Beats Solo 4: Apple-inherited sound quality, but hard to keep wearing

In search of AirPods-like spatial audio

First, a little bit about my audio situation. Through trying various earphones, I've learned that I'm not good at putting things inside my ears. In particular, I've realized that in-ear types, which you insert and seal, are impossible for me because they make my ears hurt and they keep falling out.

Even so, the AirPods Pro 2 were special. Perhaps because of the oval ear tips or the design that doesn't require deep insertion, they were the most tolerable in-ear wireless earphones I've ever used. However, as I wrote in this article, I still decided to let them go because I felt they didn't fit my ears.

But the spatial audio I experienced with the AirPods Pro 2 was a "good sound" that even my untrained ears could appreciate. That sensation of the music I'd been listening to suddenly expanding into a space is unforgettable. So, I tried to find a way forward with the "Beats Solo 4," which are also from Apple and, this time, are headphones that don't go inside the ears.

A slightly inferior sense of space and frequent connection issues with iPhone

This goal was achieved in a way that fell short of expectations. The reason is that the excitement I could taste with the AirPods Pro 2 was missing in the Beats. Both are in the low 30,000 yen price range, so one might expect the same sound quality, but the spatial audio was indeed a step down. However, that is only in comparison to the AirPods Pro 2; compared to various other earphones, there is no doubt that you can still have a breathtaking listening experience.

I was using them thinking, "Well, I guess that's how it is," when suddenly, a problem where connection with the iPhone would fail occurred. Specifically, even if I selected Beats Solo 4 from the list of Bluetooth devices on the iPhone, the iPhone would immediately give up on connecting. The spinning icon for "trying to connect" would move just one notch, then freeze, and the connection would fail.

Moreover, since it happened with a frequency of about every three weeks, there were many times when I would leave them alone for a while, and when I tried to use them after a long time, they wouldn't connect. I re-paired them every time to fix this, but I realized halfway through that if I connected them via wire (3.5mm to Type-C), the wireless connection would return afterward, and it naturally resolved itself after that.

I never imagined that I would encounter a malfunction with an Apple product, especially in a connection between Apple devices. What's interesting is that the same phenomenon did not occur when connecting to Android or Windows. I want to scream, "Why!" I usually listened to YouTube Music on my iPhone by turning it into pseudo-spatial audio, so I wanted to connect and listen with my iPhone even if I had other devices. That's why I was surprised and confused by the poor connection between the Beats Solo 4 and the iPhone. Well, it is highly likely that this is a problem with this specific unit (by the way, the same problem occurred on my iPad), so I'll just accept that it's fixed now.

"Et tu, Beats?" (Caesar B.C. 100-B.C. 44)

The connection failure was fixed, so it wasn't a case of "all's well that ends well." In the end, they don't fit my ears. My neck starts to hurt 10 minutes after putting them on, and my ears hurt from the clamping force after 20 minutes. In other words, whether I put them in my ears or not, my ears hurt. Instead of the inside of my ears hurting, the entire outside started hurting. And it brought neck pain along with it. If this happened after wearing them for 3 hours straight, I could just rethink how I use them, like taking breaks, but if a song is 3 minutes long, taking a break after 3 songs (10 minutes) is not a usable product.

In conclusion

Thus, the Beats Solo 4 were defeated by my incredibly demanding ears (or head?). Although inferior to the AirPods Pro 2, the spatial audio that overwhelms everything else is one of a kind. However, I could not trade that wonderful sound for the pain in my neck and ears.

For now, the "Nothing Ear (open)" is the only thing I can keep wearing without sacrificing my ears or neck. This genre, called open-ear, doesn't go inside the ears like earphones, and unlike headphones, it doesn't press on the ears from the outside. The weight is also much lighter than headphones, so there is no damage to the neck. While the fit is excellent, there is no noise canceling, and of course, it doesn't support spatial audio. Apple, please, I'm begging you for an "AirPods OPEN".