The buds come boxed in eco-friendly packaging.
David Carnoy/CNET
This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2021, our list of ideas, by topic, by recipient and by price, to help you discover the perfect gift.
Sorry, Best Buy: Amazon has started an early discount on the Beats Studio Buds, and it’s one of the best Black Friday deals so far. Right now, you can get the Beats Studio Buds for just $100. That’s a $50 savings over the list price, and the lowest price to date for these 2021 true-wireless headphones. Best Buy had previously teased the same discount coming to its stores on Thanksgiving Day, but Amazon got there first.
To be clear, these aren’t the newer $200 Beats Fit Pro earbuds. But with the arrival of the arrival of that AirPods Pro competitor, I assumed we’d see some nice discounts on the earlier and less feature-rich Beats Studio Buds, and sure enough, here we are.
The Beats Studio Buds look a lot like the rumored stemless AirPods that people were talking about but never materialized — as AirPods anyway. Geared toward both iOS and Android users, they’re missing a few key features on the Apple side of things (there’s no H1 or W1 chip), but they’re small, lightweight earbuds that are comfortable to wear and offer good sound. They fit most ears securely, including mine — I run with them without a problem — but others may find a better fit with the Beats Fit Pro and their integrated wing tips.
Read more: Best wireless earbuds for 2021
While the Beats Studio Buds’ noise cancellation isn’t as good as you get from the AirPods Pro or Beats Fit Pro, they do have a transparency mode that lets ambient sound in and they’re decent for making calls. Ultimately, their fit and sound quality are their strongest selling points. And at $100, they’ll be half the price of the Beats Fit Pro. (That one has no advertised Black Friday discounts, but we’ll let you know if they pop up.)
It’s also worth noting that the Beats Studio Buds come in red while the Beats Fit Pro currently don’t. Other color options include black and white. Read our Beats Studio Buds review.
Note that Best Buy may be including 6 months of Apple Music for free to new subscribers, while that offer isn’t highlighted on Amazon. If that’s of interest to you, you might hold out for the Best Buy sale on Thursday.