Beats Solo 4 Review: Good Audio Quality, But Expensive

Beats Solo 4 was launched earlier this year, and the company’s latest on-ear headphones made their way to India in August. They are equipped with audio features found on more expensive wireless headphones from Apple, including spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and support for lossless audio, but lack support for active noise cancellation (ANC). The headphones are compatible with iOS and Android devices and feature a standard USB Type-C port for charging. The Beats Solo 4 competes with similarly priced headphones from Bose and Sony.

Pricing for the Beats Solo 4 is set at Rs. 22,900 in India. It is sold in three colourways — Cloud Pink, Matte Black, and Slate Blue (the company sent us this variant for review) — via the company’s online store and authorised retailers in the country.

Beats Solo 4 Design: Lightweight and Comfortable

• Dimensions – 177x158x6.8mm
• Weight – 217g

These over-the-ear headphones are mostly made of plastic and appear quite similar to previous generation models, aside from the more pastel-like colours that give them a slightly less edgy look. This also means they’re pretty light to wear for extended periods, even though you can feel them on your head. The earpads don’t appear to be user-replaceable, which is unfortunate.

Beats Solo 4 features a familiar design

Like its predecessors, the Beats Solo 4 has the company’s logo embossed on both earcups. There’s a small ‘4′ on the right side of the adjustable headband, while the inside of the headband contains more text related to regulatory information (right) and a left ear indicator — none of these are visible when you’re wearing the headphones.

The headphones ship with a carrying pouch that is slightly cushioned, along with a 3.5mm audio cable and a USB Type-C to Type-C cable that can be used for lossless audio playback or to charge the headphones. You’ll need to purchase a power adapter separately, though.

I have a fairly long head and wear spectacles, but the Beats Solo 4 felt comfortable even after wearing them for a few hours at a time. However, headphone fitting can vary from person to person, so it’s best to try these out at a store to make sure they feel comfortable on your head.

Beats Solo 4 Software: Gets the Job Done

• Software platforms – iOS, Android
• Customisable controls – Call management, media playback, mute/ unmute, volume controls

Like the Beats Studio Buds+ and the Beats Solo Buds, these wireless headphones work with Android smartphones and most of Apple’s devices. You’ll have to download the Beats companion app on the former, while the same controls are baked into the settings app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers.

You can customise various Beats Solo 4 settings on Apple devices as well as Android smartphones

You get support for Google’s Fast Pair service on Android and Fast Pair on Windows when you set up the Beats Solo 4 for the first time. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you’ll see the familiar card pop up asking you to connect to the headphones. The device also works with Apple’s Find My service, while Android users can see where the device was last connected to the companion app.

The left earcup lets you control media playback and manage calls — a single press pauses and resumes playback, while calls can be answered and muted with a single -press and ended with a double press. You can also push the panel’s top and bottom to increase and decrease the volume, respectively.

A button on the right side must be long-pressed to turn on and turn off the Beats Solo 4. The bottom of the left earcup has a 3.5mm audio port and an LED indicator that indicates when the headphones are charging and in use, while the right earcup has a USB Type-C port, an upgrade over the Solo 3 model with a Micro USB port.

Beats Solo 4 is equipped with a 3.5mm audio port and a USB Type-C port

Like other audio products from Beats and Apple, the companion app on Android and the built-in audio settings for the Beats Solo 4 doesn’t include support for equaliser presets. This means that you will have to rely on media apps that include their own EQ controls, such as Spotify or Poweramp.

Beats Solo 4 Performance, Battery Life: Par for the Course

• Bluetooth version – 5.3
• Active noise cancellation – No
• Battery life – Up to 50 hours

The Beats Solo 4 headphones are equipped with upgraded 40mm drivers and a redesigned acoustic architecture. They feature a neutral sound signature, which means they’re ideal for various genres of music, and there’s no perceptible distortion, even when listening to music at the highest volume.

