Beats has a new flagship, and this time, it wants you to change your headphones instead of simply changing your headphones.

The company has introduced Beats 360, a $349.99 pair of over-ear headphones that marks a pretty significant departure from its previous designs. They are the first Beats headphones with interchangeable ear cushions and a removable headband cushion, allowing owners to mix and match colors and materials depending on their style, mood, or whether they’re heading to the gym or settling in for a long flight.

And yes, Beats is calling them its flagship headphones.

The Beats 360 launched in four core colors: Black, Cloud, Pink, and Sky. Each comes with matching Performance Knit ear and headband cushions. But the customization doesn’t stop there. Beats also sells separate Cushion Kits in Performance Knit across six colors — Black, Cloud, Pink, Sky, Navy, and Volt — while UltraPlush kits are available in Black and Cloud.

The Performance Knit cushions are the more interesting option for active use. They’re designed with breathable material and memory foam, while the UltraPlush cushions use memory foam wrapped in engineered leather for a more traditional, softer over-ear feel.

That means you can theoretically have one pair of Beats 360 that changes with the situation. The knit cushions make more sense for a workout, while the UltraPlush cushions are aimed more at extended everyday listening. Beats has even built sensors into the headphones that can detect which cushion material is installed and automatically adjust the acoustic tuning and noise-cancellation filtering accordingly.

In other words, Beats didn’t just make the cushions removable for the sake of making them removable.

A new flagship sound system

Underneath all those swappable cushions is a completely new acoustic platform.

Beats says the Beats 360 use custom-designed drivers with three-layer diaphragms and dual neodymium magnets in each earcup. The company claims the system delivers stronger bass, greater detail and lower distortion across the frequency range.

Active Noise Cancellation is also getting a substantial upgrade. Beats says the Beats 360 offer up to 1.75 times more total noise cancellation than the Beats Studio Pro, making ANC one of the headline improvements over the company’s existing over-ear headphones. Transparency mode is included as well, while Adaptive EQ continuously adjusts the sound based on the fit.

The headphones also support Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking and Dolby Atmos, so they can create a more immersive soundstage for compatible music, movies and podcasts.

The Beats 360 aren’t replacing the Studio Pro, either. Instead, Beats is keeping the Studio Pro around at a lower $299.99 price, while positioning the $349.99 Beats 360 as its new flagship over-ear model.

Beats finally gives its headphones an IP rating

Perhaps the strangest part of the Beats 360 is that they’re designed to survive something many over-ear headphones would rather avoid: sweat.

The headphones have an IPX4 rating for sweat and water resistance, making them the first IP-rated headphones from Beats. That’s particularly relevant given the Performance Knit cushions and the company’s emphasis on workouts and active use.

The cushions are also removable, which makes the modular design more practical. Instead of treating the part of the headphone that sits against your skin as permanently attached hardware, Beats lets you remove and replace it.

That’s useful for another reason, too: cushions eventually wear out. With Beats 360, replacing them doesn’t mean replacing the entire $350 headphone.

Up to 32 hours of battery life

Beats 360 are wireless-only and use Bluetooth 5.3 for connectivity. Beats rates them for up to 32 hours of playback, including when ANC and Personalized Spatial Audio are enabled under its stated testing conditions. Fast Fuel charging can provide up to an hour of playback after five minutes of charging.

There’s also a custom Beats chip handling connectivity across Apple and Android devices.

On Apple’s side, that includes one-touch pairing, Automatic Switching, Audio Sharing, Find My, hands-free Hey Siri and Personalized Spatial Audio. Android users get Fast Pair, Audio Switch and Find Hub support, so Beats isn’t treating these as an Apple-only accessory despite being part of Apple’s hardware family.

Beats also packs nine digital MEMS microphones into the headphones, with beamforming and other processing intended to improve voice pickup during calls.

The cushion kits are part of the appeal

The Beats 360 start at $349.99 and include a matching Performance Knit cushion set. Additional Cushion Kits normally cost $49.99, although Beats is offering them for $9.99 for a limited time in select markets, including the U.S.

That introductory price makes the customization gimmick considerably more tempting. At the normal price, buying multiple cushion sets could quickly turn the Beats 360 into a rather expensive collection of ear pads. At $9.99, though, swapping from Black to Volt or Navy suddenly feels more like changing an accessory than buying another piece of hardware.

And that’s probably the bigger idea behind Beats 360.

Beats has always treated headphones as something people wear as much as something they listen to. The Beats 360 takes that idea and makes the physical design part of the product itself. You can change the color, change the material, replace worn cushions and switch between an active-use setup and something more suited to everyday listening.

For a company whose headphones have long been as much about personal style as audio, it’s a surprisingly logical evolution.

Beats 360 is available to order now for $349.99, with retail availability having started September 24.