I tried to return the Beats Solo Pro headphones before they shipped, but had just missed the opportunity. They arrived on the same day as my AirPods Pro.
Initially, my plan was to take the unopened box to the Apple store and return them. But, looking at the box, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. What do they sound like? Are they comfortable? What do they actually look like? I had to know. So I opened it up and tried them out.
I was surprised. I loved them.
However, they are $300, and I just couldn’t justify the expense, especially since they do have a few flaws that, while making them imperfect, might not have been enough to warrant a return otherwise. But I had just gotten AirPods and now Beats, and, frankly, I knew I had to return them before I had a massive credit card statement.
So I did. But not before taking enough notes to write a review!
In This Article:
Sound Quality
However, the bass lacked “punch.” It feels less impactful, almost subdued. I felt like I was studying what a bass drum sounds like, rather than feeling that thump. These are 40mm drivers, there’s more than enough size to create a good thumpy bass. There’s plenty of detail here, but not the kind of heavy bass you’d expect from Beats. I was actually a little disappointed.
Overall, the sound quality is incredible. The detail is just fascinating. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of feeling in the bass. Make no mistake, there’s a lot of feel to the songs, and I totally got up and danced around my apartment looking like a fool. However, I had hoped for a little more representation in the bass. They sound great, and are going to reveal details in your songs you didn’t even know were there, but if you love heavy, impactful bass in your music, you’re not going to completely love this sound.
Noise Cancellation and Transparency
Noise Cancellation
The Beats Solo Pro headphones have a padded leather earcup. This presses up against your ear, shutting out sound nicely. However, these headphones also come with both internal and external microphones, which allow them to shut out noise with anti-noise, sound patterns made to counter sound waves and silence them. I found this works better than it does on the AirPods Pro, likely because it can create a better seal around your ear and put more hardware between your ears and the rest of the world.
One of the most important parts about noise cancellation is isolating your ears. Without a solid barrier, sound can leak in and the effect won’t work. However, this is tricky with on-ear headphones. Ears are wildly different shapes and people have obstacles that can make it difficult, like glasses or piercings. The thick earcups help, and Apple’s software accounts for sound leaks. The result is a constantly adjusting headphone that has surprisingly great noise cancellation despite the design limitations of on-ear headphones. I tested these with glasses, putting my hair in the way, and moving them around, and found the sound isolation remained shockingly good.
Transparency
Because these provide a complete seal over your ears, they’re better at noise cancellation than the AirPods Pro headphones, but not as good with transparency. Make no mistake, they work well enough to even watch TV or have conversations with people, but the sound is more artificial. You can tell you’re not supposed to be able to hear everything, and the sound is less natural. This is because the headphones are better at isolating sound than in-ear headphones. They work fantastically, but only slightly worse than the AirPods Pro.
Controls
Seriously, everyone, stop over-complicating user interfaces. If a user has to think about your UI, you made it wrong.
Connectivity
Hey Siri and Microphones
Like Apple’s AirPods, the Beats Solo Pro headphones also have “Hey Siri” support. I had no trouble activating Siri with this.That’s thanks to having the same wireless chip as the new AirPods Pro, along with fantastic microphones. I found that these performed as well as Apple’s AirPods. Sound quality is good, voice is clear, and you can ask Siri to do anything on these that you can with your connected device.
Unlike AirPods, you would mostly buy the Beats for the sound quality, form factor, and looks. However, if you find yourself wearing them and need Siri, or needing to have a conversation with someone on the phone, you’re in luck, it works perfectly every time.
Appearance
We simply can’t ignore that these may be some of the best looking headphones on the market. If you enjoy more functional, classical styles, like those from Grado or Master and Dynamic, then it’s not going to be for you. Still, the Beats Solo Pro headphones do manage to look more “professional” than any Beats that came before it.
If you’re looking to wear headphones as a fashion piece as well as a tool for crystal clear music, the Beats Solo Pro headphones are an excellent choice.
Comfort
I don’t have an exceptionally large head. I wear a small helmet size, small hat sizes. Perhaps that’s why I could wear these so much longer than other reviewers. Many struggled after just a few minutes.
I was entertaining the idea of keeping these, despite the massive hit on my finances. But the clamping force was a large reason I decided it just wasn’t worth it. In fact, while writing this review, I often found myself reaching for my AirPods Pro headphones instead of these, just because they don’t cause me pain. I was avoiding testing them. That’s how I knew I couldn’t keep them. I loved the way they sounded, but they caused discomfort in minutes and pain in hours.
Wearing But Not Listening?
This is one thing I’ll address. Sometimes, you have to take your headphones off. Perhaps to put on a helmet to go biking or skating. Maybe your coworker is trying to talk to you and they don’t understand that you can hear them with transparency mode. Whatever the reason, you’re likely going to take them off and put them around your neck. And when you do, they’ll fit well, sit on your shoulders and collar bone gently, and feel very comfortable. Beats knows many people wear their headphones like this when they’re not listening to them, both to have them easily accessible and to show them off. As a result, they’re the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever had around my neck. Nothing else has come close.
It’s a shame they’re horribly uncomfortable when you actually want to use them.
Battery Life
They offer 22 hours of listening and, after my initial listening session and an overnight full charge, I didn’t have to charge them again before returning them. This is because I largely only used them for an hour or so at home. I likely only spent about 30 hours of listening with them. It was tough to spend more time with them when I could just as easily use my AirPods Pro headphones for a far more comfortable listening experience.
Overall 6 / 10
- Sound Quality: 8 / 10: Amazing detail, but lacking in bass
- Noise cancellation and transparency: 10 / 10: Slightly lacking in transparency, but made up for it with noise cancellation
- Fit and Comfort: 3 / 10: Not as bad as I expected, but still downright painful after a single album
- Connectivity: 10/10: Apple’s done it again
- Portability: 8/10: Portable and a nice soft case mean you can bring them anywhere. But a hard case would be preferred
- Value: 7/10: These are $300, and for the detail, that’s worth it. But you’d expect a hard case and more bass from Beats for $300.
In the end, I did return these headphones. I kept them for 14 days though, the most I could under Apple’s return policy. They sound great. I think if the bass was a bit better represented, I could have put up with the discomfort these headphones create. But, the truth is, they’re just far too uncomfortable to use for more than an hour or two. Only nearly perfect sound could help with that. You might wear AirPods Pro headphones all the time, for fast access to Siri, your messages, as well as music and more. But these? With the Beats, connectivity and Hey Siri are cool features, but you buy them for the music quality. Mostly because you couldn’t wear them long enough to take advantage of the other features on a regular basis.
The Beats Solo Pro headphones look incredible, sound pretty great, are portable, easy to use, and if you have completely numb ears, you’ll love them. However, if you have nerve endings in your ears, you might want to pass.