Beats by Dre Tour Headphone / Earbuds Review

You may or may not have heard of the Beats By Dr. Dre headphone line, from the $99 iBeats to the $450, over ear, Beats Pro. These headphones, designed with the help of hip-hop legend Dr. Dre, have been seen on DJ's, NBA players, and people who "want to hear the music the way it was meant to be heard."

Last Christmas I bought a pair of the Beats By Dre Tour, the $150 in-ear head phones, with my Christmas money. These are very nice headphones, but I do not think they are worth the price tag. There are things about these headphones that are excellent, and high quality, but there are other things that are the same as a $20 dollar pair of Skullcandys.

Sound quality is obviously one of the most important features of headphones, it is one of Dr. Dre's selling points on these headphones. On the inside of the bright red box the headphones came in are the words Sound Matters. The Beats by Dre High Resolution Headphones are just that, high resolution. But how high? At any volume all aspects of the music can be heard crystal clear, the highs, the mids, and the low bass; one of the features you would expect on headphones with Dr. Dre's name on them. The Tours do a great job of not making the music sound fuzzy, even when there is a lot of things in the music going on at once, but so do the $20 dollar Skull Candies I had before. Yes there is a little difference at high volumes, but a lot? No. You have to be in a quiet room listening for a difference to tell that the Beats By Dre are just a little bit better. The bass is another aspect that seems equal to the Skull Candies, you do not get the vibrating feel of the bass like you do with the over ear headphones, and that is expect-able, but you don't get any more heavy bass than you do on Skull Candies. It seems like the in ear headphones have reached a peak in how much bass they can give you without distorting the music, and both Beats by Dre and Skull Candies are sitting on the edge where they can not go any further.

The first thing that caught my eye about these ear buds was the thick cord. This is an excellent feature that really does make them tangle resistant. These headphones are noticeably strong and durable, from the L shaped plug to the sturdy ear bud itself. The durability is defiantly a good feature, especially in an expensive pair of headphones. I have had headphones last me barely over a month, and then loose sound in one ear, or both ears, or loose all bass. The Beats by Dre sound as good as they did on day one four months later. Along with the headphones exceptional durability, comes a slick black caring case, adding protection when you are not listening to your Beats. Overall, the durability along with the carrying case is something no other, cheaper, headphone could do for me.

This is where the Beats by Dre headphones win hands down, yes they're expensive, but they sure are cool! The shiny b logo and the bright red cord can be noticed from across the room, and they will get way more attention that your run-of-the-mill Skullcandies. But what if you don't want attention to your expensive ear-buds, what if you want high quality and could care less about shiny metal and bright red? Then I guess Beats by Dre Tour headphones don't win hands down in style either.