Beats Solo3 2019 Wireless Headphones Review

These on-ear headphones look identical to the Beats Solo3 2018 Wireless. They have a sleek and curved look with no sharp edges, as well as a recessed manufacturer's logo on either ear cup. They were originally available in several multicolor designs as part of the now discontinued 'Club Collection'. Since then, they're only available in four colors: 'Matte Black', 'Rose Gold', 'Satin Silver' and 'PRODUCT(RED) Citrus Red'.

These are decently comfortable headphones. The ear cups are well-padded, but their clamping force can cause fatigue over time, depending on the shape of your head. Their headband also doesn't feel comfortable enough for long listening sessions as it puts pressure on the top of your head.

These headphones have reasonable controls. Most of the physical controls are on the outside of the left ear cup and are built into the logo's design. They feel very responsive and clicky, which helps know when you've properly entered a command. However, the headphones lack any L/R indication on the ear cups, which can make it difficult to quickly know which side the controls are on.

The inner 'b' button:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls.
• Double press: Skips the track forward.
• Triple press: Skips the track backward.
• Press and hold: Activates voice assistant.

The outer circle button:

• Single press on the top side: Raises the volume.
• Single press on the bottom side: Lowers the volume.

Power button on the right ear cup:

• Single press: Turns the headphones on and off.
• Press and hold: Puts them into pairing mode.

These headphones have okay portability. They fold up slightly to take up less space, making it easier to slide them into your bag. However, they're still bulky, especially if you put them in their case.

These headphones have a good soft case. It has a zipper to keep your headphones fully enclosed, and the material feels thick. It'll protect your headphones from dust, scratches, and the occasional drop, but it won't shield them from water damage. It's also pretty bulky, which makes it hard to take on the go.

These headphones have good build quality. They're made from sturdy and premium-feeling plastic and have metal joints for folding. The faux leather padding also feels plush. However, the outer shell feels a little rigid and could crack if bent.

These headphones have a stable fit. They clamp well on your ears, so they don't move too much while on your head. They also don't have any cables to catch on something and pull them off your head. However, they're not the best choice for high-intensity workouts as they can fall off with large head movements.

• Beats Solo 3 headphones
• Carrying case
• Carabiner clip
• Micro-USB to USB-A cable
• Manual

The Beats Solo 3 have a bass-heavy sound profile that delivers intense thump and boom to genres like EDM and hip-hop. The extra bass clutters vocals and lead instruments, which are already nudged back in the mix. Unfortunately, their companion app doesn't offer any way to customize their sound.

The Beats Solo 3 have a good frequency response consistency. If you have thick hair or wear glasses, you may experience a slight drop in bass. Treble delivery is more noticeably inconsistent depending on fit and position, though. However, once you get a good fit, you can achieve a more consistent sound.

These headphones have passable bass accuracy. It's overemphasized across the entire range, so EDM songs like Hand in the Fire by Mr. Oizo feat. Charli XCX have lots of thump and rumble. However, if you don't like extra bass, you'll find your mixes sound overly muddy.

These headphones have good mid accuracy. There's a bit of overemphasis continuing from the bass range into the low-mid, making mixes sound muddy and cluttered. A dip in the mid-mid also nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. However, the high-mid is very neutral, resulting in clear and present vocals and instruments.

The treble accuracy is excellent. Lead instruments, like horns in the intro to the song, Dr. Worm by They Might Be Giants sound detailed and present. Sibilants, like cymbals, sound crisp and clear.

These headphones have satisfactory peaks and dips performance. The left and right drivers are mismatched in the low-bass, which means that the left driver produces more thump and rumble than the right driver. Outside of the bass range, the L/R drivers are fairly well-matched. There's a big peak between the high-bass to the low-mid, resulting in a boomy, muddy sound. The dip in the mid-mid pushes vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix, while a couple of peaks in the low-treble add a bit of harshness. Another peak in the mid-treble makes sibilants piercing.

The Beats Solo 3 have great imaging. Although we've tested a couple of headphones from Beats that have less than stellar imaging performances, like the Beats Studio3 Wireless, these products seem to be outliers. Generally, Beats has good quality control and ergonomics, which ensure proper driver matching. Our unit's L/R drivers are also well-matched. The weighted group delay is below the audibility threshold, resulting in a tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. The drivers are also very well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency response, which is important to accurately place objects like voices and instruments in the stereo image.

The Beats Solo 3 have a poor passive soundstage. Due to their on-ear design, they have limited interaction with your outer ear, which is one of the factors in creating a large and out-of-head soundstage. As a result, sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you. These headphones also have a closed-back design, so their soundstage is perceived as less open and spacious than open-back headphones.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is great. All frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in a clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid for these test settings.

The Beats Solo 3 have poor noise isolation performance. They block out almost nothing from the bass-range and struggle to cut down mid-range noise, which will frustrate commuters looking for a reprieve from loud bus engines and chatty passengers. They do a bit better with higher-pitched noise, like the whir of a PC fan.

These headphones have a mediocre leakage performance. A significant portion of their leakage is in the treble range, so escaping audio sounds thin. If you like to listen to your audio at a high volume, people around you are likely to hear it.

The integrated mic's recording quality is alright. Your voice sounds natural, though a bit thin and muffled. The person on the other end of the line may have a little bit of trouble hearing you clearly.

The mic's noise handling is sub-par. It struggles to separate your voice from ambient noise, even in moderately loud environments. If you take a call from a busy street, your voice is drowned out.

These headphones have impressive battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to have 40 hours of continuous playback, and we measured just under 39 hours, so they'll last through a few workdays without needing a recharge. However, battery life can vary depending on use. They also have a 'Fast Fuel' quick-charge feature, which can deliver three hours of continuous battery life after being charged for five minutes. You can use these headphones wired via their AUX port if you want to save power too. Unfortunately, a 1/8" TRS cable isn't included in the box, which is disappointing. If you're looking for longer-lasting on-ears, consider the Sony WH-CH520 Wireless.

These headphones have a disappointing companion app. The Beats app is a pop-up on iOS devices that displays basic battery information when you first connect with your device, but it doesn't offer much more. It doesn't come with a graphic EQ or presets, so you can't adjust the sound to suit your tastes. You can download this app for Android, but it offers the same minimal functionality.

These headphones have satisfactory Bluetooth connectivity. While they don't have multi-device or NFC pairing, they have a W1 chip, making it easy to seamlessly pair with other Apple products. While their latency is high on PCs, so they're not ideal for streaming video, their latency on iOS and Android is lower, so you can watch content without experiencing lip sync issues. Some devices and apps seem to compensate for latency differently.

These headphones only come with a USB-A to micro-USB charging cable. However, while they have an AUX port and support an analog connection, they don't come with a 1/8" TRS cable.

These headphones are fully compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. You can also use a 1/8" TRS cable to connect them via analog, but this cable isn't included in the box, and you can only receive audio.

You can connect these headphones to PS4 and PS5 consoles via an analog connection. However, you can only receive audio, and you need to buy this cable separately.

You can only use these headphones wired with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. You can only receive audio, and the cable itself isn't included in the box.