That’s not to say the Solo Buds sound bad. They certainly tend toward the brighter side in the highs and mids, but their sound is accessible and never got excessively treble-y in my testing. Dynamics feel rather flat, but there’s some decent detail here, and they completely avoid the kind of muddy low register common in so many budget options. You’ll find a clear delineation of each register across a wide range of tracks and genres.
They also support spatial audio with compatible videos and music on services like Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, though they don’t offer the same head tracking common with those features, designed to virtually anchor the listening position around you.
I took several calls with the Solo Buds and received no complaints. Beats says the earbuds employ a noise-learning algorithm with “advanced logic” that focuses on your voice and suppresses “unwanted external noises.” While I wasn’t able to test them in especially windy conditions, I did try making a call under a bathroom fan. The caller said my voice sounded a bit like a speakerphone call, but the fan noise wasn’t audible.
Minimal extras
It’s not uncommon to find that the Solo Buds have sound quality that hovers around the “good” level for their price, but that makes their lack of other features harder to fix. Unlike many new options at this price point (and even at prices well below), you won’t get noise cancellation to muffle disturbances or transparency mode to keep you aware of what’s going on around you.
Photography: Ryan Waniata
Also missing are many of the features that are already standard on Apple, such as sensors to pause sound when you take out an earbud, invoking the “Hey Siri” voice assistant, or auto-switching to seamlessly switch between iCloud devices. They do offer some very useful Apple-exclusive features, such as Find My support to keep track of them, audio sharing, and one-tap pairing, which automatically appears on your iPhone when you first open them.
Like other Beats headphones, the Solos can switch between devices on Android, with some handy tricks like automatic switching between Google cloud-connected devices, as well as the same one-tap pairing and Find My Device features you get on iOS. The Beats app for Android provides some basic setup tweaks and firmware updates.
It’s nothing, but it’s a pretty short list when you consider the litany of extras Soundcore offers on the A40 or the even better-equipped Liberty 4 NC (8/10, WIRED recommends), with everything from noise cancellation and transparency mode to multiband EQ control and multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Even granting the possibility of a sound upgrade for those who might find a better-suited pair of earbuds than I did, the Solo Buds are a tough sell with so many budget options and plenty more on the way.
If you’re looking for earbuds that don’t fit into any ecosystem and come in the prettiest case in the galaxy, the Solo Buds are the ideal choice at a modest price that’s sure to drop quickly. Otherwise, you’ll get more for your money elsewhere.