Beats by Dre Solo3 Wireless Headphones Review

Headphones are a dime a dozen these days… you can get headphones from $20 to $600.  Choosing headphones is personal, and everyone has a preference, whether it’s on-ear, over ear, in ear, noise cancelling or not… and of course sound quality comes into play big time.

I had a chance to test out my first pair of Beats by Dre headphones, these are the Beats Solo3 Wireless.  Beats are slick looking, popular, and expensive… so are they worth the hype? Let’s find out.

Read my B&O Beoplay $600 headphones review

Review: Beats by Dre Solo3

The solo 3 wireless are indeed wireless, though they do come with a cable you can use if the battery runs dry. I think that’s handy, but with these, there’s a 40 hour battery life. They’ve also got fast fuel charging which will give you an additional 2 hours of power on just a 5 minute charge. Super handy if you forgot to charge them and you’ve gotta run.

Beats by Dre Solo3 Set Up

Setting these up was instant.  You connect to them using your device’s Bluetooth menu, and they’re ready to go in seconds. The package comes with that cable I mentioned, a carry case and a charging cord. The headphones will also collapse down so they’re easier to store.

Happily, the Beats by Dre Solo3 Wireless remember which device you’ve connected to previously and as soon as you turn them on they connect automatically.  No fussing with your Bluetooth settings every time like some other headphones I’ve reviewed.

I normally don’t like on-ear headphones. I find they hurt my ears after a while.  But surprisingly, I found these really comfortable. The padding is cushiony and the wrap is soft. The headband is padded to and they’re adjustable of course.

The Solo3 wireless have easy to find controls on the side of the ear cups that let you play/pause your music or control volume. There’s also a built in mic so you can use the phone for hands free calling.

I found the call quality excellent.  It’s very clear, no breakup and folks on the other end said they could hear me just fine when it was quiet.  When I had lots of noise in the background, it was noticeable to callers on the other end. Even when I plugged in the cable with its inline mic, background noise made a phone conversation impossible.

A handy light up battery gauge on the ear cup tells you at a glance how much power you’ve got.

Beats Solo3 headphones sound

So how do they sound?  Excellent. The thick ear cups keep outside noise from bleeding in, which lets you focus on the music.

The bass is outstanding, but not bone rattling… the voice track is crisp and clear and there’s absolutely no hiss or distortion, even at high volumes. Taylor Swift’s crackly, reverb-y Ready for It was clear and fun.  Both 13 and Decades sounded rich and layered, and it was easy to pick out individual instruments. The bass was intense and thumpingly pleasant on Why We Thugs, and Sir Sly’s High. The retro-sounding Feel It Still had crisp vocals alongside deep bass, and nothing sounded muddy or muted.

Full Test Playlist:
13 – Allan Rayman
Feel It Still – Portugal, The Man
Men in Black – Will Smith
Why We Thugs – Ice Cube
Burning Bridges  – Foo Fighters
Ready For It – Taylor Swift
Decades – Matthew Good
High – Sir Sly

I can’t make any complaints about the sound, and in fact I was quite surprised at how good they sounded.  I’ve tried a lot of headphones and these have immediate shot up to one of my top 3 picks. I  would definitely buy a pair of these for myself and I can recommend them.

Overall review of Beats Solo3 headphones

Overall I was pleasantly surprised that Beats Solo 3 wireless actually live up to the hype. They’re not cheap – they sell for about $300CAD from places like Amazon (link below)so they are an investment, but so far they seem like a good one.
Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones – Ultra Violet

Also Read:

1. Review: Bose Quiet Comfort QC45 over ear wireless headphones
2. Review: LG Tone Free truly wireless earbuds with UV sanitizing
3. SleepPhones wireless headphones review
4. JVC HA-S90BN – Review of over-ear headphones