REVIEWget that from these headphones. Transparency mode
has a more natural and pleasant sound than the similar
function on most other headphones I’ve tried.Verdict
At £269, the Beats Solo Pros aren’t cheap. That’s a
high price for a pair of simple on-ear, walking-around
headphones and ventures into ‘serious listening cans’
territory. The Beats Solo^3 , with no noise cancelling and
no hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ support, debuted at the same
£269 price, but now cost £90 less. These sound better,
have a nicer design, and active noise cancellation.
For Apple users these are especially nice. The H1
chip means hands-free Siri support, easy AirPod-style
pairing to your iPhone, and syncing to other Apple
devices through iCloud. For non-Apple devices, it’s
just another Bluetooth headset that you have to pair
manually and hold down a button on the earpiece
to bring up your digital assistant. They still
sound as great, but using a Lightning
cable to charge will feel proprietary and
annoying to those who aren’t in the
Apple ecosystem.
The Beats Solo Pros don’t really
do anything new. There’s no
groundbreaking technology on
offer here, and no brilliant
new design. We’ve seen all
these individual features
and functions before, and
the design, while nicely
tweaked from the Solo^3 , isREVIEW
getthatfromtheseheadphones.Transparencymode
hasamorenaturalandpleasantsoundthanthesimilar
functiononmostotherheadphonesI’vetried.Verdict
At£269,theBeatsSoloProsaren’tcheap.That’sa
highpriceforapairofsimpleon-ear,walking-around
headphonesandventuresinto‘seriouslisteningcans’
territory.TheBeatsSolo^3 ,withnonoisecancellingand
nohands-free‘HeySiri’support,debutedatthesame
£269price,butnowcost£90less.Thesesoundbetter,
haveanicerdesign,andactivenoisecancellation.
ForAppleuserstheseareespeciallynice.TheH1
chipmeanshands-freeSirisupport,easyAirPod-style
pairingtoyouriPhone,andsyncingtootherApple
devicesthroughiCloud.Fornon-Appledevices,it’s
justanotherBluetoothheadsetthatyouhavetopair
manuallyandholddownabuttonontheearpiece
tobringupyourdigitalassistant.Theystill
soundasgreat,butusingaLightning
cabletochargewillfeelproprietaryand
annoyingtothosewhoaren’tinthe
Appleecosystem.
TheBeatsSoloProsdon’treally
doanythingnew.There’sno
groundbreakingtechnologyon
offerhere,andnobrilliant
newdesign.We’veseenall
theseindividualfeatures
andfunctionsbefore,and
thedesign,whilenicely
tweakedfromtheSolo^3 ,is