Beats Solo3 Wireless Review

For better or for worse, Beats might be the most well-known audio brand out right now. When Apple got rid of the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 all those years ago, they also announced the Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones. Besides getting a pair of AirPods, these were one of the only ways to try out its W1 chip (now the H1 chip in newer headphones). This chip is supposed to enhance the Bluetooth experience if you have an iOS device. So does it? And how about that classic Beats sound signature, is it still there? There’s a lot of questions to be answered. So let’s dig into them with the Solo3 Wireless.

Editor’s Note: This post was updated on January 5th, 2020 to include links to new information. 

What comes in the box with the Beats Solo3 Wireless?

The Beats Solo3 Wireless comes with the headphones, a charging case, a 3.5mm audio cable, carrying case, and carabiner.

Opening the box you’ll get the classic “change the way you hear sound” message. Pulling that out you’ll get a small softshell carrying case and in there you’ll find the headphones. You’ll also get the 3.5mm audio cable with inline mic and remote, a micro USB charging cable, a small carabiner clip, and of course a small sleeve with the instructions, a Beats sticker, and warranty information.

How’s the build on the Beats Solo3 Wireless?

These headphones have a black glossy finish and are made of a lightweight plastic.

The Solo3 Wireless look almost identical to the previous Solo2 headphones. If you’ve seen those before you won’t be surprised by anything. We’re looking at the glossy black color here. Just a fair warning, they do seem to have a thing for fingerprints, but they also come in a bunch of other color options which is one thing Beats has always been good at. These on-ears are still made of a hard plastic all around and have really nice pleather earcups. I found the padding to be particularly great because the headband fits a little too snug for my taste, but the plush earcups definitely make up for it even if they don’t do a good job with isolation at all.

Now that said, these still aren’t the most comfortable headphones I’ve worn by a longshot. One thing I’m still not a fan of is the plastic padding on the top of the headband. I found that it has such a strong grip that it sometimes pulled my hair when I was taking off the headphones. That said, it’s that same grippy plastic that keeps them from flying off every time you shake your head. So it’s both good and bad. While these headphones do hold up to your average twists and turns, they still feel too brittle in my opinion. The included soft shell case is great for portability, but not for protection. If you’re thinking of picking these up I would definitely consider getting a hardshell case for these.

The Solo3 Wireless headphones have hinges for folding down to a more compact size.

The headphones do fold down to a very compact size which is good news if you’re a commuter. On the side of the left earcup you’ll find a single multifunction button with the Beats “b” logo. The bottom of that earcup has a 3.5mm input so you can hardwire in the included audio cable. One thing that takes some getting used to is that the right earcup also has an identical “b” on it. But it isn’t a button and I found myself accidentally pressing it on several occasions with no results obviously. What you will find on the right earcup is the power and Bluetooth pairing button along with a micro USB input for charging.

How’s the connection strength?

This is where things take a turn and the Beats Solo3 begin to show off their new features. This section might be a bit longer than usual just because there’s so much to talk about here thanks to that W1 chip. Pairing to my iPhone 6s was flawless (Editor’s note: Wow, iPhone 6s. Talk about a throwback). As soon as  I turned on the headphones the pairing card immediately popped up on my phone. All I had to do was hit “Connect” and the headphones were immediately paired to every device on my iCloud account which includes my iPad and Macbook pro. The process has barely changed at all since its inception, so this is one of those features Apple nailed on the first go.

The Beats branding isn’t bad here, with just a light grey logo along the headband and the “B” on the multifunction button on the earcup.

I also found that pairing to the headphones requires the phone to be within a few inches. With two iPhones in pairing mode, the “Connect” card popped up on the phone that was closest to the Beats Solo3. Think of it like pairing via NFC but with a longer range and the added benefit of only having to pair once for your iDevices to all work perfectly.

Technically my iPhone 6s doesn’t even have the new W1 chip which was introduced in the iPhone 7, so how does it work with the Solo 3s that do? Well, the W1 chip is only half of the equation. The other half is on the software side, which Apple pushed through in an iOS10 update. If you have any iOS device after the iPhone 7 you won’t have any issues at all pairing to these. That brings me to the downside of the W1 magic: if you’re on anything other than an iOS device you’re out of luck.

The Beats Solo3 wireless are, as the name implies, wireless. But you can also hard-connect an audio cable if your phone still happens to have a headphone jack.

