Beats builds the 360 around parts the owner can swap out

Twist the cushion and it pops out. Push down on the headband and that comes off too ^[6]. Beats sells this as color, with four frames, eight cushions and eight headband colors adding up to what it counts as 256 combinations ^[18]. It is also the repair path. BGR's reviewer, who wore the 360 for several weeks, wrote that the Performance Knit cushions get dirty quickly if you use sunscreen or sweat a lot ^[17].

At $49.99, a cushion kit is about 14% of the $349.99 headphone ^[21]. It is also five times the $9.99 introductory price ^[22]. Anyone buying this month is pricing the consumable at the promotional rate, and anyone replacing a stained pair after the offer ends is paying the other one.

The battery is the part that decides how long the rest lasts. Each earcup carries its own battery, antenna and processor ^[14]. The 360 works wirelessly only, with no audio passthrough over USB-C, which BGR puts down to how thin and light the construction is ^[15]. So there is no wired mode to fall back on once a cell stops holding its rated 32 hours ^[9]. The EU compliance claim rests on BGR's review; Mashable's spec sheet lists the IP rating, the nine microphones with eight assigned to noise cancellation, and Bluetooth 5.3, without mentioning battery replacement ^[3][11], and neither review covers how the swap is done or what a battery costs ^[20].

The rest of the pitch is the usual mix of a measured spec and a vendor figure. The IPX4 rating is verifiable on the box. The claim that noise cancellation is 1.75 times the Studio Pro's is Beats' own number ^[5]. The thin build that rules out wired listening also brings the weight to 294.5g ^[16], and the 360 folds flat instead of collapsing, so it packs less small than the Studio Pro did ^[13].

For a buyer, the useful question is which part of your last pair went first, and whether this brand sells that part on its own. The pads sell on their own at $49.99, the headband mesh does too ^[7], and the battery comes out as well, on BGR's reading of the design. If you sweat in headphones, the honest price is the headphone plus one kit at the standing rate, or $399.98 ^[24], and you are signing up for a recurring $49.99 line. That is still the cheaper end of the decision if the alternative is buying a new pair because the pads look bad.