Beats Solo 4 vs Beats Solo3 Wireless

Bargain hunters looking for Beats headphones are going to have a short period where the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless are available to buy online, but is there any benefit to rejecting the modern set of headphones and embracing the old? Who wins when we match the Beats Solo 4 vs Beats Solo3 Wireless? Let’s find out.

Editor’s note: this article was published on August 8, 2024, and is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.

What’s it like to use the Beats Solo 4 compared to the Beats Solo3 Wireless?

As both the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless are rather plasticky on-ears, the experience using each will largely be the same — with much of the differences between the two products arising because of the difference in hardware. Both products weigh in around 216g, are constructed out of matte plastic and aluminum, and offer nearly identical fit. The Beats Solo 4 is the true successor to the Beats Solo3 Wireless with very few experiential changes.

On-ear headphones have a number of drawbacks, and those mainly center around how difficult it is to get a good fit. Specifically, on-ears are very difficult to get a good seal with, so things like sound quality and isolation can vary to a considerable degree. Additionally, this type of headphone also has a tendency to slip around with movement, as there’s not a lot keeping it in place outside of clamping force. If you accidentally torque these a little too tight to fight slippage, you could make your ears hurt.

Neither the Beats Solo 4 nor Beats Solo3 Wireless bears an ingress protection rating, which, combined with the potential fit issues, makes these a poor choice for high-intensity workouts. While weightlifting is likely fine, running, rowing, or anything that requires a lot of fast movement will frustrate you.

However, it’s the updated internal hardware where the Beats Solo 4 runs up the score on the Beats Solo3 Wireless. With a fully updated set of electronics under the hood, the Beats Solo 4 runs circles around the Beats Solo3 Wireless in several performance metrics, including battery life and sound quality.

How do you control the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless?

Both the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless use a set of clicky buttons on the side of the earcups to control playback, volume, and your voice assistant. Additionally, each set of headphones has a power button that doubles as a Bluetooth pairing button.

Beats Solo 4 controls:

Beats Solo3 Wireless controls:

Should you use the apps of either Beats Solo 4 or Beats Solo3 Wireless?

The beauty of these headphones is that if you have an iPhone, you don’t have to use an app for either of these headphones — it’s baked into iOS. If you have an Android phone, you might want to use the app to enable many of the features that you don’t have access to out of the box, like Find My, firmware updates, and other minor options. However, if you only care about music, you can’t alter EQ presets or anything of the sort.

The more privacy-conscious among you might question the need to install such an app, and that’s your prerogative. But according to the Google Play Store, there shouldn’t be much to worry about here.

How do the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless connect?

Both the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless connect to your source device through Bluetooth, though the guts inside the Beats Solo 4 is greatly improved from the older model. Not only do the newer headphones support Bluetooth 5.3, ditch the micro-USB port for a USB-C port, and retain the 3.5mm TRS connection of its predecessor — you can also get lossless audio over the USB-C connection, making the Beats Solo 4 far more versatile than the Beats Solo3 Wireless.

The Beats Solo3 Wireless, on the other hand, is stuck with a now-ancient Bluetooth 4.2 stack, micro-USB charging connector, and an inability to take advantage of many advanced features of the newer cans. This comparison is a clear win for the Beats Solo 4.

Is battery life better on the Beats Solo 4 or Beats Solo3 Wireless?

Though the Beats Solo 4 boasts almost double the battery life of the Beats Solo3 Wireless, neither of these products is a slouch in any sense of the concept. The Beats Solo3 Wireless is able to withstand our standardized battery life gantlet for 45 hours and 8 minutes while the Beats Solo 4 can hang in there for 84 hours and 18 minutes. While that’s a decisive victory for the Beats Solo 4, the Beats Solo3 Wireless was already better in this department than the vast majority of headphones out there, so neither should be scoffed at. Really, what this difference translates to is that you’ll probably charge the Beats Solo 4 every few weeks, and you might charge the Beats Solo3 Wireless every week and a half. That’s about it.

Do the Beats Solo 4 or Beats Solo3 Wireless block noise better?

Though the Beats Solo 4 is the better isolator, neither set of headphones is what we’d call “good” here, simply because what you’re likely to experience and what we can measure in our lab are going to be very different things. We can run a sequence to find the best fit with live feedback from analyzer software, whereas you’ll just plonk the headphones on your head. The fit will vary every time for you.

I will point out that since neither of these headphones employ active noise cancelation (ANC), what you see here is the best you can get. If you’re someone who is often in the presence of engine noise or takes many flights in a year, neither of these headphones will be a good travel buddy.

Do the Beats Solo 4 sound better than the Beats Solo3 Wireless?

This one’s a bit of a tough comparison, as the Beats Solo 4 does follow our curve better than the Beats Solo3 Wireless. However, the excessive bass of the Beats Solo3 Wireless covers for a poor seal nine times out of ten. If I had to make a wager, I’d believe that most people would pick the Beats Solo3 Wireless’s sound over that of the Beats Solo 4.

I personally prefer the Beats Solo 4 by a country mile, most likely owing to less bass, but it’s when you listen to these headphones in the real world that this becomes a problem. Additionally, the relative overemphasis of bass by the Beats Solo3 Wireless is much more likely to appeal to more people.

Though the results above paint a particularly ugly picture for Beats’ latest headphones, it’s one of those things that look worse on a chart than it actually sounds. The truth is that the Beats Solo 4 sounds fine, it’s just that the Beats Solo3 Wireless appeals more to the masses.

Do the Beats Solo 4 or Beats Solo3 Wireless have a better microphone?

Both sets of headphones have decent mic quality, all things considered. However, the Beats Solo3 Wireless is now many years old. How does it stack up against the brand-new Beats Solo 4? Listen below.

Beats Solo 4 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Beats Solo3 Wireless microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Beats Solo 4 microphone demo (Office conditions):

Beats Solo3 Wireless microphone demo (Office conditions):

I will say that the Beats Solo 4 seems to have fewer issues getting a usable level than the Beats Solo3 Wireless. However, both are similarly poor at noise rejection.

Beats Solo 4 vs Beats Solo3 Wireless: Price and availability

Here is where we get to a bit more of a sticky situation. While the Beats Solo 4 might make people balk at the price, the Beats Solo3 Wireless is no longer a great value in 2024. It’s not that you’ll regret buying it, but its operating life isn’t going to be what you think it might be. Sure, it’ll work. Heck, it’s perfectly fine for casual listening. However, the micro-USB port is a big albatross around its proverbial neck. Not only will it be harder and harder to find suitable replacement cables, but the slow march toward USB-C wired audio everywhere will mean that you may find yourself in a situation in a few years where the headphone jack on all your devices is gone, and wired listening means USB-C listening.

You can find the Beats Solo3 Wireless online for $129 at Amazon, while the Beats Solo 4 is a much more painful buy at $199 at Best Buy, but this will be gracing the shelves of big box stores pretty much anywhere on Earth. Additionally, you’re not going to find the Beats Solo3 Wireless in any airport vending machines or brick-and-mortar places unless they’re clearing out old stock. If you can find the Beats Solo3 Wireless, it is absolutely the last gasp of its availability, so if you’re waiting for the price to fall even lower… don’t.

Should you get the Beats Solo 4 or Beats Solo3 Wireless?

If you want a set of on-ears, the Beats Solo 4 and Beats Solo3 Wireless remain among the better options out there. However, there are a number of drawbacks that make the form factor less than ideal for most people. If I had to make a recommendation between the two of these headphones, it would be the Beats Solo 4, but in reality, I’d prefer to point anyone to something else instead.

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