Home » Reviews & Comparisons » Beats Headphones

Reviews & Comparisons

Beats Headphones

Scott Armstrong

November 27, 2024

SaveSavedRemoved 0

Beats Review

Beats was founded in 2006 by Dr Dre and Jimmy Lovine. Dr Dre was considering a new business – selling sneakers. However Jimmy Lovine brought the idea of selling speakers instead of sneakers. Aside from this, Dr Dre was said to often be enraged at the quality of sound that folks were listening to.

He felt it was outrageous that the artists and producers spend so much time in the studio putting these creative pieces together only for the final listener to miss out on most of the quality because they were forced to listen on low quality headphones. The only way to correct this was to make good quality headphones available to more people.

So, how well has Beats fared in this noble cause? We will find out together as we review 5 of the brand’s earbuds and headphones. We will be looking at the following:

1. Beats Solo Buds
2. Beats Studio Buds Plus
3. Beats Fit Pro
4. Beats Solo 4
5. Beats Studio Pro

Looking at these 5 should give us a good idea of how well the brand is doing. Let’s get started.

Score by Specs

Quick Overview

• Bluetooth Version – 5.3
• Battery Life – 18 hours
• Quick Charge – Yes (5 minutes of charge yield 1 hour of playtime)
• Companion App – Yes
• Waterproof – No
• Charging Port – USB -C
• Controls – Button
• Noise Cancelling – No
• Weight – Case (0.22g), buds (5.7g)

For those who have been longing to own Beats earbuds but have been hoping for a price friendly option, this is your lucky day. Beats has recently released what is regarded as its smallest earbuds. Interestingly, they are also their most affordable product.

So aside from being very portable and affordable, what else does it offer? This is what we will be looking at in this review. Let’s begin with the positives.

We’ve already mentioned two points working in favor of these earbuds – cost and portability. Aside from these two, these buds are also pretty comfortable to wear and that’s always a good thing considering how long many folks have theirs on.

Since it does not offer active noise canceling, we’ll go straight to its ability to offer isolation by fitting snugly into the ear and physically blocking out noise. This is also known as passive noise canceling. The Solo buds come with eartips in 4 size options. Once you find the size that’s right for your ear size, you can achieve an appreciable level of isolation. You can get up to a 50% attenuation when in a regular space and not a noisy environment like a busy road.

Lastly on the good, for the average listener, the sound offering from these buds is pretty much okay. Audiophiles may notice an emphasis in the high-mid area. This, however, is not much of an issue for the everyday user.

On the flip side, there are a few things that could have been better. The Solo buds actually have a good battery life. Beats promises an 18-hour playtime which is okay. However, since the included case does not hold any charge, you cannot put them back in the case for a quick charge on the go. They have to be plugged via USB-C to charge. Sadly, they do not come with the charging cable or charger so you have to get these separately.

Finally, the Beats Solo buds can be used for calls. They actually do reasonably well in quiet locations but do not perform so well when used for calls in a noisy environment.

Having seen most of what the Beats Solo Buds offer, do you think that it’s right for you?

Score by Specs

Quick Overview

• Bluetooth Version – Unspecified
• Battery Life – 9 hour-playtime on earbuds and additional 27 hours with case
• Quick Charge – Yes (5 minute charge gives 1 hour of playtime)
• Companion App – Yes
• Waterproof – IPX4
• Charging Port – USB-C
• Controls – Buttons
• Noise Cancelling – Yes
• Weight – Earbuds (5 grams per bud) case (50 grams)

If you were disappointed that the Beats Solo Buds didn’t have ANC or was not designed to support workouts (no IPX rating), then you should be happy with the Beats Studio Buds Plus. Compared to the Solo Buds, the Studio Buds Plus offers a lot more.

Let’s begin with the features missing in the Solo Buds. The Beats Studio Buds Plus offer impressive active noise canceling. This is in addition to the isolation that you can achieve with the best fitting ear tip from the included options. It may be a good idea to carry out the fit test to ensure that you are using the tip that’s right for you.

