I won’t say that the Sony WH-1000XM5 are the best headphones money can buy. But what if I told you that you could get a name-brand listening experience for half the price – and one that’s actually better than the XM5 in some ways?
While I’m a big fan of the Sony WH-1000XM5, I recently traded them in for Beats Solo 4, the latest installment of the product that essentially put the Apple brand on the map. I knew the trade-off meant sacrificing active noise cancellation and some aspects of audio performance, but I also expected the change to bring benefits.
I will say right away that the Beats Solo 4 won’t impress every ear, especially not those coming from the Sony WH-1000XM5 or another pair of high-end headphones; However, for those who don’t want to (or can’t) spend $399, I discovered a few key ways in which the $199 Beats Solo 4 beats the XM5.
Portability
The Beats Solo 4 weighs just 7.65 ounces and folds up, meaning they’re easy to carry and even fit in your pocket. The XM5s are slightly heavier, weighing 8.8 ounces, but when you’re wearing something on your head, even an ounce can make a difference.
Although the Solo 4 and XM5 both come with a case, the Sony pair requires you to lay them flat, ultimately taking up more space in a bag. And given the price of the XM5, I usually choose to bring the hard case with me when traveling to keep the cans safe. Not only is the Beats case smaller, but when in use, the soft pouch can fit into the tiniest corner of my backpack. As someone who travels a lot, I can appreciate every little storage space.
Battery life
While it’s true that the Sony WH-1000XM5 are some of the best noise-canceling headphones in terms of battery life, they don’t last as long as the Beats Solo 4. The Solo 4 has up to 50 hours of battery life, which is true. it’s a 10-hour improvement over the previous Beats Solo 3. On my recent trip, I didn’t have to worry about charging the headphones at all until I got home.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 last up to 40 hours if you don’t use ANC, but I personally almost always use them with ANC, which brings the battery rating down to 30 hours. This reduces replay time between charges, giving Solo 4 another win.
Apple’s ecosystem
One of my favorite things about the Sony WH-1000XM5 is that it switches between my different playback sources, like my iPhone and iPad, very easily. But if you’re an Apple user, you can’t match the convenience of the Beats Solo 4. Not only do they have quick setup when you turn them on, but you also get features like Find My right at your fingertips. You can also adjust Solo 4’s controls directly in the setup program.
Another feature that you can only get with Beats and AirPods devices is audio sharing. When I travel with friends or family, we can watch the same movies together on my iPad if we both use Apple headphones. I use Share Audio quite regularly and consider it one of the biggest advantages of the Apple ecosystem.
If you want noise cancellation and want to stay within the Apple ecosystem, I might go for the AirPods Pro 2 instead of the Beats Solo 4. You can often find the AirPods Pro 2 on sale for $199, and they also have ANC. as one of the best sound performance of wireless headphones. But if you’re looking for over-the-ear headphones, the Beats are worth a look.