Beats Solo 4 review: sleek design, clear sound, but lack bass punch

Beats marked its official entry in India a few weeks ago with three new products: Beats Solo Buds, Beats Solo 4, and Beats Pill. While Beats’ products have been available in India via the Apple India online store, the official launch signals the brand’s deeper commitment to the market. The latest products are also available online and across Apple stores in the country. We recently reviewed the Beats Solo Buds, a pair of TWS earbuds priced at Rs 7,999, and called it a decent and affordable AirPods alternative. We now turn to the Beats Solo 4, a pair of on-ear headphones priced at Rs 22,900.

Design and comfort

If you’re familiar with Beats’ products, you’ll know that the Beats Solo 4 fit right with the company’s design philosophy. In fact, the headphones don’t look all that different from their predecessors, the Solo 3. They feature a fairly minimalistic design language with good padding and attractive colour options. The headband and surface of the ear cups have a soft touch plastic finish that feels quite smooth and nice. The added premium-ness comes from the brushed steel hinges and the Beats logo on the surface of each ear cup.

There’s a USB Type-C port on the bottom of the right ear cup and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom of the left one. Beats has also included a Type-C cable and a 3.5mm audio cable in the carrying case. You get a tiny button just below the Beats logo on the right side to power on or power off the headset or enable Bluetooth pairing by long-pressing. The button isn’t instantly noticeable at first but is easy to find once you get used to its position. 

What’s more conspicuous than the power button is the fact that the left ear cup has a clickable surface. Clicking the top or bottom edge will increase or decrease the volume, respectively, while pressing the centre Beats logo will play/pause whatever you’re listening to. The headphones fold up into a very compact and easy-to-carry form factor and you get an equally compact carrying case. 

Now, I’m not a big fan of on-ear headphones as they start feeling uncomfortable for me pretty quickly. In addition to the ear cups pressing down on the ears, they can also make the ears warm especially during summers. With the Beats Solo 4, I was able to keep them on for noticeably longer than I otherwise would have and that’s largely due to how comfortable the UltraPlush ear cushions are. There’s a generous amount of padding that is soft and feels light on the ears, allowing me to keep them on for as long as an hour at a stretch, which was a lot for me.

Connectivity and features

The Beats Solo 4 support Bluetooth 5.3 that delivers a reasonably good range along with a stable connectivity. You get a Type-C port and a 3.5mm analogue input wired lossless audio. Additionally, the on-ear headphones come with a built-in DAC (Digital Analog Converter) to deliver high-resolution lossless audio over wired connection.

Unlike Apple headphones that are optimised for Apple products only, audio products from Beats are compatible with both iOS and Android devices. With the Beats Solo 4, you get seamless one-touch pairing support whether you’re using an iPhone or and Android phone. The headphones will also show up on the respective Find My apps as well.

Two aspects worth mentioning are that the on-ear headphones don’t support ANC (active noise cancellation) or ear-detection. ANC is a feature more commonly found and effective in over-ear headphones. So, you’ll need to decide whether it’s important for you – in which case, you might want to consider spending Rs 22,900 on over-ear options like the Sennheiser Momentum 4, Sony’s WH-1000XM4/XM5, or the Bose QuietComfort. That said, the Beats Solo 4’s ear pads do a decent job of passive noise cancellation, effectively blocking out external chatter and noise to a good extent, even while riding a train.

The lack of ear-detection means the headphones won’t automatically pause music when you take them off or resume playback when you put them back on, so you’ll need to manually control the pause and play functions.

Sound quality

The Beats Solo 4 don’t deliver the bass-heavy sound you might expect. The sound profile is primarily focused on the midrange and high-end frequencies. There’s plenty of clarity and detail, but songs with excessive sibilance – i.e. lyrics with repeated ‘s’ sounds – can feel harsh on the ears. For example, while listening to ‘This Is The Sound Of Your Voice’ by Snow Patrol, words like ‘say,’ ‘speak,’ ‘city,’ or ‘sound’ created a noticeable hiss, making me want to lower the volume.

These are bright-sounding headphones with good instrument separation, which stands out in busy tracks like ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ by Linkin Park. The instruments are clearly distinguishable, and Emily Armstrong’s powerful vocals shine through. However, the sibilance in the lyrics can still be a bit overwhelming at times. Additionally, the soundstage feels narrow in that the music doesn’t sound as spacious or expansive, which isn’t too surprising from closed-back on-ear headphones. Both the soundstage and bass response fall short in anthemic songs like ‘AETERNA’ from Coldplay’s latest album, Moon Music, which requires a wider soundstage to fully appreciate its vibe and Guy Berryman’s bass lines.

The Beats Solo 4 perform best with acoustic or folk music, which emphasises the mids and vocals rather than low-end frequencies. They’re also excellent for podcasts, offering exceptional clarity. However, if you enjoy genres like Hip-Hop or Rock, you might find the bass response underwhelming.

That’s not to say the Beats Solo 4 lack bass entirely. It’s adequate for most users, providing enough low-end without overpowering vocals or instruments. Unfortunately, you’re limited to the default sound profile, as there’s no option to customise the sound. So, if you’re looking for that deep, thumping bass in certain genres, you won’t be able to tweak the settings to suit your preferences.

The headphones do support spatial audio with head tracking when paired with an iPhone, which helps slightly with the narrow soundstage by delivering a more three-dimensional audio experience.

Battery life

The Beats Solo 4 are claimed to last up to 50 hours on a single charge. While I couldn’t test this claim out with continuous listening, it seems more or less true as I was able to use the headset for a couple of weeks for about 2 hours per day without needing to reach for the charger. In case you do end up draining the battery completely, you can continue listening if you have a 3.5mm audio cable as it doesn’t require any battery power to play over a wired connection.

The headphones support fast charging, called Fast Fuel, which gives up to 5 hours of playback on just 10 minutes of charge. 

Verdict

The Beats Solo 4 offer a sleek design, decent comfort, and good sound clarity but fall short in a few key areas, especially for their price. While the UltraPlush ear cushions allow for extended wear, the on-ear form factor may not suit everyone. The headphones deliver a midrange and treble-focused sound profile, which is great for clarity and detail but lacks the punchy bass many Beats fans might expect. Sibilant sounds can feel sharp, particularly in tracks with lots of ‘s’ sounds, which may lead to listener fatigue over time.

The absence of active noise cancellation (ANC) and ear-detection are noticeable downsides, especially when other competitors in this price range offer these features. On the plus side, the headphones do support spatial audio with head tracking, which enhances the listening experience slightly, particularly when paired with an iPhone.

Overall, the Beats Solo 4 are a good option if you’re after sleek, comfortable headphones with bright sound, but they may leave bass lovers or those seeking advanced features like ANC wanting more, especially considering their Rs 22,900 price tag.

Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10

Pros:

  • Sleek, minimalistic design
  • Comfortable, soft ear pads
  • Good sound clarity

Cons:

  • No ear-detection feature
  • Weak bass response
  • Sibilant sounds can be harsh

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