Connecting to my Nexus 6 was the same old process of going through Bluetooth settings, which isn’t really a big deal but you’re missing out on the coolest features of the W1 chip. As far as playback controls go you’ll get the same experience on both Android or iOS if you’re using them wirelessly. You can tap the multifunction button once to play/pause music or answer/end phone calls. Tapping it twice will skip to the next song, tapping it three times will return to a previous song, and holding it down will access Siri or the Google Assistant.

Thanks to the W1 chip range was also given a huge boost. If the phone is in your pocket or backpack, you won’t have an issue at all. We were able to get to around 100 feet easily without skipping at all. When using them wired you’ll only get full functionality on iOS devices. On Android, you won’t be able to adjust the volume or return to previous tracks using the built-in mic and remote.

How’s the battery life?

So Beats claims that the battery on the new Solo3 Wireless will last you an insane 40 hours. For reference, the previous Solo 2 model lasted only 12 hours. The difference is, again thanks to the new W1 chip. These get pretty loud and testing them on max volume got us about 31.5 hours. So it’s easy to see how you can 40 hours if you listen to music at normal human levels that won’t destroy your hearing. If you do manage to deplete your battery, throwing them back on a charger for five minutes is enough to get you another three hours of battery life.

Let’s talk sound

The Beats Solo3 Wireless have small earpads by nature of being on-ears, so don’t expect any great isolation here.

We did almost all our testing wirelessly over Bluetooth on both Android and iOS devices, but we did do some testing hardwired into an audio interface as well just to see what these could really do when pushed.

Lows

This is Beats we’re talking about. So naturally, the Solo 3s have a pretty strong low end. That said, I found it to be more overpowering than I can usually tolerate. Hip-hop and electronic music, which can usually benefit from a stronger bass, felt way too boomy to me and it made for a pretty unpleasant experience overall.

Mids

Because of the emphasis on bass, the mids also suffered. Listening to Generator ^ Second Floor by Freelance Whales really showcase this issue when the consistent drum kicks come in about 40 seconds into the song. Everything is pushed out of the way when the bass kicks start and the banjo all but disappears. Even the vocals don’t have decent detail until the bass kicks drop out.

Highs

Considering how loud these get Beats did a pretty good job at pulling back the highs. Songs that normally have loud piercing sounds aren’t really painful, but the highs are also really lacking in detail. The finger pick scratches in Naked As We Came by Iron & Wine which usually lend a nice live feel to the song is barely noticeable here.

One thing that’s worth mentioning is that sound leakage is pretty real with these. If you’re listening to them above 60%, the people next to you will probably be able to sing along.

Conclusion

The Beats Solo3 Wireless got me very excited for the future of wireless headphones, just not for the Solo3. Connecting to iOS is a breeze and the benefits of the W1 chip range from a simple pairing process, to an insane battery life. In my opinion, the build and sound quality are both issues, but let’s be honest these are going to fly off the shelves anyway. So at least these come with some real tangible benefits like a crazy long range and amazing battery life. These are quite old now and can usually be found for less than $200, but that’s still pretty expensive for a sub-par pair of headphones with old tech inside.

What are some alternatives to the Beats Solo3 Wireless?

The Beats Solo3 came out a few years ago, and a lot has happened since then. Now all Apple products come with a dedicated H1 chip instead of the older W1 chip and build quality has also improved in newer Beats models. If you’re interested in the Beats Solo3 Wireless still in 2019, it’s worth mentioning some alternatives that you should at least check out as well.

Placing the earbuds back in the charging case is more involved than the Airpods, but still effective.

Firstly, there are obviously the true wireless models that you might want to consider. If you were interested in the Beats Solo3 Wireless to use at the gym, then you might want to check out the new PowerBeats Pro instead. These were designed for athletes with an around-ear hook design that keeps them securely in place, an IPX4 certification that protects them against sweat, a 10+ hour battery life, and a charging case small enough to toss in your gym bag as well.

These are some of the best Beats headphones to date.

If you had your heart set on a pair of on-ears, then the new Beats Solo Pro is an updated version with better build quality, Bluetooth 5.0, and even active noise cancelling to block out the world around you. Of course, there’s no 3.5mm input so make sure that you’re okay with going completely wireless before picking these up, but if you are then you won’t be disappointed. These are the best Beats headphones to date, and it isn’t hard to see why. If you’re looking to see what else there is besides the Beats brand, we also have you covered there. Check out this list we made of some of the best alternatives you can get.