Beats says you can expect up to 22 hours of battery life with ANC on and up to 40 hours with it turned off. During my tests, I was able to use the Solo Pro for almost a full work week before I needed to reach for the charging cable. That was with about three to four hours of daily use listening to music and podcasts and dialing to conference calls. Since you turn these off by folding them up, I didn’t always power them down when I took a break, but I still managed nearly five days of use. When it’s time to plug in, a quick-charge or Fast Fuel feature will give you three hours of playback in 10 minutes.
After 5 seconds, the indicator light started flashing and I was sharing my music with my coworker. Using the iPhone, I controlled the volume and song choice, which was cool. What wasn’t as beats studio3 fun was the fact that my coworker heard me typing on the keyboard. IPhone owners will benefit the most from the Apple AirPods Max, Apple’s debut over-ear headphones with noise-cancelling.
I like to wear my headphones all day, so I really want a way to turn off the power when the headphones aren’t in use that doesn’t involve taking them off and folding them up. I’ve heard pass-through modes on other ANC headphones, but the Solo Pros may be the best at this to date. When enabled, the headphones allow ambient noise into the soundstage, mixing it into the music. It meant that when I was listening to Big Sean’s “Paradise,” the already aggressive bass line got an assist from the passing C train. For a few seconds, I thought the rumbling from the tracks was a legitimate part of the song.
If you’re taking a call from a busy street, whoever’s on the other end of the line should still be able to hear you well. The Beats Solo Pro are fairly comfortable, but some people may find them too tight. The padding on the cups is thicker than on the Beats Solo Wireless, but they don’t feel plushier against your ears when you put them on. They aren’t that heavy, and the headband does a good job of redistributing the weight of the headphones. The size of the headband can be adjusted, but the extension is quite limited, so these may not fit people with bigger heads.
Those who wear glasses, like me, might notice the pressure a little more, as it can press your glasses into your temples a bit. The design itself is stylish and minimal, with a Beats logo on each earcup, but the matter surfaces otherwise lack much ornamentation. The Beats Solo Pro headphones delivers quality noise cancellation with a bass-forward, but relatively balanced, sound signature. Despite a firm grip, the Solo Pro are among the most comfortable on-ear headphones I have tried. Over-ear headphones are definitely best for extended listening sessions but the Solo Pro stayed comfortable for up to a couple of hours before my ears needed a break.