to wear for long periods. The success of the Beats
Solo series has made it clear: on-ear headphones
have lots of fans.
With the Beats Solo Pro, Apple’s headphone
brand has taken the very successful design of the
Beats Solo^3 and tweaked it in some meaningful ways,
while also adding a stellar active noise cancellation
mode. The result is a fantastic, if pricey, pair of on-ear
noise cancelling headphones. They don’t break new
ground, but they’re probably the best on-ear wireless
headphones for anyone with an iPhone.Design and comfort
If you’re familiar with the Beats Solo headphone line,
you’ll have a good idea what to expect from the Solo
Pros. They’re on-ear headphones with thick, dense pads
that come in a variety of colours – not as many as the
Solo^3 now do, but still, it’s a veritable rainbow array. You
get white, black, grey, red, and two shades of blue.
I have a very small head. Every pair of headphones
I have are set as small as they will go. The Beats Solo
Pros are no exception, but they are still comfortable
to wear even for several hours. The earpads are thick
and dense, but not at all stiff. If I’m wearing glasses,
my right ear starts to get a little sore after a while, but
that’s a problem I seem to have with any pair of on-ear
headphones, no matter the brand or design.
I had colleague Roman Loyola, who has the largest
head of anyone I know (hat size 7 3/4), try them on for
a couple hours. He had to adjust them to maximum size
and they were still a few millimetres shorter than he
would have liked (a problem he says is not unique toto wearforlongperiods.ThesuccessoftheBeats
Solo serieshasmadeitclear:on-earheadphones
havelots offans.
WiththeBeatsSoloPro,Apple’sheadphone
brandhastakentheverysuccessfuldesignofthe
BeatsSolo^3 andtweakeditinsomemeaningfulways,
whilealsoaddingastellaractivenoisecancellation
mode.Theresultisafantastic,ifpricey,pairofon-ear
noisecancellingheadphones.Theydon’tbreaknew
ground,butthey’reprobablythebeston-earwireless
headphonesforanyonewithaniPhone.
Designandcomfort
Ifyou’refamiliarwiththeBeatsSoloheadphoneline,
you’llhaveagoodideawhattoexpectfromtheSolo
Pros.They’reon-earheadphoneswiththick,densepads
thatcomeinavarietyofcolours–notasmanyasthe
Solo^3 nowdo,butstill,it’saveritablerainbowarray.You
getwhite,black,grey,red,andtwoshadesofblue.
Ihaveaverysmallhead.Everypairofheadphones
Ihavearesetassmallastheywillgo.TheBeatsSolo
Prosarenoexception,buttheyarestillcomfortable
towearevenforseveralhours.Theearpadsarethick
anddense,butnotatallstiff.IfI’mwearingglasses,
myrightearstartstogetalittlesoreafterawhile,but
that’saproblemIseemtohavewithanypairofon-ear
headphones,nomatterthebrandordesign.
IhadcolleagueRomanLoyola,whohasthelargest
headofanyoneIknow(hatsize 7 3/4),trythemonfor
acouplehours.Hehadtoadjustthemtomaximumsize
andtheywerestillafewmillimetresshorterthanhe
wouldhaveliked(aproblemhesaysisnotuniqueto