Beats debuts Solo2 Wireless, $299.95 on-ear Bluetooth headphone

Premium Bluetooth headphones are proliferating, and Beats is doing its part with the pending arrival of its $300 Solo2 Wireless headphone, the wireless version of its $200 Solo2 headphone. No UK or Australian pricing were available at launch.

Beats already sells its flagship Beats Studio Wireless, an over-ear model, and this model looks like a mini version of it. Both allow you to stream audio from up to 30 feet away from Bluetooth-enabled devices and have controls on the earcup to raise and lower volume as well as take calls and skip tracks forward and back. A cable is included for wired playback in case you run out of juice.

As for battery life, it's rated at 12 hours, which is less than what the larger Studio Wireless offers. It's unclear if the the Solo2 Wireless has noise-canceling capabilities, but I suspect it does (Beats doesn't talk up the noise-canceling capabilities of the Studio Wireless because it's a lighter form of noise-cancellation and not what you get in Bose QuietComfort models).

I expect the sound to be very similar to that of the standard Solo2, which is a "fast," forward sounding headphone with strong bass and good clarity. (It's a little hyped in both the bass and treble but I liked it.)

The Beats Solo2 Wireless probably won't be quite as comfortable as the $249.95 Bose SoundLink Bluetooth On-Ear headphone. Nonetheless, it's comfortable for an on-ear headphone, and the design is significantly better than the original Solo, which Beats says is the most popular headphone in the world.

The Solo2 Wireless ships in November and is available in red, black, white and blue. You can check out more information on the new model at beatsbydre.com.