In a departure from their early noise cancelling models, Beats hit the nail on the head with its on-ear ANC technology in the Beats Solo Pro. It uses real-time audio calibration to automatically adjust noise cancelling intensity. A big problem with on-ears is their inability to passively isolate listeners from their surroundings. If you can’t get a good seal with the headphones, ANC is usually a lost cause.
You will clearly hear individual instruments and elements across genres. This is backed up by long battery life at 40 hours without ANC and 22 hours with ANC. Users can also get 3 hours of use from a 10 minute charge. 1Testing conducted by Apple in August 2019 beats studio3 using preproduction Solo Pro units and software paired with iPhone XS units and prerelease software. 10-Minute charge testing conducted with drained Solo Pro that were charged for 10 minutes, then audio playback was started until Solo Pro stopped playback.
If you have glasses, comfortable listening time is halved. Beats and Apple have teamed up to give us the Beats Solo Pros. Thanks to Apple’s H1 chip, these headphones also give you seamless pairing and integration with iOS devices, all in a sophisticated take on Beats brightly colored aesthetic. If you’re after great-sounding on-ear or over-ear headphones but are happy to forgo the active noise cancelling, the Audio-Technica ATH-M50XBT (£180) are among our favourites. The wired-only model (£110) is even cheaper still, as is the equally excellent-sounding Audio Technica ATH-M40X (£70).
The arms fold into thirds to collapse down but the thick ear cups means they do not get quite as small as I would like for travelling. They ship with a soft recycled-felt case for protection but they feel robust enough to just toss in a bag. The £269.95 Beats Solo Pro blends the design of the firm’s existing Solo with the wired EP headphones for an attractive, modern and fairly sleek design. The call quality was noticeably better on both ends when I switched over to the Bose 700.
Although the sound signature remains bass-heavy, as is emblematic of Beats, it rarely overpowers vocal reproduction. Under the left earcup, you’ll find another button that lets you toggle ANC on and off with a double press while a single press activates transparency mode. This is handy for increasing awareness of your surroundings so you don’t have to take them off or pause the music when, for example, crossing the road.
Just tap the small button on the bottom of the left ear cup to toggle. The aforementioned joints mean that the headphones fold up nicely and won’t take up too much space in a bag. Beats bundles a stylish fabric soft case to protect the Solo Pros from getting scuffed during transit. You also get a Lightning charger, because Apple refuses to join the big, beautiful world of USB Type-C.
The Beats Solo Pro offer better overall noise cancelling performance than the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2, but this is under optimal conditions. Since the Solo Pro is an on-ear headset, it’s unlikely that you’ll maintain a consistent fit as it jostles on your head as you walk around. If you want more reliable, albeit slightly less effective noise-cancelling, you beats studio3 should get the Surface Headphones 2. Microsoft’s headphones feature an over-ear design and they apply much less force to the sides of your head than the Beats on-ear headphones. If you want a headset for conference calls, few options are better than the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2, because they have very good microphone quality and an onboard mute switch.
The device sits tightly in place, creating an acoustic seal which reduces background noise and prevents your music from leaking out. The higher the high-frequency response, the clearer and crispier the treble. The lower the low-frequency response, the stronger and juicier the bass.