Beats Solo3 2019 Headphones Review

These on-ear headphones look identical to the previous model. They have a sleek and curved look with no sharp edges, and a recessed manufacturer's logo is 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: 'Gold,' 'Matte Black,' 'Rose Gold,' 'Satin Silver,' 'Silver,' and 'PRODUCT(RED) Citrus Red.'

The Beats Solo 3 feel decently comfortable. The ear cups are well-padded, but their clamping force can cause fatigue over time, depending on the shape of your head. Their headband doesn't have much padding, so it doesn't feel comfortable enough for long listening sessions as it puts pressure on the top of your head. If you wear glasses, the on-ear fit, in combination with the clamping force, can cause discomfort when your ears are pressed against the arms of the glasses.

These headphones have alright 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 you know when you've properly entered a command. However, the headphones lack any L/R indication on the ear cups, making 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 have hinges to 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, and the ear cups don't rotate lay flat either.

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 minor falls but won't shield them from water damage or moderate drops. It's also pretty bulky, which makes it hard to take them 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.

The 2019 model of the Beats Solo 3 have a stable fit, just like the last generation model. If you're listening to audio at your desk or during a walk in the park, they won't move around or shift much in positioning. 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 like box jumps, 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. While the treble response isn't recessed, due to the tuning's low-end emphasis, the cymbals and upper harmonics sound warm and less detailed. Unfortunately, their companion app doesn't offer any way to customize their sound. If you're looking for more neutral sounding on-ears, you'll want to check out the Beats Solo 4 Wireless, which are the next generation of these headphones.

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 bloated.

These headphones have very good mid accuracy. There's 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, an effect made more noticeable by the exaggerated bass. However, the high-mid is very neutral, resulting in clear and present vocals and instruments.

The treble accuracy is excellent. Harmonics and sibilants like T and S sounds and cymbals, sound detailed and clear.

These headphones have satisfactory peaks and dips performance. The left and right drivers are mismatched in the low-bass and mid-bass, which means that the left driver produces more thump and rumble than the right driver. Luckily, 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. Overall, the headphones don't demonstrate especially impressive control over their sound profile.

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 and Beats Studio Buds + True 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 impressive. All frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in a clean 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.

This is expected for on-ear headphones with passive-only isolation because they rely on clamping force to press against your ears to seal out noise, along with the isolating properties of the ear pads. Too much force and headphones become uncomfortable, even if they possibly isolate better. Over-ears like the Beats Studio Pro Wireless demonstrate that sealing around the entire ear isolates better.

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 will likely hear it.

The integrated mic's recording quality is okay. Your voice sounds a bit thin, slightly nasal, and muffled. The audio quality has audible compression. 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 great battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to have 40 hours of continuous playback, and we measured just over 38 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, according to the manufacturer. 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. They also use the older micro USB standard for charging, which might be annoying if all your devices have the updated USB-C standard and you don't want to carry another charging cable.

These headphones have a disappointing companion app. The Beats app is a built-in pop-up on iOS devices that displays basic battery information when you first connect with your device, which is convenient but 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. There's a Find My Beats feature. 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 and run on an old Bluetooth version, they have a W1 chip, making it easy to seamlessly pair with other Apple products and switch between Apple devices on the same iCloud account. If you're looking for a pair of on-ears with Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, it's worth checking out the JBL Live 670NC Wireless instead. Owing to the W1 chip, they have the least audio lag with Apple devices, although you'll still experience video out of sync with audio. If you want to use them with PCs, you'll notice a lot more latency, which can be disruptive when streaming video. Some devices and apps 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, which is an odd omission.

These headphones are fully compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs for audio and microphone support. You can also use a 1/8" TRS cable to connect them via analog, but this cable doesn't come 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 need to buy this cable separately. If you need to strategize with friends, you'll need headphones with a compatible mic.

You can only use these headphones wired with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. You can only receive audio, and the cable isn't included in the box. You won't have mic support if you need to speak with friends during gameplay.