After releasing the Beats Solo 4 last month, a new pair of Beats earbuds are available for pre-order starting today. They're the Beats Solo Buds, which are the first pair of truly-wireless (TWS) earbuds to carry the Solo branding. These earbuds cost $80 and feature a very small carrying case — the smallest Apple has ever made. A few compromises were made to hit those targets. For starters, the Solo Buds are a rare pair of TWS earbuds with a carrying case as opposed to a charging case. There isn't a battery in the Solo Buds' case, so you'll need to use a USB-C cable (not included) every time you have to charge them up. Premium features like active noise-canceling or Spatial Audio aren't here, either.

These are somewhat unusual choices, but they aren't necessarily bad ones. The sub-$100 price point excuses the lack of ANC and Spatial Audio, and the earbuds' 18-hour battery life makes life without a charging case tolerable. Then, there's the good. Beats Solo Buds sound better than their price or size would suggest. The small carrying case fits in my pocket much easier than the charging case for my daily-driver AirPods Pro 2. Add it all up, and Beats has a competitive pair of earbuds for casual use or everyday carry in the Solo Buds. Some users will want more, but that's okay.

About this review: Beats sent me a pair of Solo Buds for review. The company had no input into this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Pricing, specs, and availability

Beats announced the new Solo Buds in April 2024, and the earbuds are available for pre-order starting today. The Beats Solo Buds cost $80 and come in four colors: Matte Black, Arctic Purple, Transparent Red, and Storm Gray. Arctic Purple is a limited edition colorway and can only be purchased from Apple or Target.

The Beats Solo Buds officially launch Thursday, June 20, and will be widely available after that date. That means you can pick up a pair of the standard colorways anywhere Beats are typically sold, including Best Buy and Amazon.

Design and charging

They're the tiniest pair of truly-wireless earbuds I've used

Beats made the Solo Buds carrying case smaller than any other Apple makes, and that's not a surprise when you learn that it doesn't have a battery. It doesn't have a pairing button, either. Really, all it does is provide a place to store your Solo Buds, and charge them via the USB-C port and charging contacts on the earbuds. The Solo Buds' compact carrying case feels a lot less impressive considering all this, but it's still a nice touch.

The size difference between the Beats Solo Buds carrying case and the Beats Studio Buds+ charging case is massive. The Studio Buds+ case is nearly twice as tall, and it's also a bit thicker and longer. The smaller size means you lose the pairing button, status indicator light, and battery. However, if your pockets are already full of things like phones, keys, and wallets, the compactness of the Solo Buds case will be appreciated. The entire set is also about half the weight of the AirPods Pro 2. I definitely noticed the positive difference in the size and weight of the Beats Solo Buds.

How do Solo Buds overcome the limitations of their carrying case? Beats simply passed the typical responsibilities of a charging case onto the earbuds themselves. When you want to pair the Solo Buds, you open the charging case and hold the Beats button on the earbuds rather than use a dedicated pairing button. Instead of continuously topping off the Solo Buds' battery with a charging case, they have extra-long battery life right in the earbuds. They can last up to 18 hours on a single charge, which is more than most earbuds' battery life. It's double the Beats Studio Buds+, for example.

You'll still have to charge the Solo Buds more frequently than a pair of TWS earbuds with a charging case. The main issue with this kind of charging method is that it will disproportionately affect people who like to keep just one earbud in their ear. With this kind of use, you'll need to charge one earbud way before the other. At one point in my review period, my left Solo Bud had roughly 10% battery while the right one had nearly 70% battery. They will charge with any USB-C cable, but there isn't one in the box. A five-minute charge gives you an hour of battery life.

Like with most pairs of earbuds, how the Beats Solo Buds fit will vary based on your ear shape. There are four ear tip sizes included in the box: extra-small, small, medium, and large. The Solo Buds fit exactly like the Studio Buds+. For me, that means they fit my left ear perfectly, but require frequent adjustments in my right ear. I prefer the fit of the AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro to that of the Solo Buds or Studio Buds+. With that said, I did do a high-intensity interval training workout with them on the treadmill, and they didn't fall out.

