SBC as the codecs.

Calls#

Three microphones handle voice pickup, two of them shared with noise cancelling. SoundGuys counts call quality among its likes. Tom's Guide's reviewer sounded clear but found that "my voice sounded slightly over-processed", and would not pick them "for video conferencing or important calls".

iOS and Android#

On iOS you get one-touch pairing, iCloud pairing, Automatic Switching, Audio Sharing, Find My and hands-free "Hey Siri". On Android you get Fast Pair, Audio switch, Find Hub, a voice assistant and the Beats app for settings. Beats' launch notes add that Find My requires iOS 27 or later and the Beats app requires Android 15 or later.

Technical Specifications#

Pros & Cons#

Pros:

• Rated IPX4 for sweat and water during non-water sports and exercise
• Ear and headband cushions come off to be cleaned, or swapped for a spare set sold separately
• Up to 32 hours with ANC and Personalized Spatial Audio enabled, plus up to 1 hour from a 5-minute charge
• Find My on iOS 27 or later, and Find Hub on Android
• A secure fit that stays put during workouts

Cons:

• No 3.5 mm jack, and Beats' spec sheet lists only Bluetooth for connectivity
• No spare cushions, USB-C charging cable or power adapter in the box
• Adaptive EQ works only with noise cancelling and Transparency off, in an Off mode you first enable in settings
• Personalized Spatial Audio is an Apple-device feature
• No wear detection, so you have to switch them off yourself
• Can run warm and feel tight over long sessions
• Buttons can be hard to tell apart by touch

Final Verdict#

Buy the Beats 360 if your headphones go to the gym with you. If you need a wired connection, buy something else.

Its strongest case is training: an IPX4 rating for sweat, ear and headband cushions you can take off to clean or replace, and a secure fit. Plan on Bluetooth only: as of 1 October 2026, Beats' spec sheet lists nothing else under Connectivity. Comfort is mixed, with reports ranging from light and comfortable to warm and tight. And you will need your own USB-C cable and power adapter, because neither is in the box.

Our recommendation: For a gym bag and a phone, the Beats 360 is our over-ear pick. Switch it off after each session: it has no wear detection, so it will not do that for you. Check the current details here: View on Amazon