Apple announces Beats Solo Pro on-ear noise-canceling wireless headphones
Beats headphones have a reputation for being over-hyped and overpriced. While the headphones are expensive, they are actually quite good. If you want exceptional sound quality and good looks, you really can't go wrong with Beats by Dre. products. Yes, there are other great brands that cost less, but hey, if someone wants to pay a premium because it is a product line launched by famed rapper/producer Dr. Dre (which is now owned by Apple), there is nothing wrong that. Let people spend their money how they want.
Today, Apple announces its latest product -- Beats Solo Pro. These wireless headphones are the on-ear variant and feature noise-canceling technology. Solo Pro is designed to be comfortable, thanks to cushioned ear pads and an adjustable headband.
These headphones feature audio-sharing functionality plus Transparency, which according to Apple, provides "natural filter of environmental noise without sacrificing great sound." Beats Solo Pro will get up to 40 hours of battery life, but that decreases by 18 hours with active noice canceling or Transparency enabled. They lack a power button, as they automatically turn on when you unfold them -- they shut off when you do the opposite. There are controls on the right side of the headphones too, so you can interact with your music there without pulling your phone from your pocket. iPhone users will appreciate the "Hey, Siri" functionality too.
"Solo Pro builds upon Solo3 Wireless' award-winning sound profile with an evolved acoustic platform to drive improved performance. A refined driver with optimized diaphragm geometries contributes an exceptional frequency response with lower total harmonic distortion. Two beam-forming microphones and an updated speech-detecting accelerometer provide remarkable audio quality for voice and video calls and enhanced voice pickup for “Hey Siri” functionality. Overall, this redesigned platform delivers high-quality performance with reduced distortion and balanced tonality across the frequency curve to drive an emotive listening experience," says Apple.
The iPhone-maker further says, "Solo Pro is Beats' first-ever on-ear headphone featuring Pure Adaptive Noise Cancelling (Pure ANC), the brand’s proprietary technology derived from Beats Studio3 Wireless, with updated tuning to accommodate the on-ear form factor. Using advanced algorithms to continuously monitor and adjust to your listening environment, Pure ANC efficiently detects and blocks ambient noise -- not only on an airplane, but also in a noisy café or a busy office. Pure ANC also evaluates fit and adjusts for leakage caused by hair, earrings, different ear shapes and movement of your head as you go about the day. Additionally, it simultaneously checks what you’re hearing while noise cancelling is applied against the original music content to ensure impressive audio fidelity."
Luke Wood, president of Beats by Dre provides the following statement.
The Solo form factor is incredibly popular, with over 30 million sold to date. Beats created Solo Pro to bring much needed innovation to the on-ear headphone market. With phenomenal acoustics, multiple listening modes and a progressive design, Solo Pro joins recently launched Powerbeats Pro as part of the next generation of Beats products.
Beats Solo Pro can be pre-ordered today in your choice of six colors -- Black, Ivory, Gray, Dark Blue, Light Blue and Red. Those last three colors were apparently hand-selected by popular music producer Pharrell Williams. And yes, these headphones are rather pricey at $300. They will hit retail stores on October 30.