Beats has relaunched its ‘Solo’ earphones, perhaps its best-known line.
The Beats Solo 4 are a new addition to the line-up that has gone without an update for more than seven years, despite being the company’s bestselling headphone. While the Solo range is perhaps Beats’ best-known headphones, they have been largely neglected and have gone without the technology that has come to the rest of the company’s products.
Updates include new drivers in the earphones, and USB-C for both charging and higher quality music, and a re-engineered hardware design that Beats said would improve the sound. They also get updates from other Apple and Beats headphones, including personalised spatial audio.
The Beats Solo 4 cost £199 or $199. They are available now.
Alongside the headphones, Beats has released new Solo Buds, which put true wireless earphones in a cheap and tiny package that Beats said was its smallest earphone ever. They cost £79 or $79 and will be available in June.
They do lose out on some key features from Beats’ and parent company Apple’s other earphones, such as noise cancellation. But they do include some smart features including smart switching across devices and Find My support.
Beats claimed that “custom-build acoustic architecture” meant that the earbuds would still sound big despite their small size and relatively cheap price.
“Our newly expanded Solo line delivers remarkable value, offering exceptional sound quality, battery life and comfort in our most portable designs,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music, Apple TV+, sports, and Beats.
“Beats Solo 4 takes our bestselling headphone to the next level with outstanding performance upgrades, and the all-new Beats Solo Buds pack impressive power in our smallest product yet.”
