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In the wake of Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event this week, you might think the AirPods Pro 3 are the best fitness earbuds you can get for your iPhone. That might be true, but Apple sells another pair of “pro” earbuds that might make more sense for you, especially if you find traditional earbuds frequently fall out of your ears.
Apple released the Powerbeat Pro 2 earlier this year, offering the AirPods features in a package that might be better suited for fitness junkies. Like the AirPods Pro, the Powerbeats Pro 2 comes with noise cancellation and transparency mode, but unlike AirPods, these earbuds have “earhooks” to keep them in your ears. Plus, the Powerbeats Pro 2 were the first Apple earbuds to introduce a built-in heart rate monitor—though Lifehacker Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki found the sensor to be unreliable.
AirPods Pro 3 also have a heart rate monitor, and come with some additional new features, like Fitness app integration. But just because Powerbeats Pro 2 didn’t ship with some of these fitness features, that doesn’t mean you need the newest AirPods to get them. Beats shared some new iOS 26 features coming to Powerbeats Pro 2 with 9to5Mac, which should come as good news for anyone who already purchased a pair sometime this year.
Here’s what you can expect:
Apple Fitness app integration
Like the AirPods Pro 3, Powerbeats Pro 2 will now let you track workouts through the Fitness app. 9to5Mac says you can start one of 50 different workout types on your iPhone, and track your heart rate through your Powerbeats Pro 2.
Apple Fitness+ integration
If you subscribe to Apple Fitness+, you’ll be able to see track and view real-time data for your heart rate and calories burned, as well as the Burn Bar, which lets you compare how much effort you’re exerting to others who have done the same workout. This data will be pulled, of course, from your Powerbeats Pro 2.
Heart rate data
Powerbeats Pro 2 will have “multiple sources of heart rate data,” with the goal of improving accuracy. There’s also a broader algorithm update coming to both iOS and Android that will improve performance for faster heart rate readings, and users will get alerts to adjust the fit of their buds in order to improve heart rate tracking.
What do you think so far?
Beats doesn’t seem to elaborate on what the specific changes to the algorithm are, but perhaps this will help with the issues Beth experienced when reviewing the earbuds.
Single earbud heart rate tracking
In addition to these improvements, you’ll be able to track your heart rate with just one earbud. We’ll have to test this feature out to see if it’s any less reliable than using two buds at once.
Step counter
With iOS 26, Powerbeats Pro 2 will be able to track your steps without the need for an Apple Watch or iPhone. I never thought you could totally replace all other fitness tracking devices with a pair of earbuds, but that seems like Beats’ goal here.
Hands-free gestures
Once you update your iPhone, you’ll be able to use hands-free gestures to control Siri while wearing Powerbeats Pro 2, similar to the controls you get on certain AirPods. That includes nodding to say yes, or shaking your head to say no when Siri asks you about incoming calls and messages.
