The main updates of the popular over-ear headphones are completely under the hood.
When Beats unveiled the Solo 3 in 2016, the main feature was the inclusion of Apple’s W1 audio chip. This allowed seamless pairing with Apple devices, which greatly facilitated the life of iPhone, Mac and iPad owners. In addition to the noise-canceling Solo Pro in 2019, Beats had not updated the Solo line for almost eight years and now brings its popular over-ear headphones up to today’s standards. Beats today announced the Solo 4, a set of familiar cans with significant updates to audio quality and battery life. But like other devices, the company preferred its own audio platform to Apple’s Air Pod chip.
Beats Solo 4
Beats has significantly updated the audio quality and battery life of the Solo 4, but the design needs to be updated.
What’s new on the Solo 4 Beats?
Beats says that he has reworked the Audio of Solo 4 for “incredible hi-fi acoustics”. “This includes new custom-made 40 mm converters that offer “exceptional clarity and range” due to minimal delay and distortion. The company explained that the change also resulted in an improved high-frequency response compared to the Solo 3. Beats says the Solo 4 is the only headphone with passive tuning, so you get the same audio quality when listening wirelessly as when the battery runs out and you have to use the 3.5mm jack.
Spatial Audio was available on the Solo 3, but Beats went a step further on the Solo 4 by adding a custom spatial sound with dynamic head tracking. This is the process that Apple has developed for its AirPods, which uses your iPhone’s camera to create a personalized audio profile adapted to the shape of your ears. The effectiveness of head tracking to improve spatial audio may depend on your personal preferences and the content, but the addition brings the Solo 4 up to date with other audio products from Beats (and Apple).
Another big upgrade is the battery life. The Solo 3 already offered 40 hours of gameplay for a fee, but Beats managed to get another 10 hours out of the Solo 4. This is of course the cover with a volume Of about 50% with Spatial Audio disabled (45 hours with Audio enabled). The Fast Fuel fast powered function now offers you up to five hours of use in 10 minutes. That’s two hours longer than Solo 3.
As Apple has done with most of its products, Beats has switched to USB-C to charge the Solo 4. This wired connection also provides lossless sound, as long as you are listening to content compatible with a supported device. Similar to other current Beats products, the Solo 4 swaps Apple’s chips for the company’s proprietary platform. In this matter, the W1 has been replaced on the Solo 3, but there is still deep integration with iOS, macOS and iPad OS. And the company’s recent efforts to better serve Android users continue on the Solo 4.
Beats has upgraded the Solo 4’s microphones, although they are used exclusively for calls, as there is no active noise cancellation (ANC) here. Specifically, the company claims to have replaced analog microphones with beamforming digital MEMS microphones, which improves the quality of voice recording in various environments. Beats has also added a noise learning algorithm that targets your voice while action background noise and wind.
