All in all I would not recommend the Beats Solo 2 if you plan on watching a movie with them or using them to listen to music on a flight. But in comparison, the Studio 2's over-ear design is much more pleasing to wear for extended periods of time.
Then again, you may yourself find them to be less painful to wear for a longer period. And it's not like my head is too big, it's quite the opposite of that if I'm honest. And it's all because there’s too much pressure being applied onto the ears from both the Solo 2’s headband clamping force as well as their on-ear style ear cups, which after a relatively short while - make your ears feel like they are being hammered. This is all great and genuinely very comfortable to wear at first, but I quickly discovered that I could not bear to wear them for any longer than a single hour. And like the Studio 2, the Solo 2's ear cups have extra padded, very soft memory foam cushions covered in this faux leather material and they tilt to fit the shape of your head. The good news is that the Solo 2's plump cushions are like plungers that sit on your ears and passively isolate them from the outside world with minimal noise leakage to boot. Unlike the Studio, the Solo 2 have an on-ear design which means that the ear cups are made to fit right on top of your ears, and there's good and bad in that when it comes to comfort. What you won't find the comes with the Studio 2 is a cleaning cloth to wipe those prints off of that clear gloss coating. An issue that doesn't affect the white model at all. Which is a problematic combination if you pick up a black pair which are finger-print magnets. Currently, the Solo 2 are only available in one type of finish, a sleek glossy coating that Beats describes as an automobile finish. Beats are downright stylish, and it turns out you're paying for it big time. And that is what Beats does better than everyone else. Needless to say the Solo 2 are visually driven headphones you'll gladly pay for if looking good is important to you when you're out and about. An increase in price over the $170 Solo HD. As for color options, you can grab the Solo 2 in this classic Beats black with deep and bold contrasting red accents, or in a complete all vibrant red, pink, blue, gray and of course in an all white colorway for you guessed it, $200. It doesn't get any more mainstream than this. So yes, the new Beats Solo 2 are magnificently designed, and everything about them has been designed to be as sleek as possible. The Solo are back, and they're BETTER THAN everĪt first glance, the Solo 2 have almost a one-piece design that conceals all moving parts, screws and joints, yet they still fold and have articulating ear cups.
Can a new design and fine tuning persuade Beats skeptics into jumping onboard the Beats bandwagon that is high-priced, celebrity-endorsed headphones? There's only one way to find out.
And now Beats is repeating this revamping processes with the introduction of the Solo 2 headphones, which are coincidentally also the last pair Beats released as an independent company right before Apple acquired the brand for $3 billion.Īs the successor of the Solo HD, the Solo 2 have an improved audio quality and share the same slick design language and a more resilient build quality of the Studio 2 headphones, but with a smaller and lighter portable on-ear style form factor. The company took a step in the right direction when it released the Studio 2 over-ear headphones late last year with much needed improvements in audio performance with the addition of a built-in rechargeable battery, and a polished redesign. Beats is without question the world's most marketed headphone and audio brand in recent years.