With the Solo Pro, Beats has ditched the bass boost and delivered an accomplished set of headphones. They can't quite match up to the Sony WH-1000XM3, which come in at a similar price, but if you're a fan of Beats headphones then the Solo Pro are worth considering

Superb transparency mode; Good active noise cancellation; Balanced tone; particularly for Beats

Go over-ear and you get bigger sound; same price; Tight grip may be a turn-off; Fold to turn off? It's not for everyone

It’s not often that bass doesn't appear in the against column for Beats headphones, but this pair is well-balanced and has great noise-cancellation too

Full-bodied and clear sound; Excellent noise-cancelling; Premium feel

Bettered for timing and dynamics; Tight fit

After years of minor revisions to the Solo line, Beats has delivered a true reinvention with the Solo Pro. Bringing top-notch adaptive noise cancelling to its on-ear offering for the first time, Beats Solo Pro is a marked step-up from its previous iterations – particularly when it comes to build...

Excellent battery life; Impressive ANC performance; Stunning design; Surprisingly sturdy

Lightning port only; Lacks 3.5mm Aux port; Headband pressure too firm

So, should you buy the Solo Pros? If you don't mind their on-ear design, the Solo Pros are an excellent pair of noise-cancelling headphones. But if you can spare another $100, we recommend the Bose 700s, which are a lot more comfortable and have better sound quality.

Very good audio quality; Effective noise cancellation; Super-simple pairing; Iconic Beats design; Fun color options

No 3.5mm headphone jack; Tight clamping force; Charges via Lightning port

The Beats Solo Pros don't really do anything new. There’s no groundbreaking technology on offer here, and no brilliant new design. We’ve seen all these individual features and functions before, and the design, while nicely tweaked from the Solo 3, is still very familiar.

Lots of available colors; Excellent noise cancellation; Very good sound quality; H1 chip for hands-free Siri and easy syncing

Expensive; Doesn't fit very large heads well

We’re suddenly in a golden age for active noise cancelling headphones, and the Beats Solo Pro are aiming to oust the Bose from your bag with some Apple razzle-dazzle. The latest iteration of Beats’ wildly successful headphones range, the Solo Pro were redesigned from scratch with Apple’s H1 chipset...

Clean; genre-agnostic music quality; Active noise cancellation is solid; Super-simple pairing with Apple devices; Transparency mode is excellent

Other ANC headphones still have a noise-cancelling edge; No 3.5mm cable in the box; No customization of sound or ANC profiles

“Beats' Solo Pro are the company's most polished headphones yet.”

Comfortable for most users; Active noise-canceling works well; Turns off when folded; Better sound than prior Beats

Battery life is just ok; No headphone jack

Beats headphones are everywhere. You have likely seen them on your commute, at the gym, and on the heads of celebrities and star athletes. Beats has sold over 30 million units of its mainstream on-ear Solo headphones over the years, and now there’s a brand-new pair with a long-awaited feature: noise...

Nicer design than past Beats headphones; Effective noise cancellation; Enjoyable sound quality; Increased sweat resistance

Significant clamping force on your ears; Might be too small for the big-headed crowd; No auto-pause when removed; Lightning connector; no USB-C

The Beats Solo Pro are the first over the ear headphones released by Apple/Beats that has active noise cancellation. This is useful when I am walking down west fourth ave, in Kitsilano and don’t want to hear a dull roar of buses, honking and the constant hum of traffic whizzing by.

Lots of color options; ear cushions made of memory foam; Noise Cancellation; Seamless pairing with iOS 13; Lighting port

Heavy; Lots of torque on head adjuster; Wind gets in my ears; bypassing cusion; Expensive

The Solo Pro is Beats most impressive set of headphones to date. There’s a lot of features and tech packed in for solid noise cancellation, hands-free Siri and great sound quality. However, the nature of the on-ear design is that they have to pinch your head for a good seal.

Excellent sound; Improved design; Solid ANC; Hands-free Siri

Uncomfortable (especially for big heads); No 3.5mm jack for wired use; No companion app for customization; No automatic pausing