Beats headphones have gotten a lot of criticism over the past few years especially from the global hardcore audiophile community. Their main issue was that the buyer could get headphones with superior sound quality at a much lower price. Having owned and auditioned several Beats headphones in the past, I would have to agree. Most of them had ridiculously overpowered bass that one could barely hear the vocals and the fine details of the songs you’re listening to. That’s why we were kinda skeptical when the Beats Solo 2 landed on the doorsteps of the Unbox HQ. After a lot of testing though we’re happy to report that we finally have a really good set of cans from Beats!

Build: Sleek, Sturdy, and Sezzy

The Beats Solo 2 has a very elegant, classy, and glossy design. The Beats logo is proudly emblazoned on the outer face of the ear cups in silver while everything else is the color of the headphones that you picked. It’s an all-plastic construction with some metal bands used for the adjustment mechanism of the ear cups.

The headband has great grip and it doesn’t push down too much on your head when you wear the cans. The ear pads have soft memory foam covered in leather that are pleasant to touch.

Unfortunately these cans have a very tight clamping force when you put ’em on your head. It gets better over time but we were quite uncomfortable already after an hour of listening to our favorite songs. We’ve read that eventually it loosens up and becomes easier but so far we haven’t reached that point yet with our usage.

Lastly, you can also easily store these cans since you can fold them rather nicely making them very portable. The headphones come with a nice neoprene pouch where you can slip the cans in when you’re not using them.

But Beats Uses Metal to Just Make it Heavier…

Speaking of metal in the design, there was something viral that went around on Facebook last week saying that Beats headphones just use metal to make them heavier. I’m calling that BS. Almost all the great headphones we’ve seen in the past have moderate amount of metal in them which is used for the adjustment of the bands and sometimes the frame of the headband.

It’s good to note that a famous audio gear YouTube reviewer shares this sentiment as well. You can find his full rant about this topic (and how people are like 200% more gullible on social media) in the video below.

Sound Quality: Much more Refined

This is where we were pleasantly surprised. The bass is still there but it’s more controlled. It’s no longer boomy and muddy. It still has the impactful punch that bassheads will love but it will no longer fully turn off people who prefer tracks that have more vocals and instruments in them.

It’s moderately warm with natural midrange. The vocals are well-balanced and we also get some sort of laid-back treble. This is a noticeable improvement from the previous Beats Solo which had very harsh treble. Sound stage is also a bit compressed.

Over-all it’s still made for people who love EDM, hiphop, RNB, and other types of tracks that have a lot of bass. It’s a far better listening experience bass-wise because it’s long longer overbearing and out of control. Even better, we find that these cans are now more versatile as they can handle other genres as well. Vocals and instruments come out clear and detailed, something that you can’t say for almost all other Beats products in the past.

Lastly, noise isolation is terrific. But maybe that’s because they clamp on so tight, hehe.

Verdict: Best Beats We’ve Tried But Not the Most Practical Buy

So what’s our verdict? Simply said the Beats Solo 2 is the best headphone we’ve ever tried from Beats. It’s a major improvement from their other gear, especially the Beats Solo 1. If ever you guys are thinking of buying something from Beats, make sure that these are the cans that you get an not the previous generation Solos.

Taking everything into consideration, the Beats Solo 2 can be considered competitive in the price range where it’s playing at. The refined sound quality combined with the incredibly beautiful build makes it a great buy for bassheads. Given the rising popularity of EDM lately we won’t be surprised to see more of these bad boys fly off the shelves here in the Philippines.

The Beats Solo 2 retail in the Php12,000-Php13,000 price range (we forgot the exact price that we got it for). It’s usually cheaper to buy them outside the Philippines though so you might want to save up and just buy if you have plans to go to Hong Kong, US, or Europe in the coming months.