Software and connectivity

Beats Solo Buds work just as good on Android as iOS

Solo Buds might not have active noise-canceling or Spatial Audio, but they do have other great software features. Beats Solo Buds will work the same on iOS as they do on Android, as long as you download the Beats app for the latter. This includes automatic pairing on iOS and Android phones. Unfortunately, automatic pairing wasn't working on my pre-production Solo Buds unit, but I've been told that this has been completely resolved on the retail units. I also noticed some connection issues during audio playback in the first few days I tested the Solo Buds; however, these seemed to resolve on their own once my iPhone recognized the Solo Buds properly.

None of these problems are expected to affect buyers, according to Beats. If you're worried, you may want to wait it out until we can confirm the issues have been resolved on the retail units. I'll be updating my review when I have a new pair of Beats Solo Buds to test.

The ability to work well on iOS and Android is what sets Beats apart. These earbuds support both Apple's Find My network and Google's Find My Device network. That way, you'll be able to find your lost earbuds regardless of what kind of phone you have. Automatic pre-pairing will also work across all your devices, too.

Beats Solo Buds have the same connection features as a pair of AirPods Pro 2, plus the Android equivalents. If you're trying to connect to another type of device, Solo Buds support Bluetooth 5.3. You can press the Beats button on the earbuds to enter pairing mode, and they'll play a sound for audial feedback. Even without one-touch pairing working on my unit, it was fairly quick to pair the Solo Buds to an iPhone 15 Pro Max and a Pixel 8a.

Sound quality

Good for their price and size, but not outstanding

Let's get this out of the way first: the Beats Solo Buds don't sound as good as top pairs of TWS earbuds. Just among the earbuds I have on-hand for comparison, the Studio Buds+, AirPods Pro 2, and Nothing Ear (2) all sound better. However, the Beats Solo Buds sound better than you'd think for their price and size. There is plenty of volume, and great passive sound isolation. It isn't ANC, but I could block out a noisy coffee shop or a busy street with Solo Buds' passive isolation and music set to 60-80% volume.

The Solo Buds do a pretty good job at clearly separating the different parts of the soundstage. On cheaper pairs of Bluetooth headphones, you'll often find bass, mids, and highs all blending together. By comparison, it's easy to pick up on the difference between the lows and highs when listening to music with the Solo Buds. It's not perfect, and that's to be expected. The bass lacks fullness, and the mids and highs can sound tinny. Overall, the Solo Buds sound a lot closer to the Studio Buds+ than the Solo 4 sounds to the Beats Studio Pro.

I didn't mind listening to the Solo Buds daily, even though they clearly lag behind the Studio Buds+ and the AirPods Pro 2. The Beats Solo Buds sound best on tracks with a strong low end, whether that's a hip-hop or rap beat from Dr. Dre himself or jazz and swing from Booker T. & the MG's. They don't sound as good on rock songs, like by bands Bon Jovi or Rush, because the electric guitar sounds are especially tinny without much bass to counteract them. If you mostly listen to pop, hip-hop/rap, and jazz, I think the Solo Buds will do fine. For rock and metal heads, it's a hard pass on the Solo Buds.

But again, these are small and relatively cheap earbuds. Considering the $80 price point, the Solo Buds sound good enough. Anyone picky about sound shouldn't be looking at TWS earbuds in this price range anyway.

Should you buy Beats Solo Buds?

You should buy the Beats Solo Buds if:

• You want a reasonably-priced pair of truly-wireless earbuds
• You need a tiny pair of earbuds that work well with iOS and Android
• You don't need advanced features like ANC and Spatial Audio

You should NOT buy the Beats Solo Buds if:

• You need the best sound quality TWS earbuds have to offer
• ANC, transparency mode, and Spatial Audio are must-have features
• You want a charging case that can add extra battery life to your earbuds on the go

The new Beats Solo Buds are like the wired Apple EarPods of truly-wireless earbuds. Apple EarPods are the wired earbuds that came with iPods and early iPhones, and they're still sold today. Even now, EarPods are known for offering surprisingly-decent sound quality in a tiny and cheap package. That's exactly how I would describe the Solo Buds. They don't sound the best, they don't have the longest battery life, and they don't have many premium features. But for $80, the Solo Buds work with any iOS or Android device, have decent sound quality, and fit inside a really small carrying case.

If you're an audiophile or a techie, click away. The Beats Solo Buds aren't for you. However, these earbuds do an excellent job at covering the basics and hitting a competitive price point. And sometimes, that's all that matters.