When Beats launched its latest Solo 4 headphones back in April (you can read our full Beats Solo 4 review for more), the Apple-owned audio brand also announced the Solo Buds. These new entry-level true wireless earbuds come with an attractive $79 / £79 / AU$129 price point to challenge the best budget earbuds, but we didn’t have a launch date at the time. We do now – Beats Solo Buds launch globally on June 20 after a short two-day preorder window that kicks off on June 18.
These first earbuds to carry Beats’ Solo branding will focus on portability and a long runtime. Compared to the Beats Studio Buds Plus, the case is 40% smaller and can comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. The Solo Buds are more compact but still feature a corkscrew-like design with a prominent “b” for the Beats logo on each bud.
Beats got the colors right, at least judging from the release photos. There is a lovely Transparent Red shade alongside Matte Black, Storm Gray, and Arctic Purple.
Beats has removed any type of battery or wireless charging from the case, which makes it really compact. This means that while the Solo Buds are promised to offer a huge 18 hours of battery life, you’ll need to plug the case in via USB-C to recharge the left and right earbuds – you can’t just put them back in the case to charge them. We haven’t seen a battery life this long on any other of the best true wireless earbuds, so we’re eager to put them through their paces.
At the $79 / £79 / AU$129 price, Solo Buds don’t offer support for Spatial Audio or active noise cancellation, a transparency mode, or support for multi-point Bluetooth – but they promise a signature Beats sound experience, fast pairing and feature parity for Android and iOS alike, including customizing the EQ and the ability to find the earbuds via Find My on iPhone or the Beats app on Android.
Apple and authorized retailers will begin taking orders for Beats Solo Buds on June 18 before a formal launch on June 20. At launch, Solo Buds will be available in your choice of Pick Arctic Purple, Matte Black, Storm Gray, and Transparent Red.
