Apple has added the Beats Solo 4 and the Beats Solo Buds to its audio accessories line-up. While the former are headphones, the latter are truly wireless earbuds that appear more promising than the Solo 4.
The Solo Buds are currently up for pre-orders and are slated to go on sale in the United States starting June 6. They will be available in four colors — black, purple, gray, and transparent red. Ahead of the buds going on sale, we look at what makes them interesting and why they could be the next big thing from Apple.
1. Aggressive Price
One of the biggest reasons the Solo Buds look like they could make a big splash in the market is their aggressive price tag. Slated to go on sale at $79.99, the Beat Solo Buds are much more affordable than Beats’ Studio Buds and also its top-of-the-line Studio Buds Plus.
However, what helps build its case further is the fact that it will retail at about a $50 discount over Apple’s current best-selling budget TWS, the AirPods 2. As such, at their price, the Beats Solo Buds are positioned as arguably the best budget option for anyone looking to buy a pair of value-for-money TWS earbuds from Apple—especially until the company announces its long-rumored sub $100 AirPods.
2. Long-Lasting Battery Life
Beats Solo Buds also offer the best battery life that’s seen on a Beats TWS earbud to date. Yes, the Solo can go for a whopping 18 hours at a stretch without being connected to a power source. For context, Apple’s AirPods 2 last up to 5 hours on a single charge.
However, there’s a catch. The AirPods 2 comes with a charging case that hides inside its battery. The Solo Buds, on the other hand, do not. So, split over four charging cycles, the AirPods 2 can still give you slightly more runtime.
For most users, the convenience of 18 hours of runtime over one charge and support for features like Fast Fuel, which affords the Beats Solo Buds one hour of playback for a 5-minute charge, would any day be preferable over the hassle of four separate recharges and use cycles of 5 hours.
Another battery and charging advantage the Solo Buds have over the AirPods 2 is that they support charging over the USB-C standard. The AirPods 2, on the other hand, require you to carry a separate lightning cable for them.
3. Compact Case and Ergonomic Design
The Beats Solo Buds also features a charging case that’s the smallest in the Beats line-up — about 40% smaller than the Studio Buds Plus — and is also more compact than the one used by the AirPods 2. Again, this is primarily because the Solo Buds case doesn’t house a battery, which helps it maintain a lean profile.
The Beats Solo Buds also features a more ergonomic design than the AirPods 2. They are compact and do not feature a long stem like the one on the AirPods 2. Beats is also shipping ear tips in four different sizes with the Buds Solo (XS, S, M, and L). This, on paper, should help Beats offer a better fit for a wider audience.
In addition to everything mentioned above, the Beats Solo Buds also feature a custom acoustic architecture with nozzles and laser-cut vents, which Apple claims is designed to relieve pressure inside the ear canal and offer greater comfort for long sessions.
4. Feature-Rich Offering
Despite their aggressive price, the Beats Solo Buds promise good audio performance. Apple claims that the earbuds use dual-layer transducers to minimize micro-distortions across the frequency curve, thereby greatly improving audio fidelity and clarity.
They also offer custom-designed microphones in each earbud that improve calling and, over time, use noise-learning algorithms to improve speech for calls.
And since they do not use Apple Silicon but are still built by Apple, the Solo Buds can offer seamless connectivity between both Apple and Android devices, all while using features such as one-touch pairing, automatic account setup, and Find My Device.
Winner in the Making
Although there are some misses, and Apple appears to have cut some corners by not including an official IP rating or support for ANC—the latter is also missing on the AirPods 2—the Solo Buds look like overall value-for-money kings in the making.
As such, if these claimed numbers stand the test of time, it won’t be unfair to say that the Solo Buds could enjoy a serious advantage over other budget offerings from the Apple-Beats line-up of TWS devices, and, more importantly, its closest competitor in the market, the AirPods 2.
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Last updated on 03 May, 2024
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