Apple-owned Beats launched their very own budget earbuds named Solo Buds. These are the cheapest wireless earphones Apple has ever. But you can still get good output from it. This is available in four colors, and there is no battery in the compact charging case. Even though the Apple AirPods give you a better and more fancy experience than this, when it comes to the price, this is one of the best choices you can make. This is only $79.99. In this article, you can see a full review of the Beats Solo Buds.
Design
The design is similar to the Beats Studio Buds. The Solo buds have a circular design. One side is flat and has a pinchable design. It is designed to be a perfect fit into your ear and you can see only a small section sticking out from the ear. When someone sees straight on your face they can’t see your earphones. There are no dangling elements, and you can see a silicon ear tip. It is fit to your ear canal. They offer four sizes for ear tips. There is no wingtip design to catch the folds of your ear. It only depends on the ear tip holding, but even with this, it doesn’t move when you do other work. But there are no water or sweat resistance ratings. Per earbud, the weight is around 5.7 grams.
When it comes to the case there is no battery in it. You can charge your earbuds when it’s inside the case and you have to connect it to a power supply. Because there is no battery, the case is lightweight, 1.31 inches tall, and 2.6 inches wide. The depth is 0.74 inches. Without earbuds, the weight is 22 grams. With all of this, it is more suitable for your pocket than other cases. As mentioned before, there are four colors. Transparent Red, Strom Grey, Matte Black, and Arctic Purple. In the Transparent red version, you can see buds inside, internal connections, and other elements. It gives a new and aesthetic vibe.
Audio Quality
It has a good sound system. It uses an 8.2mm dual-element diaphragm transducer. With the Solo buds, they use micro-venting holes laser-cut, which gives a better bass response. Transducers are parallel with the acoustic nozzle opening. All these things help to give good, sound results. There is enough of a gap between the treble, mid, and low end, which gives satisfaction to most users. There is no active noise cancellation or transparency to help. But the silicon tips block some audio that comes from the outside. You get spatial audio with this but it is not a full-blown one. For this price, the audio quality is more than enough.
Features
For voice, there is one microphone in each bud. It has digital MEMS microphones and they are custom-designed ones. It is paired with Beats’noise-learning algorithms. It can understand the user’s voice suppressing external and unwanted noise. As a result, users get a very clear microphone. It gives enough sound quality to ensure that anyone you call can hear you clearly. The device has a pair of buttons. One for each bud. You can answer, end, mute, or unmute calls with this button. There is a press-and-hold option to control the volume. But the ‘Hey Siri’ option is not in here.
The case has a single USB-C port and the buds work with Bluetooth 5.3. It is compatible with both Apple and Android devices. For Apple, iCloud pairing helps you to connect multiple devices. Google Fast Pair support on Android devices. When the earbuds register to the Google account, Android users get their own ecosystem pairing.
When the earbuds are misplaced you can use Apple’s Find My and Google’s Find My Device to search the device. With iOS you can do more configurations. But in Android, you have to download the Beats companion app.
Power and Battery life
Since the case doesn’t have a battery you can’t charge the earbuds just only with the case when you move. But for charging the buds, the case is compulsory. There is a USB-C port on the rear side of the case. It helps to get the power from an outlet. With the help of a USB-C to USB-C cable, you can get the power from iPhone 15. A five-minute charge can give you an hour of music playback. Since the case doesn’t have a battery, earbuds have to hold more charge. They said it has an 18-hour battery life. This is pretty good with the absence of a battery when we compare it with other earphones.
Conclusion
If you have an idea for spending more money on earphones, you can do it. You can get an entry-level second-generation AirPods for $129. Still, you are going to miss some important alternatives. You can get the same feature list for $79.99 from the Beats Solo Buds. It is $40 cheaper than the entry-level one.
You can choose a color among four different colors, get a good case design, and pretty good quality for this price. With all of these features, it is far better than buying Apple’s entry-level AirPods. But you have to carry a USB-C cable with you.
You can buy Beats Solo Buds from Amazon and B&H Photo websites.