December 2019 • Macworld 53Sony WH-1000XM3. When you can feel something
engage, it’s easier to use without looking at it. I
like to wear noise-cancelling headphone when I do
yard work, too, and touch controls don’t mix with
gardening gloves.
The Beats Solo Pros come with a soft carrying
case that looks like a big fat squat pill. It’s fine for
what it is, but it’s really bare-bones – I would prefer
at least a small pocket inside to hold a charging
cable – and it’s very soft and squishy. It will protect
your headphones for dust and scratches, but not
from getting crushed by all the other junk in your
bag. A slightly rigid case would have given me a
little a little more peace of mind.
Sound quality
Beats have a reputation for being bass-y. ‘Bass
forward’ is the charitable description. With the
Solo^3 , Beats dialled back the bass boost a little,
but it was still obvious. I was pleasantly surprised
to find that the tuning of the Beats Solo Pros have
more in common with the company’s Studio line.
There’s no overwhelming bass at all. Of course,
tracks that are bass-heavy do have the appropriate
thump (at least, as smaller on-ear headphones go),
but at no point does the low end crowd out the mid
or high frequencies.
My headphone and speaker test playlist is
comprised of all sorts of music: modern pop,
hip-hop, R&B, classical, 1990s rock, metal, you
name it. No one genre stood out as exceptionally
well represented – everything simply sounded