Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mbp back to school offer: which beats to choose?

T

TinaBelcher

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 23, 2017
1,270
752
So, I’m not a headphone expert... at all! For majority of the last 7-10 years I’ve been using the Skullcandy earbuds and my first “high quality” or “high brand” (i should rather say) were the beats x wireless that came with last year’s back to school offer when I purchased the iPad Pro. They’re great, i enjoy the audio quality, but obviously the dongle is annoying and makes an underwater-esq sound from moving around and pulling that’s uncomfortable on my brain after a while... the only time I’ve used those large beats headphones were around 2012 and I returned them 1 hour after purchasing because I didn’t like the sound exposure. It sounded like I was playing max volume from a phone even with them over my ears... but I’d happily take a pair for free with the school offer and hopefully the privacy/exposure of sound has improved a bit since then. They could be great at home for sure... but the question is, which one do I choose? I’m well aware studio has the best reputation, but they only offer solo3. The pop selection says “on-ear”, and I’m already worried they’re gonna squeeze my ears and make me wanna rip the, off.. then there’s another selection with standard colors but it doesn’t say if it’s “on-ear” or “over-ear” if there’s even such an option for solo3? Not a fan of the colors either.
 
Last edited:
I'd go for the Solo3 Pop edition and then sell them to help offset the cost of the MBP. And make sure you take advantage of education pricing, assuming you qualify.
 
Naimfan said:
I'd go for the Solo3 Pop edition and then sell them to help offset the cost of the MBP. And make sure you take advantage of education pricing, assuming you qualify.
Click to expand...

I qualified but I don’t think they even validated if I was a student or not when I bought my 2017 MacBook. Unless they knew since I did validate for Apple Music student ?
 
Naimfan said:
I'd go for the Solo3 Pop edition and then sell them to help offset the cost of the MBP. And make sure you take advantage of education pricing, assuming you qualify.
Click to expand...
So, they’re not worth having a part of my beats x wireless collection? How do I take advantage of the education pricing? I plan on getting the 15 inch, without extra upgrades
Closingracer said:
I qualified but I don’t think they even validated if I was a student or not when I bought my 2017 MacBook. Unless they knew since I did validate for Apple Music student ?
Click to expand...
yeah, I also didn’t have to “prove” anything when I got my iPad Pro last year..
 
TinaBelcher said:
So, they’re not worth having a part of my beats x wireless collection? How do I take advantage of the education pricing? I plan on getting the 15 inch, without extra upgrades

yeah, I also didn’t have to “prove” anything when I got my iPad Pro last year..
Click to expand...

They aren’t all that great imho. Not worth the $300. For $400 you can get the Bowers and Wilkins PX which sound way better. This is of course just comparing the MSRP of both. For free they aren’t bad.



Education pricing would be the same way you got it on your iPad. Just go to the bottom of the page and look for it.
 
Closingracer said:
They aren’t all that great imho. Not worth the $300. For $400 you can get the Bowers and Wilkins PX which sound way better. This is of course just comparing the MSRP of both. For free they aren’t bad.



Education pricing would be the same way you got it on your iPad. Just go to the bottom of the page and look for it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I already clicked on that that aka “college offer”. That’s why I wrote back to school offer :)

Oh, that’s bad. I hoped I’d enjoy them.. so rather stick with the beats x wireless?
 
Naimfan said:
I'd go for the Solo3 Pop edition and then sell them to help offset the cost of the MBP.
Click to expand...
Would the Pop edition sell for a higher price? I plan to keep it sealed and sell it to offset the cost but I'm thinking there are a lot of people that will be doing that in the next weeks so the prices will probably come down fast.
 
TinaBelcher said:
Yeah, I already clicked on that that aka “college offer”. That’s why I wrote back to school offer :)

Oh, that’s bad. I hoped I’d enjoy them.. so rather stick with the beats x wireless?
Click to expand...

If you’re happy with the beats X keep those and sell the solo ? I sold mine for around $80 but that’s because it was opened and wanted to get rid of them ASAP so I priced them low. Probably can get around $100-$150 for yours? I’ve seen them as low as $199 on Amazon quite a lot.
 
Closingracer said:
If you’re happy with the beats X keep those and sell the solo ? I sold mine for around $80 but that’s because it was opened and wanted to get rid of them ASAP so I priced them low. Probably can get around $100-$150 for yours? I’ve seen them as low as $199 on Amazon quite a lot.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t say I’m “happy” with the beats x, the hanging wire is making an annoying sound in the earbuds when moving, but the audio is very well balance and nice. But the solo 3 doesn’t much better quality and if they’re not comfortable then it’s defiently not worth it.. I don’t plan on purchasing another another pair of headphones in the nearest future, though.. I’m sorry for asking so many questions, as you can tell I’m very inexperienced lol
 
I went with the Solo 3 in Matt Black

I generally use my AirPods most of the time, but thought the Solo3 would be useful to use when Im editing in FCPX.....
 
Ifti said:
I went with the Solo 3 in Matt Black

I generally use my AirPods most of the time, but thought the Solo3 would be useful to use when Im editing in FCPX.....
Click to expand...
I got the Matt black, too.. should I keep them or sell? I don’t own anything else beside my beats x that was also free.
 
I briefly owned a pair of Solo3s and found them pretty uncomfortable. Moved to B&W PXs, which I also found unbearable to wear for long periods, and have just ordered some Studio3s in the Amazon Prime Day sale, so hopefully they're better!

In your situation, I'd try and find a shop where you can try on the Solo3. If you don't like them, just sell them, but you'll get more for them if they're sealed. They aren't amazing headphones but they're not terrible, either, so it may be a good upgrade on your BeatsX if you like the fit.
 
cambookpro said:
I briefly owned a pair of Solo3s and found them pretty uncomfortable. Moved to B&W PXs, which I also found unbearable to wear for long periods, and have just ordered some Studio3s in the Amazon Prime Day sale, so hopefully they're better!

In your situation, I'd try and find a shop where you can try on the Solo3. If you don't like them, just sell them, but you'll get more for them if they're sealed. They aren't amazing headphones but they're not terrible, either, so it may be a good upgrade on your BeatsX if you like the fit.
Click to expand...
I was foolish enough to open the package and try them on and you’re right, they’re a nightmare to have on. After 20 minutes I was in pain. I’ve put them up for sale but I lost a lot of value from removing the plastic sealing. Dammit. Let me know if the studio 3 are better :)
 
TinaBelcher said:
I was foolish enough to open the package and try them on and you’re right, they’re a nightmare to have on. After 20 minutes I was in pain. I’ve put them up for sale but I lost a lot of value from removing the plastic sealing. Dammit. Let me know if the studio 3 are better :)
Click to expand...
Had them on for about an hour and a half now, they're much better. You still know you're wearing headphones, but the ANC is pretty good, as is sound quality. As long as you don't expect to do any reference listening on them, I think you'd be pretty pleased. Perfect for what I bought them for, which is commuting on somewhat noisy trains for an hour each way every day.
 
cambookpro said:
Had them on for about an hour and a half now, they're much better. You still know you're wearing headphones, but the ANC is pretty good, as is sound quality. As long as you don't expect to do any reference listening on them, I think you'd be pretty pleased. Perfect for what I bought them for, which is commuting on somewhat noisy trains for an hour each way every day.
Click to expand...
Personally, I find my Beats X wireless earbuds to provide better sound compared to the solo3.. but to each own :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back