I was out on my first evening walk with the Beats Solo Buds when I noticed something was really different from what I was used to. I could hear the workers setting up the Durga Puja Pandal in our society yard, the traffic a distance away and even some strays expressing their discomfort at my intrusion. Then it dawned on me, I was using a truly wireless earphone without noise cancellation after a really long time. The past year of so of my reviewing life has been as if there is no other option. But the Beats Solo Buds wants you to look at regular earbuds too as something that still makes sense.
The Beats Buds Solo are among the most compact earphones I have seen with an oblong charging case that will easily be forgotten inside a denim pocket. The earbuds are even more compact and fit inside your ears easily. In fact, many won’t realise that you have these buds on and will strike up a conversation with you. So there is no advantage here for introverts who think earphones will deter unnecessary communication with the outside world.
On the surface of the EarPods are tactile buttons that let you play/pause or just long press to call up Siri. You can use these for volume controls too by changing the settings in the settings of the iPhone where this shows up as a native accessory. On Android, you will need to download the app. But there is no equaliser in the settings here. This where you notice how deeply the Beats Solo Buds are integrated with the Apple ecosystem, from recognising the device when it is near to showing an icon of the product when you take a call on it.
The Beats Solo Buds miss out on active noise cancellation (ANC). (Image Credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express)
When it comes to the sound profile, the Beats Solo Buds is one of the sharpest audio signatures I have heard. It is almost tuned to take the bass away, and feels a bit tinny. With Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean I could hear all the beats, the movements of sound, but the earphones remained partial to the highs. Though I am no fan of bass boosts, I do love the balmy cover the lows give to any composition. But the Solo Buds are rich enough to offer you a range of highs and lows, maybe not the full range I am used to. Also, it does offer spaced out layers for different instruments and vocals.
This sound profile also makes the earphones perfect for listening to a Carnatic classical number, because your focus will be solely on the vocals or the lead instruments. With Thunbam Nergayil, Karthick Iyer’s voice filled my ears, while the violin and mrudangam took the back seat. I really enjoyed how the Beats Solo Buds composed this number. But again, when I deliberately tried something which was high on bass I could really feel something amiss. Now, for a market like India where most brands look at bass over-processed audio profiles, I am not sure this works. What this works for is when you are listening to podcasts or tiring yourself on a long zoom call. This one gives you a perfectly clear audio of the other side. It also helps that on a full charge you get about 18 hours of juice.
At Rs 6,900, the Beats Solo Buds do feel a bit pricey, especially since this does not have noise cancellation. There are many earphones that now offer ANC at this price range. So buy this for the comfort and the compatibility with the Apple ecosystem. If you love bass boost, then this one is not for you. I can recommend this for those who love podcasts, vocal-heavy compositions and take a lot of calls everyday.
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