Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Great speech sound and the H1 chip make this an easy , if pricy , choice for iPhone owner .
I in person do n’t favour on - ear headphones . If it ’s portability I ’m after , I ’ll go for a distich of true wireless earbuds , or if I want the best sound quality for protracted listening , I ’ll use over - the - spike throne .
On - pinna headphones certainly have their seat , though . They run to be more low-cost than their larger over - the - ear counterparts , they ’re smaller and easier to stuff in a bag , and often easy and easier to don for foresightful period of time . The success of the Beats Solo serial has made it clear : on - spike headphones have lots of fans .
Show off your style with a variety of colors.
With the Beats Solo Pro , Apple ’s headphone sword has taken the very successful excogitation of the Beats Solo 3 and tweaked it in some meaningful ways , while also sum up a star alive noice cancellation mode . The result is a fantastic , if pricy , twosome of on - pinna noise scrub headphone . They do n’t break Modern primer , but they ’re probably the best on - auricle wireless headphones for anyone with an iPhone .
Design and comfort
If you ’re familiar with the Beats Solo phone line , you ’ll have a ripe idea what to expect from the Solo Pros . They ’re on - capitulum phone with duncish , dense diggings that get in a variety of colors — not as many as the Solo 3 now do , but still , it ’s a veritable rainbow array . You get white , bootleg , grey , red , and two shade of down in the mouth .
Show off your style with a diversity of colouring .
I have averysmall head . Every pair of headphones I have are set as small as they will go . The Beats Solo Pros are no exception , but they are still well-to-do to wear even for several hours . The earpads are thickset and dense , but not at all blotto . If I ’m put on glasses , my right ear start to get a trivial sore after a while , but that ’s a job I seem to have with any pair of on - ear headphones , no matter the brand or design .
Show off your style with a variety of colors.
I had our editor in chief , Roman Loyola , who has the expectant pass of anyone I know ( hat size of it 7 3/4 ) , try them on for a couple hours . He had to adjust them to maximum size of it and they were still a few millimeters shorter than he would have like ( a problem he say is not unique to the Beats Solo Pros ) , but were still quite comfortable . We worry that , like so many other headphone he has used , they would wear out and ruin from being stretched beyond their intended designing . Those with immense noggins should probably taste before they purchase .
The clamp force is significant , in part to assist the earpads make a well sealing wax that keeps out outside phone , but I never felt like my head was being squeezed or that the tablet were digging into my ears .
While they mostly look like the Solo 3 headphone , a few details have changed . The micro - USB charging port has been replaced by a lightning port ( you get a black Lightning - to - USB - A cable in the box ) , and the 3.5 mm jack for wired hearing is nowhere to be find . you’re able to buy a lighting - to-3.5 mm audio cable for $ 35 .
The right earpiece has a small gap beause it’s a rocker switch for physical, tactile controls.
The right phone has a small gap beause it ’s a rocking chair switch for physical , tactual controls .
There ’s a individual button on the bottom of the left phone . Press once to toggle between disturbance - cancellation and transparentness mode , press twice to turn noise cancellation off .
You wo n’t find a ability switch or button anywhere on these earpiece . When you shut down them up , they move around off . Unfold and they turn on . Simple , but if you wish to leave your earpiece opened up on your desk , you ’ll have to take novel habits .
You have to fold the Solo Pro headphones up to turn them off. It’s elegant, but for some users it will be an adjustment.
You have to shut down the Solo Pro headphones up to plow them off . It ’s elegant , but for some users it will be an registration .
The right-hand earpiece has a small gap you may see from the side , because it ’s actually a physical cradle electrical switch . clack the top and bottom to adjust the intensity up or down , or click the “ b ” logo in the middle to act / intermission music . Double - click to skip forwards to the next track , triple - click to skip over back , and public press - and - arrest for a indorsement to invoke Siri ( or , on Android twist , Google Assistant ) .
I choose these strong-arm , tactile controls to the touch controls of my Sony WH-1000XM3 . When you canfeelsomething engage , it ’s easier to use without looking at it . I care to wear noise - cancelling headphone when I do yard piece of work , too , and tactual sensation controls do n’t mix with horticulture glove .
The pill-shaped carrying case is just okay. It needs a pocket for your lightning cable, and should be a little stiffer.
The pill - determine carrying case is just okay . It needs a sack for your lightning line , and should be a little stiffer .
The Beats Solo Pros amount with a soft carrying case that looks like a big fat dumpy birth control pill . It ’s o.k. for what it is , but it ’s really bare - bones — I would favour at least a small pouch inside to hold a charge cable — and it’sverysoft and squishy . It will protect your headphones for dust and scratches , but not from getting crushed by all the other dust in your bag . A slightly unbending case would have give me a minuscule a little more ataraxis of mind .
Sound quality
Beats have a report for being bass - y. “ Bass forward ” is the charitable description . With the Solo 3 , Beats dialed back the basso boost a little , but it was still obvious .
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the tuning of the Beats Solo Pros have more in vulgar with the company ’s Studio line . There ’s no consuming bass at all . Of of course , tracks that are bass - with child do have the appropriatethump(at least , as smaller on - auricle headphones go ) , but at no point does the low conclusion crowd out the mid or high frequencies .
My headphone and speaker system trial play list is comprised of all sort of music : innovative pop , articulatio coxae - record hop , R&B , classical , 90 ’s tilt , metal , you name it . No one genre stood out as exceptionally well represent — everything plainly sound as it should . If you wo n’t buy Beats headphones because you do n’t wish how they always boost the bass part , it ’s time to refresh your first moment .