With its active noise canceling and the considerable isolation that can be achieved with a snug fit, you will be able to significantly reduce surrounding noises. Should you choose to be more aware of your surroundings, you have the option of activating the transparency mode which provides a controlled awareness of your environment.

The IPX4 rating of these buds means that they are sweat and water proof. This is another thing that was absent in the Solo Buds.

On to other features, the Studio Buds Plus promises a 9-hour playtime and an additional 27 hours with the charging case. Should you somehow find yourself in need of a quick charge, 5 minutes of charge will yield about 1 hour of playtime.

In the sound department, the Studio Buds Plus does well. As with most Beats products, and indeed many other brands, you will notice some emphasis on the low frequencies. This appears to be slightly balanced by some added clarity from the high frequencies. However, this leaves the mids somewhat quieter, making sounds that fall within this range extremely low or even absent.

The above is not something that most users will easily notice or even worry about. That means that the sound quality of the Beats Studio Buds Plus will be more than sufficient for most users.

Finally, these buds also support hands-free call. However, its ability to reject unwanted sound may not be the best. Though Beats improved its microphone array on these buds, there’s not much improvement with noise rejection. It therefore means that your listener on the other end will have to listen to your environment as well as you.

So that’s a quick overview of the Beats Studio Buds Plus.

Score by Specs

Quick Overview

• Bluetooth Version – 5.0
• Battery Life – 6 hours with ANC and additional 18 hours with charging case.
• Quick Charge – Yes (5 minutes of charge yields 1 hour of playtime)
• Companion App – Yes
• Waterproof – IPX4
• Charging Port – USB-C
• Controls – Buttons
• Noise Cancelling – Yes
• Weight –  Earbuds (5.6 grams) Case (55.1 grams)

The Beats Fit Pro appears to have been created with workout and exercise enthusiasts in mind. While, of course, anyone can use them, they are best suited for use by these sets of folks.

There are a number of features in the Fit Pro that makes it ideal for workout sessions. First, it has an IPX4 rating which means that it’s resistant to sweat and some level of water. You therefore do not have to worry about sweat as you workout or light rain when you go on those runs or walks.

The other thing is its snug fit. In the box, you get an option to choose from 3 sizes of ear tips – small, medium and large. From these three, you should find one that fits you.

After choosing the right ear tips, you keep the buds securely locked in with the flexible wing tip. This ensures that your buds won’t budge as you workout. To further ensure that the seal and sound performance is at its best, you can perform the “Fit Test” which will analyze your ear canal and let you know if the tips are the right ones for you.

Once snugly fitted, you can begin to enjoy the high-energy sounds that most use for their workout sessions. The audio quality offered by the Fit Pro is well-suited for workouts as it gives off a reasonable amount of low ends for you to “feel” the music.

For its active noise canceling, while it may not rank among the best out there, it does enough in most cases. If you factor in the isolation already achieved, the total noise reduction will be sufficient for most.

It’s however important to note that because it uses adaptive noise canceling, you may notice changes in the levels of noise canceling as you move around. This is because it calibrates how much canceling it does at any given time.

In the battery department, though the buds themselves offer just about 6 hours of playtime with ANC, the case offers an additional 18 hours. This adds up to a total of 24 hours with the buds and case. You can also get a quick charge where 5 minutes of charge will give 1 hour of juice.

Finally, when tested for calls, the Beats Fit Pro was found to be usable in many conditions. You may however find that the person at the other end of the call will be listening to you and everything happening around you.

In conclusion, the Beats Fit Pro appear to have been tailor made for workout and exercise enthusiasts. If you are one, you may want to check these buds out.

Score by Specs

Quick Overview

• Bluetooth Version – 5.3
• Battery Life – 50 hours
• Quick Charge – 10-minute charge gives 5 hours of playtime
• Companion App – Yes
• Waterproof – No
• Charging Port – USB-C
• Controls – Buttons
• Noise Cancelling – No
• Weight – 217 grams

Away from the earbuds, we now move to the headphones. We begin with the Beats Solo 4, an on-ear headphone that sadly does not offer much in this highly competitive niche. Without active noise cancelation, any hope of achieving some noise attenuation is hinged entirely on how much isolation can be achieved with the pads.

