The other day I came across comments under the news about the Beats Studio Buds saying that the MediaTek chip sends the Beats headphones into the second-rate category. After all, MediaTek uses its 22nm chip instead of Apple’s 16nm chip. To be honest, upon hearing the news about the MediaTek chip, I was upset myself – I really love Apple’s ecosystem and their own chips, which provide great interoperability between devices. After a couple of days of self-digging and fact-checking, I did find the answers, figuring out if there was a hint from Apple, why the Beats Studio Buds and should I give up on buying them?
Absolutely no need to get desperate and refuse to buy them. After all, Apple’s headphones can’t be bad a priori, and now they’ve become even more Android-friendly.
Connecting AirPods to Windows 10
Have you ever tried connecting the Airpods Pro to a Windows laptop? If not, I’ll tell you briefly: after opening the case with the headphones, make sure you go into the Bluetooth settings and click “connect”. Not successful the first time? Try again. And watching movies?
Sound is often interrupted for no apparent reason, there is a noticeable delay when playing music or videos. Thankfully, pausing when you press the earpiece works. If you find no sound issue, you should visit this guide published at electricfieldsfestival.com and fix it.
Let’s say you tolerate this, are using Airpods paired with a Windows laptop and want to know the battery charge. It won’t work. Unplug it and reconnect it to your iPhone. Let me remind you that back in July 2020, these headphones cost almost 18,000 roubles, having risen in price over the year. By buying them, you are also buying a headache in terms of compatibility between different ecosystems.
By targeting the new Beats Studio Buds at Android users, Apple has taken a big step towards making its ecosystem more open to all – we’re now seeing Microsoft working on compatibility between Windows 11 and Android apps. I don’t rule out the possibility that Apple and Microsoft will meet one day. A global ecosystem of iOS, Android and Windows is certainly not to be expected. But it is only a matter of time before devices with different OSs will work more adequately.
Airpods analogue for Android
Beats has a huge audience of Android smartphone users. Unfortunately, they have to deal with crutches in the form of problematic operation of headphones and their Android smartphones. Now they can get all the convenience that Airpods owners have. This is where the third-party chip plays an important role. No need to worry about MediaTek in the new Beats – they’re not as bad as people think they are.
At MediaTek, it’s all about device optimisation, which unfortunately low-cost smartphone manufacturers are unwilling and unable to do due to low budgets. For Apple, working with a third-party chip and optimizing it is a favourite pastime, a good thing they already have experience (iPhone, Macbook).
In fact, Apple has released Beats Studio Buds, thickly hinting to us that the next generation of branded Airpods headphones will be usable on all operating systems. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Airpods 3 are just that.
Apple may have agreed with Qualcomm, but the companies have a peculiar relationship and numerous disputes. Plus, Qualcomm Snapdragon is the main competitor to the proprietary ‘A’ series chips and its products are noticeably more expensive, which would affect the price of the Beats Studio Buds.
The company is right to use cheaper components in its devices – that’s how it attracts new users. It’s a perfectly workable scheme, the company already has budget devices: the iPhone SE, iPad 10.2. The release of Beats Studio Buds is the perfect way to attract an army of Android users to its ecosystem.
If you’re planning on buying the new Beats, don’t say no. The headphones are definitely worth the money. They’re full-fledged Airpods in a comfortable case and with noise cancellation. Never mind the fact that they have MediaTek, a good-quality processor that Apple optimises and you won’t notice a difference to the Airpods Pro’s performance.
If something goes wrong, Apple will release an update as it does to the Airpods – it’ll install so seamlessly that you won’t even know about it. After all, the Beats Studio Buds won’t fade into oblivion as generic Android headphones, the manufacturer won’t forget about them. The best example is the first generation Airpods, which came out 5 years ago and for which updates are still being released today.
