Who should buy the Powerbeats Pro 2? The answer will surprise you.

Apple’s Superstar lineup for marketing the Powerbeats Pro 2:

Shohei Ohtani.

Lionel Messi.

Lebron James.

Your mom.

Wait…what??

Yes, that’s right. Your mom is a Superstar, and an ideal candidate for the Powerbeats Pro 2, at least if she’s anything like mine.

My mom was in the market for some durable earbuds back in October 2021. Besides being wireless, she only had one criterion: the earbuds had to have a loop that goes around her ears and keeps it secure. She wears a headscarf, and headscarves don’t go well with any AirPods that she has tried since they simply are not secure enough. As a bus driver, the last thing she wants to do is try to find her ear bud in the driver’s footwell.

The Powerbeats Pro were the best choice, and she has been using the same pair every day since November 2021. They’re still going strong, and once they go bad, I will probably get her the Powerbeats Pro 2 that I am testing out. I can’t give them to her now because her original ones still work, and she wouldn’t want me to get her new headphones for no reason. I might even get a lecture about wasting money if I did.

It’s an Asian thing.

Just don’t tell her about my Apple Watch obsession.

She’s in her 60s, yet these are perfect for her in many ways besides the secure fit. She is a marathon talker on the phone, and she will be happy with the much better battery life. She manages battery life by alternating ear pieces, and she keeps her other ear free for listening to her surroundings.

I don’t even want to try to explain to her how the force touch tips on AirPods work, let alone the swipe gestures, but the actual buttons on the beats make it simple and easy to understand. A simple volume rocker and a “beats” button for play and pause. Real, clickable buttons, perfect for the elderly and non tech-savvy. She is already used to this layout, so she will feel right at home.

The smaller case will make more room for her purse which is already full (what purse isn’t full anyway?), but it won’t be too small for her to lose it either. The balance is just right.

The other cool aspect about the Pro 2 is heart rate monitoring. My mom refuses to wear an Apple Watch because that’s just one more thing to learn and charge, but she wears her beats all the time. When she is not actively listening to lectures or talking on the phone, her iPhone would be logging her heart rate with the Pro 2. It only logs your heart rate when you are actively in the Health App with both earbuds in place, but it would be nice for her to see at least one health metric. The minute you leave the Health app, the heart rate monitor stops, probably to preserve battery life.

My plan is to get her interested in heart rate monitoring, and then eventually upsell her into an Apple Watch for all the other health benefits.

Lastly, if you’re afraid someone might steal her earbuds, buy the Quick Sand color. That hue of light grayish-brown is a similar color to hearing aids, and looks the part when placed in your ear. I instantly felt older when I looked in the mirror instead of younger and hip.