Sadly, on-ear designs do not offer much by way of isolation. Sitting right on the ears, there’s just so much pressure that the ears can take so we deal with the issue of comfort and noise bleeding in from outside.

While this is not a headphone that you should get if you are big on isolation and noise canceling, you may want to consider it if you’re often away from a charging source for extended periods. Its whooping 50 hours of play time is really impressive. In fact, independent testing at normal volumes had these headphones lasting for over 80 hours.

For sound, the Beats Solo 4 appears to be an exception to the rule with its overemphasis on the high frequencies. We are accustomed to having headphones with emphasized low frequencies so, having one with the highs more boosted than the lows will sound quite odd.

Considering that many folks like the thumping bass, the sound from the Beats Solo 4 will sound thin. Vocals may also not be as pronounced as they ought to as they may often compete for space with some instruments. When you add to this the fact that the headphones offer poor isolation, you get an even more imbalanced sound in noisy environments.

Finally, you are also able to make and receive calls with the Beats Solo 4. However, do not expect any noise rejection. It will therefore work best in areas with minimal noise.

That’s a quick overview of the main features of the Beats Solo 4.

Score by Specs

Quick Overview

• Bluetooth Version – 5.3
• Battery Life – 40 hours
• Quick Charge – Yes (10-minute charge gives about 4 hours of playtime)
• Companion App – Yes
• Waterproof – N/A
• Charging Port – USB-C
• Controls – Button and Rocker
• Noise Cancelling – Yes
• Weight – 270 grams

We will be concluding this review with Beats’ top of the line product – the Beats Studio Pro. As at the time of writing this review, this was Beats’ most expensive noise canceling headphones. What makes it the brand’s most expensive headphone? Let’s try to find out.

Headphones are primarily for sound reproduction before any other thing so let’s begin with how these headphones sound. There are a few important points to note with regards to its sound.

The Beats Studio Pro has a relative acceptable frequency response. You may however find that the low frequency is quite emphasized. The high frequency receives some boost but not as much as the low frequency. What this means is that you get enough pump from your kick and bass. You will also have some clarity with instruments that play in the high frequencies.

Sadly, this is often to the detriment of other sounds within the mid-range. All of that said, it’s a sound that many users have come to expect and will even appreciate.

The now added USB DAC feature allows users to listen via wired USB connection. This means that with the Beats Studio Pro, you can listen to CD-quality audio, thanks to the USB DAC connection.

The next thing to consider is how well it does it’s next main function, which is noise canceling. While it does offer a good enough active noise canceling, its effectiveness depends largely on how snug a fit you can achieve. Sadly, this is not always possible, given the size of the cups.

If you wear glasses, your chances of achieving a good fit is really low. However, if you can achieve a good, snug fit, the active noise canceling can reduce external noise (depending on the frequency) from between 50% to 90%.

The battery life on this is advertised to be enough for 40 hours of playtime. Should you need a quick charge, 10 minutes of charge will give about 4 hours of playtime. This is quite sufficient for any user.

Finally, we’ve briefly mentioned the issue of fit which is closely related to comfort. Though it is quite light, the fit does not make it really comfortable for all users, especially for extended use.

There you are with the main features of the Beats Studio Pro ANC headphones.

Conclusion

Beats came on the scene with a lot of promise which will explain why Apple snapped it up in 2014. Though Beats products can be used both on Android and iOS devices, a lot of its features that are easily accessible on Apple devices can only be accessed by Android users through the app.

For all these earbuds and headphones, Apple users are also given 3 free months on Apple Music. Now that you’ve seen these 5 products, which looks best suited for your needs?

• Author
• Recent Posts

Scott Armstrong

Latest posts by Scott Armstrong (see all)

• Bose Headphones - November 27, 2024
• Beats Headphones - November 23, 2024
• Beyerdynamic Headphones - November 19, 2024