The Beats Solo Buds fall short in many areas, making them a perplexing choice in the competitive TWS market of 2024. Despite their excellent fit and portability, they lack essential features like Active Noise Cancellation, multipoint connectivity, and an IP rating. The absence of a battery in the charging case is particularly disappointing. While the sound quality is passable for casual listeners, it doesn’t meet the expectations set by the price tag of ₹6,900. Overall, the Beats Solo Buds offer limited value for money and miss out on many modern conveniences.
Apple-owned Beats recently debuted four new audio products in India to much fanfare. Until now, Beats audio products were available in India only through third-party retailers. However, with these new launches, Apple is now selling Beats products directly to Indian consumers. I recently reviewed the Beats Pill portable speaker (review), and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.
Naturally, I was excited to try the Beats Solo Buds, but my excitement quickly fizzled out when I learned just how many corners are cut. There’s no Active Noise Cancellation, multipoint connectivity, IP rating, and most shockingly, no battery inside the charging case. Given the state of the TWS market in 2024, it’s a perplexing launch, where even budget products have—pardon my French—a sh$t tonne of premium features. So, let’s delve into my full review of the Beats Solo Buds to see if these earbuds have any redeeming qualities.
Beats Solo Buds Review: Build and Design
I think the build is one of the few redeeming qualities of the Beats Solo Buds. Given the case has no battery, it’s one of the smallest you can find on the market; so, you can easily carry them wherever you go. The case (with the earbuds tucked in) weighs merely 22 g, so portability is a major positive here. The case is made entirely of plastic and feels well-built. The design is nothing to write home about, but it’s functional.
The pill-shaped case features the Beats logo on the top and a USB C charging cable on the back. There’s no LED battery indicator or pairing button, but to be fair, the pairing process is extremely simple. More on that later.
As for the fit, these are one of the most comfortable pairs of TWS earbuds I’ve used in a while. The fit is extremely snug despite the lack of silicone wings. Given the snug fit, the passive isolation is excellent, which somewhat softens the blow of the lacking ANC.
However, the earbuds miss out on any official IP rating, so they’re not safe to wear in the gym or out in the rain. Overall, the Beats Solo Buds score high in portability and fit, but it misses out on a lot of creature comforts like an LED battery indicator and an official IP rating. But that’s not all it’s missing…
What features?
There’s not much to say here. The Beats Solo Buds miss out on pretty much every feature you’ve come to expect from a good pair of TWS earphones in 2024. Even ones costing ₹1,000.
Let’s list out everything the Beats Solo Buds lack: Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, LED indicators, a battery inside the charging case, an IP rating, customisable controls, an equaliser in the app, high-resolution codecs support, on-ear detection, multipoint connectivity, wireless charging, low latency mode… do we need to go on?
The most glaring omission is the lack of a battery inside the charging case. Yes, the earbuds offer an impressive 18-hour battery life, but excluding a case battery, even for just one additional charge, seems unreasonable. Many earbuds with 8-10 hours of playtime offer 3-4 extra charges via their case, providing up to 40 hours of use. In comparison, this feels inadequate.
The Beats app is equally basic. Aside from checking the battery, renaming your earbuds, and choosing between volume control or voice assistant, there’s little else. There’s no sound customisation via equaliser or the ability to tweak controls.
On the plus side, fast pairing is supported on both Android and iOS and features like Find My and Find My Device are handy. But at ₹6,900, the lack of essential features for the price-conscious Indian market is hard to overlook.
Beats Solo Buds Review: Performance
The Beats Solo Buds come with 8.2 mm dynamic drivers and support SBC and AAC codecs, but the sound quality is middling at best. Additionally, the absence of higher-quality codecs like aptX or LDAC further hampers the audio experience on Android devices, which generally struggle with AAC.
The sound quality of the Beats Solo Buds is passable for casual listeners but it has notable limitations. The emphasis on the sub-bass from 20 Hz – 250 Hz, and the upper mids and highs from the 1 kHz – 4 kHz range leads to an imbalance in the overall sound quality. For instance, while vocals are more prominent, instruments like piano are subdued.
The lack of attention to the upper treble and low mids causes certain frequencies to get lost. Drum cymbals and higher-pitched sounds, for example, are much quieter, which can make the music feel less dynamic.
Moreover, the earbuds’ strong focus on upper mid-range and high frequencies makes them less ideal for long listening sessions. If you crank up the volume too high, this emphasis can feel overwhelming or even harsh, especially in songs with heavy vocal or guitar presence.
Ultimately, while the Beats Solo Buds deliver a V-shaped sound that will satisfy many mainstream users, they fall short for those seeking the clarity and balance found in higher-end audiophile earbuds.
As for the microphones, the Beats Solo Buds fall behind here too. I ended up sounding very hollow on calls and even in voice recordings. Additionally, if you take calls outdoors, the earphones don’t do a good job of dampening environmental noise.
Beats Solo Buds Review: Battery Life
As mentioned before, the Beats Solo Buds’ case has no battery, so it solely relies on the batteries inside the earbuds. In my testing, at 70% volume, the earbuds lasted 16 hours and 35 minutes. The lack of a charging case also means you cannot charge the earphones when you’re using them. The move to not include a battery in the case is very odd and it will likely confuse users who are used to getting a few additional recharges from their TWS earbuds’ cases.
The Beats Solo Buds support fast charging. A 5-minute charge provides 1 hour of playback time, which is pretty speedy.
Should you buy it?
The Beats Solo Buds fall short in many areas, making them a perplexing choice in the competitive TWS market of 2024. Despite their excellent fit and portability, they lack essential features like Active Noise Cancellation, multipoint connectivity, and an IP rating. The absence of a battery in the charging case is particularly disappointing. While the sound quality is passable for casual listeners, it doesn’t meet the expectations set by the price tag of ₹6,900. Overall, the Beats Solo Buds offer limited value for money and miss out on many modern conveniences.
Beats Solo Buds Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | |
| Market Status: |
Key Specifications
Dimensions
2.05 x 1.85 x 1.9 cm
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Playback time
18 Hours
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Dhriti Datta
Perpetually sporting a death stare, this one can be seen tinkering around with her smartphone which she holds more dear than life itself and stuffing her face with copious amounts of bacon. View Full Profile
