If you believe the rumors, Apple may release new sub-$100 AirPods later this year. But in the meantime, Apple-owned Beats has debuted its own “budget” earbuds, the $80 Solo Buds, which hit stores in early June in four color options.
Announced alongside Beats’ new Solo 4 on-ear headphones, the Solo Buds have a unique feature: their super compact charging case has no built-in battery. Equipped with a USB-C port, it won’t charge your earbuds unless it’s connected to a power source.
The good news is the relatively low-frills buds are rated for up to a whopping 18 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels on a single charge. Additionally, smartphones like the iPhone 15 that have a USB-C port that charges out can be used to charge the earbuds when they’re in their case (many Android devices have USB-C-out charging). According to Beats, a 5-minute charge gives you up to 1 hour of playback.
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The charging case has no battery, but you can charge the buds in their case using your iPhone 15 (and many Android phones) as a power source.
The buds don’t have active noise canceling or hands-free Siri like Beats’ more expensive Studio Buds Plus earbuds. Nor do they have spatial audio with head tracking. However, Beats reps told me the buds have “dual-layer transducers designed to minimize micro-distortions across the frequency curve,” and their sound quality is on par with the Studio Buds Plus. Voice-calling performance is also supposed to approach that of the Studio Buds Plus.
Like Beats’ other earbuds and headphones, the Solo Buds have a physical “b” button on each bud for controlling playback and volume. You must configure the press-and-hold action in iOS settings or the Beats app to control volume.
This is an interesting move by Beats and Apple as they target budget-conscious consumers just looking for earbuds that feature decent sound and voice-calling performance in a small package (both the buds and case appear to be quite compact). While the Solo Buds’ $80 price tag may still be a little pricey for some folks, I do expect to see them on sale for $60 and perhaps even a little less during the holiday buying season.
