Beats Solo2 Wireless: Iconic headphone cuts the cord
Headphones
This is the Beats Solo2 Wireless, a premium bluetooth headphone that comes in a variety of colors and costs $300.
It's a very good well built wireless headphone but it is pricey for what it is and has some competition from other premium on ear wireless models.
Such as the Bose Soundlink on-ear Bluetooth headphone, which costs $50 less.
Hi.
I'm David Carnoy and welcome to another CNet First Look video for those familiar with Beats headphones, you can immediately see the familial resemblance.
This model looks very similar to its wired Solo 2 sibling, but weighs slightly more due to the extra electronic components.
And rechargeable battery built into the headphone.
It also looks like a mini-version of Beats flagship studio wireless headphone, which I like a lot.
That step-up model is equipped with some active noise cancellation, while this model doesn't have any.
In fact, Beats has truly used the Solo 2 as its foundation for this headphone.
And when you connect a headphone cord to it, it sounds almost identical to a wired Solo 2.
Beats wanted it that way.
You can stream audio from up to 30 feet away from bluetooth enabled devices.
And there are controls on the ear cup to raise and lower volume, as well as take calls, and skip tracks, forward and back.
As noted, 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, but that's still pretty decent.
A set of LED lights on the right ear cup acts as a battery life indicator, and you can also see how much battery you have left.
The in, indicator on your phone or tablet.
I gave high marks to the wired solo 2 and I also liked it's headphone but the Bose Soundlink bluetooth [UNKNOWN] is lighter and more comfortable to wear and sounds a bit better too.
Both this headphone and the Bose deliver a good helping of base, but the Bose sounds a little more open and clear and has a more pleasant sound overall.
Of course everybody's sound and aesthetic tastes are different and some people will like both the look and sound of this Beats better than the Bose.
At the end of the day my gut feeling about this headphone is that I'd rather spend the extra $79 to get the studio wireless which is a more comfortable headphone and is a notch up in terms of sound quality.
Yes this is a smaller less bulky headphone and some people will find that more compact size appealing, but their current price points to Studio Wireless is still the better deal even though it's more expensive I'm David Carroway thanks for watching.
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