Beats Solo 4 review: Playing both sides

They look like Beats headphones. They sound like Beats headphones. Battery life can reach a new maximum of 50 hours. These things alone guarantee that the new Beats Solo 4 in-ear wireless headphones will be as successful as their predecessors – and it won’t be long before you start seeing them used by athletes and music stars. at every step.

But there’s more to this than a logo. Unlike the Solo 3, the fourth-generation cans exclusively support native software features (like one-tap pairing and Find My/Find My Device) on both Android and iOS; Beats has quietly become Apple’s Android-friendly brand, in case you haven’t been paying attention. And for an old-school guy like me, I love that the company is emphasizing lossless, wired listening via USB-C or a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sonically, these are a world apart from Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 or the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2e headphones I usually carry – both of which are more expensive. But they are also for very different audiences. As always, Beats is about cultural prestige, that prominent “b” logo, and pleasant (if not mind-blowing) sound.

That’s not to say Beats knocked it out of the park. A complete lack of active noise cancellation in any A $200 pair of wireless headphones is hard to ignore; The ear pads provided relatively good natural noise isolation at my local coffee shop and when traversing Brooklyn, but the ANC is always appreciated when the clamor starts to bubble up. The short-lived Solo Pro had it, but not these, which are technically a sequel to the eight-year-old Solo 3.

So Beats’ flagship Studio Pro easily wins on the ANC front. But the Solo 4 has one thing going for it: they are passively tuned. In many wireless headphones, there is an active equalization profile running at all times that provides the fullest sound. All of this is powered by the battery. When you run out of power, some headphones will stop playing – even when plugged in – or revert to very poor audio quality until you recharge them. Solo 4 will keep playing indefinitely when plugged in, even if the battery is dead, thanks to passive tuning, and the sound never changes. “Unlimited wired playback” is actually one of the bullet points advertised on the back of the box. We love seeing this, although it inevitably means buying a headphone dongle these days.

In his mind, the Solo 4 fits well. They are narrower, sleeker and significantly lighter than Studio cans. And they use the same “UltraPlush” memory foam cushions as the Studio Pro, which are a key part of the comfort. Beats claims that the new case material – a point of failure of some previous headphones – should provide better durability and extended longevity compared to the Solo 3. There’s always a moderate amount of clamping force on Beats headphones; many people use them at the gym or during outdoor activities. But despite my enormous ability, I never encountered pressure to get into unpleasant territory.

I also like the included fabric case, but why doesn’t it match the color of your headphones? Blue, pink, and black are the hardware options at launch, but Beats has a history of producing many other colors over time. The design of the headphones is similar to previous models, as are the controls. The Beats logo on the left side doubles as a play/pause button and you have volume controls directly above and below, so using these headphones is as simple as possible. You can double-tap the logo to skip forward a track, or triple-tap to go back – all very familiar controls for Beats fans.

Instead of integrating an Apple chip, which would make them extremely attractive to iPhone owners, Beats is sticking to the same proprietary platform that has been the brains of its recent products. In practice, this means you will get some (but not all) ecosystem software tricks, regardless of whether you are using iOS or Android. This seems like the right approach to me. Apple fans get at least one exclusive: personalized spatial audio with head tracking. But the Android audience can automatically switch between Android, Chromebooks, and other devices.

I’ve been listening to the Solo 4 for several days now and the sound is honestly more restrained than I expected. They’re not particularly brassy and avoid overemphasizing any section of the frequency range; The goal was to achieve a consistent tune that seamlessly adapts to music, podcasts, work meetings/voice calls, and more. Speaking of calls, voice quality is pretty decent, with Beats training its ML algorithm “using over 7,000 hours of exposure to real-world environments.” Where the Solo 4 falls short compared to more expensive headphones is in its overall richness and a rather condensed soundstage that lacks much breadth. But for the target audience, I think they will be more than adequate.

The Solo 4’s omission of noise cancellation may be a real deal-breaker for some, but I don’t think it will be enough to lessen its appeal to the masses who have been using Beats products for so many years. Even if you’re mainly buying for the cool factor, at least these headphones are now platform-agnostic, more comfortable, and more versatile, since you can just plug them in if you can use the 50-hour battery life. As with all Beats products, it’s worth waiting until they go on sale – and the Solo 4 certainly will.

Photography by Chris Welch/The Verge