LONDON: The Beats Solo2 wireless headphones will set you back AU$399.95 that’s an extra $140 on top of the asking price for the standard Beats Solo2 headphones. There’s no Australia Tax at play here once you allow for the US exchange rate and GST, they’re just expensive headphones.
Depending on your budget, you might consider another $140 is a lot to spend just so you don’t need to mess around with a cable. Then again it might seem a reasonable investment if an audio cable is a serious inconvenience during your daily commute.
Cut the cable
These are closed-back headphones with on-ear pads which press against your ears, rather than larger over-the-ear pads which tend to sit around your ears. This makes them more portable but less comfortable than more bulky over-the-ear headphones.
There’s no active noise-cancellation, although the closed-back design does help muffle background noise. The trade-off is that they can get a little warm and uncomfortable after a while, not helped by the fact they sit a little tight on your head. They might loosen up a bit once you’ve owned them for a while, but fresh out of the box they can be a bit uncomfortable to wear for hours at a time. They’re fine for a daily commute but perhaps not the best option for a long-haul flight.
The headphones have built-in power, volume and play/pause buttons on the back of the cans, plus a built-in mic for hands-free calls. There are advanced features – such as a double-press to skip tracks – but they’re hit and miss when you’re not using an iGadget or Mac, as you might expect now that Apple owns Beats.
Wired for sound
One shortcoming of Bluetooth headphones is that you’re reliant on the built-in battery, which is good here for 12 hours between charges via the a microUSB port (cable supplied, but no AC power adaptor). Thankfully when the battery is dead you can fall back on the supplied “RemoteTalk” 3.5mm audio cable, which features inline volume and play/pause buttons, plus a built-in mic for hands-free calls. Once again, the advanced features are hit and miss for non-Apple users – there was an Android-friendly RemoteTalk cable but it seems to have disappeared from the Beats website. While the sound quality is still impressive, non-Apple users are certainly entitled to take the hint and spend their money elsewhere.
When you’re connected to an iGadget via the cable you can hold down the play button to call up Siri and talk to her via the cable’s built-in mic. This doesn’t work when you’re connected to the same device via Bluetooth, as the play button doubles as the wireless connect button.
Listen up
The Beats Solo2 wireless are great all-rounders for people with varied taste in music. The headphones deliver a vibrant high-end underpinned by solid bass which is full-bodied but not overwhelming or murky. Some people like their sound bass-heavy while others cherish the mid-range or high-end and listen out for every instrument in the ensemble. Whatever your taste, the Beats Solo2 wireless won’t leave you disappointed.
It’s worth mentioning that the Solo2 range dropped aptX support in favour of SBC – once again putting the interests of iGadget owners first. That said, there’s no discernible drop in sound quality when playing music from an aptX-compatible Android Bluetooth smartphone rather than an iPhone.
So what’s the verdict?
The hefty price tag will be an instant deal-breaker for some music fans but, if your budget will stretch and you’re prepared to pay a premium for Bluetooth, you won’t be disappointed with the Beats Solo2 wireless in terms of sound quality. If you only care about thumping bass then you might shop around for headphones which deliver more low-end oomph, but if you’re after well-balanced sound for every occasion then the Beats Solo2 wireless should win you over.