The sliding adjustment looks great and works well, but needs to allow for extra-large heads.
The slew adjustment bet expectant and work well , but needs to allow for extra - large heads .
For the sizing , they offer remarkable clearness and immersion . There ’s just no direction a pair of on - auricle earphone are going to vie with the larger driver of a really respectable pair of over - the - ear headphones , or the arrant cachet created by great in - ear Monitor . But at this size and Leontyne Price , I was duly impress by the precision and lucidity on offer .
colorise me surprised that the Beats Solo Pros seem , if anything , a little quiet . I often had them twist up quite a number further than other headphone to get equivalent volume , and could even max them out without muck up out my tympanum . There ’s probably no reason for most headphones to get as tawdry as they do , but I would n’t heed a little moreoomphhere .
The micro-USB port has been replaced by Lightning. It’s not USB-C, but it’s a step up.
The headphones picked up on my “ Hey Siri ” overlook just hunky-dory , though I found I had to speak up if I was on a busybodied urban center street . Call quality is excellent with the noise cancelling doing an fantabulous line of work of drown out the world so you’re able to focus on the caller . The mass on the other death of my call read I sounded great , though of course randomness cancelling does n’t work forthem , so they would often get word a lot more ground stochasticity than I would .
Battery life and charging
The Beats Solo 3 were renowned for their epic 40 - hour assault and battery life , and the Solo Pros continue to deliver that same length of service . But turn on stochasticity cancelling or foil mode and you ’ll lose almost half your bid time .
The micro - USB embrasure has been replaced by Lightning . It ’s not USB - deoxycytidine monophosphate , but it ’s a footstep up .
22 hr with haphazardness scratch enabled is still quite good . That ’s multi - day battery life even on a long misstep . In my examination , I was able-bodied to use them for a few hours a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. for about a calendar week before I had to plug in .
Beats Solo Pro comes with a Lightning-to-USB cable and a carabiner to clip the case loop onto…whatever.
Speaking of plugging in , when your phone are intimately dead you may get 3 hour of play time with a 10 - second guardianship . I run low from nearly dead to about 35 percent in half an 60 minutes , which would be enough stamp battery to last an total trans - continental flight with dissonance cancelling enable .
Noise cancelling performance
racket cancelling applied science has come up a foresightful way from the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. where you could say “ there is Bose and then there ’s everyone else . ” Other brands have been capable to deliver top - lineament dissonance diminution and telling sound quality at the same prison term , and we can add the Beats Solo Pros to that list .
On - ear headphones are always going to have a bit of a disadvantage over the sound - isolating capabilities of over - the - ear earphone or in - pinna buds that create a good seal , but the noise cancelling on offering here is top notch . It successfully dulled my lawn mower and folio blower to a smooth background whirr , and move around a screechingBARTride into a hushed , comfortable commute .
There ’s no calibration step necessary ( or even possible ) for the “ Pure ANC ” noise cancelling of these Beats headphones , and no elbow room to adjust the strength of the effect . When it ’s on , it ’s on , and it incessantly supervise outside strait and sound inside the auricle cup with internal microphones , making thousands of adjustment per secondly .
Beats Solo Pro comes with a Lightning - to - USB cable length and a snap ring to clip the casing loop onto … whatever .
I was disquieted that this automatic fitting would n’t give me what I wanted , and I would miss some manual noise control . In practice , “ it just works ” ( to borrow an overused phrase ) . It went from in the office to a in use outside street , walk past a twist internet site , to a chocolate workshop interior , and then a train program all without ever vocalise wrong . The continual adaptation just feels natural and smooth , the whole world merge into the background signal .
As most do most noise cancelling headphones these day , the Solo Pros have a “ transparency mode ” that leaves haphazardness cancelling enabled , but pulls in some of the away environment along with it . It lets you more easily hear traffic , people talking to you , or announcements over a PA scheme . Such modes often make everything sound chintzy and distant , but I did n’t get that from these earphone . Transparency mood has a more natural and pleasant sound than the similar role on most other headphones I ’ve tried .
Not cheap or innovative, just good at what they do
At $ 300 , the Beats Solo Pros are n’t cheap . That ’s a mellow price for a pair of unproblematic on - auricle , walking - around earpiece and ventures into “ serious listening pot ” territory . The Beats Solo 3 , with no noise delete and no hands - free “ Hey Siri ” support , debuted at the same $ 300 terms , but now be $ 100 less . These vocalise better , have a nicer purpose , and and active interference cancellation .
For Apple user these are peculiarly nice . The H1 chip mean hands - liberal Siri financial backing , easy AirPod - vogue pairing to your iPhone , and synchronise to other Apple devices through iCloud . For non - Apple devices , it ’s just another Bluetooth headset that you have to pair manually and hold down a button on the earpiece to bring up your digital assistant . They still voice as not bad , but using a Lightning cable to charge will feel proprietary and annoying to those who are n’t in the Apple ecosystem .
The Beats Solo Pros do n’t really do anything new . There ’s no groundbreaking technology on offer here , and no splendid raw design . We ’ve see all these individual features and purpose before , and the design , while nicely tweaked from the Solo 3 , is still very intimate . If you ’re calculate to be inspired by innovation , you ’ll wo n’t find it here . If you desire very estimable , very unsubdivided everyday on - capitulum headphones to apply with your iPhone , the Beats Solo Pro accommodate the bill nicely .
