17 oct. 20192 Min
On Tuesday, Apple’s Beats brand introduced the new Beats Solo Pro headphones, the company’s first on-ear headphones with active noise cancellation. The new $300 headphones don’t launch until October 30, but we’ve already had a chance to test them out so check out our video below for our early impressions.
The Solo Pro headphones come in six colors including Black, Gray, and Ivory, and then three colors from the “More Matte Collection” being promoted by Pharrell Williams: Light Blue, Dark Blue, and Red. We have the Dark Blue ones on hand, and they are made of a nice matte plastic with an inside metal adjustment band for durability and a premium feel.
While there’s no power button, there are still a few controls located on the Solo Pro headphones, including playback controls on the right ear cup. Tapping above or below the Beats logo on the ear cup adjusts the volume, while tapping on the logo itself will play/pause or skip tracks.
On the bottom of the left ear cup is a button for toggling through three listening modes: Apple’s proprietary “Pure ANC” noise cancellation mode that debuted on the Beats Studio3 headphones, a new Transparency mode that activates external microphones to draw in ambient sound, and an extended battery life mode where ANC and Transparency are turned off.
Sound quality on the new Solo Pro headphones is solid, and it’s about what you’d expect from a set of Beats cans. They sound a bit better than the Solo3 headphones and are right up there with the Studio lineup, although not quite as immersive due to the on-ear rather than over-ear style. The audio comes through warmly and with above-average low-end, which is typical for Beats headphones.
So what do you think about the new Solo Pro headphones? Are you thinking about picking some up when they launch on October 30, or are there options you think you like better? Let us know in the comments.