Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless vs Beats Studio3 Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless
Beats Studio3 Wireless
Tested using Methodology v1.4
Updated Jan 12, 2024 09:22 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.5
Updated Jan 12, 2024 09:55 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
TypeOver-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
Variants
- PXC 550 Wireless
- Studio3 Wireless (A-COLD-WALL* Cement)
- Studio3 Wireless (Blue)
- Studio3 Wireless (Defiant Black)
- Beats Studio3 (Matte Black)
- Studio3 Wireless (Midnight Black)
- Studio3 Wireless (Red)
- Studio3 Wireless (Shadow Grey)
- Studio3 Wireless (White)
Our Verdict
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless
Beats Studio3 Wireless
The Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless are marginally better than the Beats Studio3 Wireless if the most important thing for you is an accurate and neutral sound. The Beats are slightly more comfortable and have a noticeably better ANC feature, but when it comes to sound, the Sennheiser are more accurate. You can also customize the sound of the Sennheiser to your liking with their dedicated app, which the Beats don't have. They can also connect simultaneously to two devices, and you can use them wired when the battery is dead, which the Beats can't do.
Notice: Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our headphones test methodology.
Main Differences for
Threshold
Mixed Usage
7.2
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Over-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Yes
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
8.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.51 lbs
0.58 lbs
Clamping Force
0.97 lbs
1.1 lbs
Controls
7.6
7.3
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Decent
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
Adjustable
On/Off
Talk-Through
Adjustable
No
Additional Controls
Bluetooth Sync + Presets
No
Breathability
6.7
6.4
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
5 °C
5.9 °C
Portability
6.5
6.1
Portability Picture
L
7"
4.6" (11.7 cm)
W
6.3"
6.5" (16.5 cm)
H
1.4"
3.0" (7.6 cm)
Volume
62 in³
90.00 in³ (1,474.83 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
7.0
8.0
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
7"
4.8" (12.2 cm)
W
7.63"
6.7" (17.0 cm)
H
2.5"
3.2" (8.1 cm)
Volume
133.53 in³
103.00 in³ (1,687.86 cm³)
Build Quality
7.5
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
7.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Frequency Response
Bass Amount
-2.66 dB
-0.42 dB
Treble Amount
0.08 dB
-3.39 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
6.9
6.3
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.64 dB
0.83 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Accuracy
8.6
8.1
Std. Err.
1.82 dB
2.68 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
29.54 Hz
25.57 Hz
Low-Bass
-2.42 dB
-1.65 dB
Mid-Bass
-0.9 dB
2.61 dB
High-Bass
2.28 dB
3.62 dB
Mid Accuracy
8.9
7.8
Std. Err.
1.44 dB
2.99 dB
Low-Mid
0.34 dB
4.42 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.21 dB
-0.78 dB
High-Mid
1.88 dB
-1.06 dB
Treble Accuracy
7.3
6.9
Std. Err.
3.62 dB
4.53 dB
Low-Treble
0.49 dB
-2.9 dB
Mid-Treble
2.42 dB
-3.16 dB
High-Treble
-2.35 dB
-5.79 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.4
7.6
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.59 dB
1.42 dB
Dips
1.48 dB
1.41 dB
Imaging
8.1
5.1
Phase Response
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.34
0.53
Weighted Phase Mismatch
12.16
57.7
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.54
0.22
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.89
5.6
Passive Soundstage
4.3
3.9
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
5.31 dB
2.1 dB
PRTF Size (Avg.)
4.43 dB
0.93 dB
PRTF Distance
4.09 dB
11.08 dB
Openness
3.9
2.8
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.2
2.0
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
No
No
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
No
No
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.6
7.3
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.213
0.426
WHD @ 100
0.171
0.177
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
Unknown
Power
On
On
Connection
Unknown
Unknown
Codec
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
EQ
Default
No EQ
ANC
Maximum
On
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation
6.1
7.2
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-14.53 dB
-21.66 dB
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Bass
-4.07 dB
-8.03 dB
Mid
-16.47 dB
-22.18 dB
Treble
-24.36 dB
-36.18 dB
Leakage
7.2
8.2
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
38.4 dB
32.18 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
Yes
Yes
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.7
6.5
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
293.44 Hz
281 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.68 dB
2.69 dB
HFE
3,517.32 Hz
3,466.89 Hz
Weighted THD
2.138
31.636
Gain
36.92 dB
37.78 dB
Noise Handling
7.2
5.1
SpNR
21.98 dB
10.16 dB
Noise Gate
No
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
5.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
4.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.6
7.6
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
27.5 hrs
23 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
0.0
Total Battery Life
27.5 hrs
23 hrs
Charge Time
2.1 hrs
2 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Auto-Off Timer
No
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
micro-USB
micro-USB
App Support
6.5
5.0
App Picture
App Name
Sennheiser Smart Control
Beats
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
Presets
No
ANC Control
Adjustable
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
Yes
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
No
Surround Support
No
No
Connectivity
Bluetooth
8.5
7.3
Bluetooth Version
4.2
4.2 + W1 chip
Multi-Device Pairing
2 Devices
No
NFC Pairing
Yes
No
Line Of Sight Range
145 ft
297.00 ft (90.53 m)
PC Latency (SBC)
200 ms
176 ms
PC Latency (aptX)
171 ms
N/A
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
N/A
iOS Latency
273 ms
22 ms
Android Latency
137 ms
73 ms
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
0.0
0.0
Non-BT Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
N/A
Wired
9.2
9.5
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
Yes
USB Audio
USB Type A
No
Detachable
Yes
Yes
Length
4.4 ft
4.30 ft (1.31 m)
Connection
1/8" TRS
1/8" TRRS
Analog/USB Audio Latency
32 ms
0 ms
PC Compatibility
Analog
Audio + Microphone
Wired USB
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC/PS4 Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
PC/PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PC/PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio + Microphone
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
Audio + Microphone
PS5 Wired USB
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
Audio + Microphone
Audio Only
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Audio Only
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
Base/Dock
0.0
0.0
Type
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
No
Power Supply
No Base/Dock
No Base/Dock
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless
Beats Studio3 Wireless
Comments
Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless vs Beats Studio3 Wireless: Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.