The Solo 4 nails battery and wired versatility — SoundGuys measured 84h18m against a 50-hour rating, with USB-C lossless and a 3.5mm mode that works dead. But sound divides reviewers (3.9/5 MDAQS against long-term owners' praise) and the on-ear clamp is polarizing. It makes sense at the frequent $99 sale price; it doesn't at $199.99. Check the live Amazon price.
— THE VERDICT · JUDGEANY EDITORSWhat the Solo 4 are
Beats announced the Solo 4 on April 30, 2024, shipping May 2 at $199.99 — the first Solo refresh since 2016. Per Beats' own product page, they carry custom 40mm transducers, Bluetooth 5.3 with Class 1 range claims, no active noise cancelling, up to 50 hours of battery, Fast Fuel (10 minutes for 5 hours), USB-C audio with a built-in DAC for lossless, and a 3.5mm wired mode that plays with a dead battery. Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking is iOS-only. Weight is 217 grams, in Matte Black, Slate Blue and Cloud Pink. Everything below comes from published reviews and owner reports — JudgeAny runs no lab and tested nothing here ourselves.
Sound: where reviewers split
Sound is the most contested part of this review. SoundGuys' lab gave the Solo 4 an MDAQS score of 3.9 out of 5 — timbre rated fairly by their virtual panel, but distortion and immersiveness dragged it down; their measured response underemphasizes 20Hz–800Hz and overemphasizes 3kHz–9kHz, reading "strong in the highs, less so in the bass." Their verdict: "I find it hard to recommend the Beats Solo 4... Don't buy these headphones at full price." TechRadar's listening notes land nearby: impactful-at-times bass that turns wooly, muddy lower mids, clear upper mids, treble lacking sparkle — sound 3 out of 5. The counter-voices: Engadget's Billy Steele heard "more even-handed tuning" and improved clarity, especially with Dolby Atmos on Apple Music (though "a bit thin at times"), and a Tom's Guide long-term owner calls the tuning a solid improvement and the Solo 4 their go-to pair. Codecs cap the ceiling for everyone: SBC and AAC only, no aptX, no LDAC.
Comfort and isolation — no ANC on board
There is no active noise cancelling here; Beats' official page never mentions it, lists "Sound Isolation" as the noise control, and reviewers are unanimous. TechRadar called the passive isolation "excellent" despite the missing ANC. Comfort is the other fault line. SoundGuys struggled past 1.5 hours on weight distribution; TechRadar couldn't wear them more than an hour at a time; Engadget found them less vice-like than the Solo 3 but "laborious" after a couple of hours. Against that, a Tom's Guide deals writer who has owned a pair for about a year calls comfort a strong point thanks to redesigned cushions, "comfortable enough for long listening sessions." The honest read: on-ear clamping is inherently divisive, and glasses wearers report pressure points most. Mic quality is fine in quiet rooms and mixed in noise — SoundGuys' community demo poll found the mics better than most headphones, while owner reports split by environment.
Battery life and wired versatility
Battery is the one thing nobody disputes. SoundGuys measured 84 hours 18 minutes at 75dBSPL against a 50-hour rating; Engadget got 63 hours with Spatial Audio on and estimates around 80 with it off (Beats rates 50 off / 45 on); TechRadar's drain test concurred the rating holds. Ten-minute Fast Fuel adds up to 5 hours. The wired side is genuinely unusual: USB-C with a built-in DAC for lossless audio that can charge the headphones at the same time, plus a 3.5mm cable that plays with zero battery. Missing: no auto-pause sensor, no multipoint across ecosystems (auto-switching stays within Apple or Android), and Android features are thinner — no Personalized Spatial Audio, and plugging in over USB-C kicks you out of the Beats app per SoundGuys.
Who should buy them
Buy the Solo 4 if you want an on-ear headphone with ridiculous battery, lossless USB-C and a 3.5mm fallback, mostly inside the Apple ecosystem — and buy on sale, because reviewers agree $199.99 is too much. They dipped to $99.99 on Prime Day July 2024 and Black Friday November 2024 (9to5toys), hit a record-low $99 in June 2025 (Tom's Guide), and were $99.95 in August 2026 (SoundGuys). Skip them if you need ANC, if on-ear pressure bothers you, or if you live on Android where half the features disappear. Check the live Amazon price.