My usual headphones testing playlist contains tracks that span various genres, and the Beats Solo 4 could easily handle it. Sasha Alex Sloan’s voice sounds extremely clear on Older, while the mids and the bass have ample separation. The same is true for Taylor Swift’s Daylight, where her vocals are distinctly audible from the background music.

Abba’s Mamma Mia and Voulez-Vous sound excellent on the Beats Solo 4, with ample emphasis on all instruments. Afterglow by INXS, a track that typically sounds ‘muffled’ on many headphones, was clear with just the right amount of bass.

The Beats Solo 4 felt comfortable on the ears even after an extended period

Beats audio products have gained a reputation for offering warm, U-shaped audio, but this doesn’t appear to be the case for the Solo 4 headphones. The extremely busy Yo soy María by Ástor Piazzolla and María Dueñas is a classical piece that contains a mix of violin and piano that are both distinctly audible on the headphones. This is also noticeable on No. 24 in A Minor, by Hilary Hahn, another fast-paced track that sounded good.

As expected, the Beats Solo 4 headphones handle tracks such as Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather effortlessly, and there’s no distortion, even when the volume is cranked up. The bass response on Crab Flow by NLE Choppa and Nbhd Nick’s Way Up is excellent.

Like other Beats Solo audio models (like the Solo Buds), these wireless headphones do not offer ANC support. This is disappointing to see on a device at this price point, especially considering that similarly priced wireless headphones deliver excellent ANC performance.

While the lack of ANC might be a glaring omission from the Beats Solo 4, the headphones offer two useful features — spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and lossless audio via USB Type-C or 3.5mm audio ports.

I connected the headphones using both interfaces and found that the sound quality was excellent, and the wired mode allows you to use the device even when the battery is empty. Meanwhile, you’ll need an iPhone to use the spatial audio with a dynamic head tracking feature, and it works reliably while listening to or watching supported music and videos, respectively.

Beats says that the Solo 4 is equipped with digital beam-forming microphones that are used along with a voice targeting algorithm designed to improve voice quality on calls. This works seamlessly with the built-in noise reduction feature on the iPhone, allowing users to take calls while wearing the headphones.

You can fold the Beats Solo 4 and store it inside the included carrying case

The Beats Solo 4 isn’t equipped with an Apple H series or W series chip, which means it lacks support for seamless switching across Apple devices. However, pairing it with an iPhone lets one use it across all linked Apple devices, and the Fast Pair feature on Android allows users to use it.

According to the company, the Beats Solo 4 can deliver up to 50 hours of media playback but keep in mind that this is without features like spatial audio with dynamic head tracking or taking voice calls. After using the headphones to take calls or meetings and listen to music, I got about five days of use with an average of eight hours every day, which is somewhere around the 40-hour mark.

Even if you end up using the headphones for an extended period, you shouldn’t have to charge them more than once a week. The company says its Fast Fuel feature allows users to plug in the headphones to a compatible charger and get about five hours of playback with a 10-minute charge.

Beats Solo 4 Review: Verdict

If you’re looking for a pair of colourful wireless headphones under the Rs. 25,000 mark that work well with Android smartphones and Apple products, then the Beats Solo 4 is easy to recommend, thanks in part to its reliable sound quality and excellent battery life.

However, if you don’t need features like spatial audio with dynamic head tracking or don’t have an Apple device that allows you to access the feature, you might want to consider the much cheaper JBL Live 770NC on-ear headphones.

You get a USB Type-C cable and a 3.5mm audio cable with the Beats Solo 4

More advanced wireless over-the-ear headphones in the same price segment include the Sony WH-1000XM4 (Review), the Marshall Monitor II, and the Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones. Alternatively, you could wait for the price of the Beats Solo 4 to drop before purchasing the headphones.

Those headphones offer ANC support, which is missing on the Beats Solo 4. The older Beats Solo Pro from 2019 is available from some sellers in India for around Rs. 25,000, with support for seamless switching and ANC using Apple’s H1 chip, if you don’t mind the deprecated Lightning port and lower advertised battery life (22 hours and 40 hours with ANC enabled and disabled, respectively).