Beats Solo 4 review: A long-awaited upgrade that goes just far enough

Best prices today: Beats Solo 4

The Beats Solo 3 were released in late 2016, and 7.5 years is definitely too long to wait for an update to the “affordable” over-ear model from one of the most popular headphone brands in the world.

As you might expect, a lot has changed. Gone is the old Apple W1 chip in favor of a proprietary technology platform that supports many modern features for Apple And Android devices. Sound quality is improved and the battery lasts 25% longer.

But they still look like Beats and sound like Beats, and don’t do much to advance the brand or category. There is nothing fake with the Solo 4 headphones they are good. But with such a big departure from the previous model, they only just meet expectations rather than exceeding or redefining them.

Same look and feel as old Beats

Beats headphones have a certain look. The vibrant plastic, the tiny “b” logo on each side, and the overall shape of the earbuds. When you see someone wearing Beats, you know it.

That said, the new Solo 4 feels a little too familiar. Aside from the new Slate Blue and Cloud Pink colors, you’d be hard-pressed to recognize this model from one designed almost 8 years ago without looking closely at the ports.

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I don’t expect Beats to completely abandon its design, but it’s time to refresh it, and the idea that we might be stuck with this same look for the following seven years makes me cringe.

As with the Solo 3, I find that the headphones do not work enough the contract is small enough for my small head, and a few millimeters less headband on each side would be more comfortable. The earpads are quite soft but the spring tension makes pressing a little uncomfortable after long periods of listening while wearing my glasses. This is a common problem with over-ear headphones and another reason why I prefer over-ear headphones.

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As before, the Beats Solo 4 folds up to fit into a small carrying bag. In fact, the bag is almost identical to the Beats Studio Pro. I had to do a side-by-side comparison to confirm that the Solo 4’s bag is just a tiny bit smaller.

They come with a USB-C cable and a 3.5mm audio cable, but no power adapter.

New features

Of course, we would expect the Solo 4 to get a significant feature update after almost 8 years, and it does. This is true for Apple users, who get personalized spatial audio with head tracking and hands-free “Hey Siri” support in addition to all the old stuff (one-touch pairing, iCloud pairing, and Find My support ).

The move from Apple’s W1 chip to Beats’ much newer electronics now supports Google Fast Pair, cloud pairing with your Google account, Find My Device, and multi-point pairing for seamless audio switching.

Beats hasn’t changed the way you control the Solo 4, though. There’s a power button at the bottom of the right earbud (no on-ear sensing means you have to turn them on and off at the same time). hand), and the left earbud has a big button where the “b” logo is located which is used for playing. /pause/forward/backward and to trigger the voice assistant. Pressing above or below this button changes the volume.

Gone is the boring micro-USB socket in favor of USB-C. You’ll be happy to know that it’s not just for charging. The Solo 4 supports USB-C audio output and input, and can even charge and play USB-C audio at the same time. Via USB-C or 3.5mm, you can even listen to lossless audio (although the sound reproduction of these headphones is pretty good to say so).

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All this and better battery life too. Beats claims 50 hours of battery life, which is 25% more than the Solo 3. I certainly haven’t had long enough listening sessions to verify this, but a slight drop in battery life over several days testing makes me think this is a reasonable claim. It’s simply fantastic battery life, enough to last you a whole weekend without plugging in.

Of course, part of this is because the Solo 4 doesn’t offer any active noise cancellation, and ANC is what really emphasizes the battery life of modern headphones and earphones.

Mid-tier sound for a mid-tier product

That’s right, there’s no ANC, which is barely anywhere close to being acceptable for $200 wireless earbuds these days. It’s a feature that’s quickly becoming expected on all but the cheapest earphones and headsets, and the Solo 4’s price is right where you might start to expect it. More and they to have have an ANC.

Beats claims to have done a lot to improve acoustics, reduce distortion, tune output, and improve voice call quality with better microphones. It’s certainly a step up from the Beats Solo 3, but it’s 2024 and we expect more.

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But the sound quality is what I consider good for this price range, not great. Nothing is really unbalanced or anything like that, there’s just a general lack of sharpness and punch overall.

To some extent, this is what can be expected from over-ear headphones, which don’t have the larger diaphragms of over-ear models or the tight in-ear fit of earbuds. In a song like OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass,” they just can’t keep up with the booming bass, which instead sounds a little mushy. The bright mids of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Tin Pan Alley” are crisp and clean, but a “crank it all to 11” metal song like “Kickstart My Heart” starts to lose clarity in some of the instruments.

Should you buy Beats Solo 4?

None of these things are deal-breakers, not in a $200 pair of wireless earbuds. But it’s not impressive either. It’s just… good. Well, even. But not great. It’s not much fun to write, but some things are just plain good, and the Beats Solo 4 does the job.

Priced at $200, they’re only a good buy if you’re in love with your aging Solo 3 headphones and are dying to upgrade them. For everyone else, wait for a sale. The Beats Solo 4 are harmless at list price, but a bargain at $150 or less. If you’re willing to spend a little more, you’ll get a lot more out of the Beats Studio Pro. If you’re willing to wait, the Beats Solo 4 will be a great buy between now and Black Friday.