Following their announcement back in late April, the new Beats Solo Buds earbuds are now available to order ahead of their launch later this week. Priced at $79.99, the Solo Buds offer 18 hours of battery life right in the buds themselves and come in the smallest case ever for a Beats earphone product.
We’ve had a chance to spend a few days with the Beats Solo Buds, and we’ve been pretty impressed with what you get for that budget price point. These are true wireless earbuds with a similar design and fit as the more expensive Studio Buds +, but without some of the more advanced features like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency, hands-free “Hey Siri” support, and auto play/pause ear detection. There’s also no official sweat and water resistance rating, although they should still stand up pretty well to everyday usage.
Even without ANC, the in-ear fit of the Solo Buds does a pretty good job of blocking out exterior noise compared to the standard AirPods that don’t seal in the ear canal, and the audio quality is surprisingly good though definitely a notch below higher-end options. Four ear tip sizes ranging from XS to L are included, so most users should be able to find a good fit and we thought they were reasonably comfortable even during extended usage sessions. Support for Spatial Audio is included, but head-tracking is not.
The tiny case for the Solo Buds is possible due to the fact that it carries no internal battery of its own, meaning it serves only as a storage case and mechanism for charging the buds themselves when they run out of battery. A USB-C port on the back of the case delivers the charge to the buds, but with 18 hours of battery in the buds, you should be good for multiple days of listening before you need to plug the case in to charge them back up.
With no battery on board the case, the whole package is extremely light, weighing under 35 grams with the buds inside. The case is slightly wider than an AirPods Pro case and about the same thickness, but it’s significantly shorter, which makes it even more pocketable, and the flat bottom makes it easy to stand the case up for convenience.
The iconic “b” logo button is present on both buds, and the default functions include the usual press for play/pause, double press to skip forward, and triple press to skip backward. For phone calls, a single press answers a call, while a double tap either ends or rejects a call. A single press and hold on the button activates Siri, but you can customize that gesture in the Settings app so that the two earbuds control volume up and down if you prefer.
While there’s no Apple W or H chip onboard, the proprietary Beats chip platform supports a number of native Apple features such as one-touch pairing with iCloud syncing across your devices, automatic audio handoff to your Apple Watch when you go out of range of your iPhone, Find My support for the last known connected location, and audio sharing. Android users get many of the same features including one-touch pairing with device syncing via your Google account, Find My Device support, and audio switching with multi-point pairing.
Overall, the Beats Solo Buds are shaping up to be a great budget earphone pick if you don’t need the features present on more expensive options. The 18-hour battery life right in the buds is certainly convenient, and they’re supremely portable with their light and tiny case.
In addition to more subdued Matte Black and Storm Gray colors, the Solo Buds are also available in an Arctic Purple shade that’s exclusive to Apple and Target in the U.S., plus a Transparent Red that lets you see into the case a bit. All four colors are available to order now for $79.99, with a launch following this Thursday, June 20.
