Beats Solo Buds Review: The Case Has No Battery

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The Short Version

Buy them if you want simple, small earbuds that pair instantly with an iPhone or an Android phone. The 18-hour battery in the earbuds is long enough that most people charge them a couple of times a week.

Know what the case does before you buy. It holds and protects the earbuds, and charges them only while it is plugged in. It cannot recharge them in your pocket.

Spend more if you want quiet. There is no noise cancelling at all. If a noisy commute is the reason you are shopping, the Beats Studio Buds+ or a cheaper cancelling pair will serve you better.

The Case With No Battery

This is the defining decision behind the Solo Buds, and it cuts both ways.

Almost every wireless earbud keeps a battery in its case, so a pair that lasts six hours in the ear can be topped up two or three times on the move. Beats removed that battery. The case now charges the earbuds only when it is connected to power — a wall adapter, a laptop, or your phone over USB-C, which Beats specifically supports.

The upside is the size. Beats calls it the smallest case it has made, and it disappears into a pocket in a way most cases do not.

The downside is the end of the day. When the earbuds run flat away from a cable, they stay flat. The long battery in the buds is what makes the design workable: 18 hours is several days of commuting for most people. It is less forgiving for long-haul travel, where a normal case would have given you a second or third charge.

One more practical detail: there is no cable or charger in the box. You will need a USB-C cable, which most phone owners already have.

Battery and Charging

Up to 18 hours of playback in the earbuds, and a 5-minute Fast Fuel charge for about 1 hour.

As always, treat the manufacturer's figure as a ceiling; louder listening lands lower. With no cancelling to power, though, earbuds tend to get close to their quoted battery, and 18 hours is high for buds alone — many rivals quote six to eight hours per charge and rely on the case for the rest.

Sound and Calls

Beats describes a full-range sound from dual-layer drivers, with the drivers angled to point straight into the ear canal. On paper that is a more careful design than the price suggests; in practice it is a lively, consumer-friendly tuning of the kind Beats is known for, and it suits pop and podcasts alike.

Calls use microphones in each earbud with noise-reduction processing. That is standard for this price, and fine for a call in a quiet room or a moderately busy street.

Because there is no noise cancelling, fit does all the isolating. The silicone tips seal the ear canal and block a reasonable amount of steady noise, but trains, planes and open offices will still come through.

Pairing on iPhone and Android

One-touch pairing works on both. Open the case near an iPhone or an Android phone and a pairing prompt appears. That is unusual for an Apple-owned brand, and it is one of the best reasons to choose Beats over AirPods if your household mixes phones.

Beats also uses Class 1 Bluetooth, which gives a longer range and fewer dropouts than most budget earbuds. It matters when your phone is in another room or in a bag on the other side of the desk.

What You Give Up

No noise cancelling or transparency mode. Both are available on cheaper earbuds today, including the Soundcore P30i at well under half the price.

No battery in the case, as covered above.

No water-resistance rating from Beats. Light sweat is unlikely to matter, but these are not sold as workout earbuds, and there are better choices for the gym.

No cable in the box.

Solo Buds or Studio Buds+?

The Studio Buds+ cost about $30 more and add everything the Solo Buds leave out. For a commuter, a traveller or anyone who wants quiet, that is money well spent. The Solo Buds win on size and on single-session battery — one charge covers a full day of listening and then some.

Other Options Around the Same Money

Apple AirPods 4. On an iPhone, the base AirPods 4 are the other obvious choice at this price when they are in stock. They use an open fit rather than silicone tips, which many people find more comfortable and which isolates less.

Beats Flex. If the case is what bothers you, the Flex does away with it entirely: a neckband-style cable joins the two earbuds, so they cannot get lost and hang around your neck between songs. It is usually cheaper, too.

Cheaper earbuds with cancelling. Our best noise cancelling earbuds under $100 guide covers pairs that add cancelling for less than the Solo Buds cost.

FAQ

Does the Beats Solo Buds case have a battery? No. The case charges the earbuds only while it is plugged into power, such as a wall adapter, a laptop or a phone over USB-C. It cannot recharge them on the move.

How long does the Beats Solo Buds battery last? Up to 18 hours of playback in the earbuds, by Beats' figure. A 5-minute Fast Fuel charge gives about 1 hour.

Do the Beats Solo Buds have noise cancelling? No. There is no active noise cancelling and no transparency mode. The silicone tips provide passive isolation only.

Do Beats Solo Buds work with Android? Yes. They support one-touch pairing with both iPhone and Android phones.

Are the Beats Solo Buds waterproof? Beats does not give them a water-resistance rating, so they are not intended for workouts or rain.

Do they come with a charging cable? No. You need your own USB-C cable, and a power adapter if you want to charge from the wall.

The Verdict

Our score: 7.8/10. The Solo Buds are a deliberately stripped-back pair of earbuds. They do the basics well — a long battery in the buds, a genuinely tiny case, instant pairing on iPhone and Android, reliable Bluetooth — and they drop the features that cost money.

Whether that works depends on how you listen. For someone who wants small, simple earbuds and charges them at a desk every few days, they are a good fit at around $70. For a commuter who wants quiet, or a traveller who needs a case that recharges on the move, the Studio Buds+ are worth the extra, and cheaper pairs with cancelling exist too.