Beats Made Gym Headphones You Can Wash and Change the Color Of
Beats is selling the Beats 360, an over-ear headphone made for exercise, for $350. It resists water and has knit ear cups you can swap out. The Verge
It comes in black, white, light blue and pink. Beats uses its own names on its website: Black, Cloud, Pink and Sky, each with matching Performance Knit cushions. Beats
Each cushion kit has two ear cups and a headband and costs $50. Performance Knit kits come in six colors. The Verge lists black, white, light blue, pink, navy and fluorescent green, which match the Black, Cloud, Sky, Pink, Navy and Volt names on the Beats site. UltraPlush kits for earcups and headband come in only black and white, or Black and Cloud. The Verge
Through Apple, cushion kits cost $10 until the end of October. That low price is temporary. The kits otherwise list at $50.
The Beats 360 have an IPX4 rating. That means they can handle splashes of water and sweat. They are described as Beats' first IP-certified headphones. An earlier report called them Apple's first sweat-resistant and water-resistant over-ear headphones. MacRumors
The headphones can sense which cushions are on, knit or plush. Beats does not treat the cushions as fixed parts. Both Performance Knit Cushion Kits and UltraPlush Cushion Kits cover the ear cups and headband.
The broader context here is simple. The cushions are made to be replaced, not just worn out. Over-ear headphones cover the ear, so they get hot and damp during a workout, like running in a warm hat. Knit lets air through and can be taken off to wash. Plush blocks more sound and feels softer. The sound parts stay the same. Only the part that touches you changes.
Looking at what this means for ownership, those sensors matter. The headphones know which material is against your ear. Seal, distance to the speaker, and how sound is soaked up change with the cushion. A headphone that knows what is installed can stay more steady, and keep its settings matched to the cushions.
In my view, the price plan is as interesting as the headphones. A $50 kit treats cushions as add-ons. A $10 sale through Apple makes it cheap to try the other type and to keep a spare set for after workouts. If sweat wears out cloth faster than indoor use wears out foam, switching sets becomes normal care. A low early price puts more spares in homes while habits form.
That approach also makes color a choice you can change later. With six knit colors and two plush colors, the look can change without buying new electronics. For gym use, where sweat causes stains and smell, being able to swap, wash, and replace the parts that touch skin and hair is useful beyond style. It helps the parts that wear out first last longer.
