I have not actually listened to any Beats but the solo 2 wireless are interesting to me. I'd like to get some good Bluetooth headphones. I have not heard of anything new that sounds better on paper.
That is because paper does not sound.
You can read it, not listen to it.
Forget paper.
And btw, if you can explain me WHY should the Solo 2 Wireless be the best sounding BT Headphones ever on paper, I am very curious to read it.
About this net Reviewer, I respect other people's opinions, and especially I respect TASTES. There is no discussion on tastes.
But this is supposed to be a PROFI. And a Profi is supposed to give at first if not only an objective opinion, or at least to divide very clearly the objective things from his subjective tastes, so clearly that everybody can understand what in his review is objective and what is not.
If a Profi is able to give 4 stars to the Beats Studio Wireless and 3,5 to the Plantronics Backbeat Pro, when the Beats have OBJECTIVELY much less detail, totally unbalanced sound, a dark muddy bass with almost zero rumble and mediocre body, dull low-mids and harsh highs, plus NO APTX and a weak ANC, while the Plantronics have a very clean sound, quite well balanced (with eventually a bit much highs but not harsh), wonderful soundstage, plenty of detail, a MUCH better quality of Bass, Aptx (and the Low latency one! Being the ONLY music Headphones having it!), Class 1 BT, a better ANC (which can be also deactivated), Head Sensor, Open Mic, wonderful controls........
Well, I REALLY have to think that he was not in his best day when he wrote those reviews.
I do not want to think that he is being paid by Beats. Well, I could think it, but I will not say it. He is a renowned Profi. So I prefer to say that he just did not test those headphones deeply enough or that "forgot" to specify that he was merely speaking of subjective preferences, omitting all the many objective superiorities of the Plantronics.
Besides, he says that the Bose Soundlink On Ear sound better than the Solo 2.
And he says, that the Solo 2 sound better than the Fidelio.
This is impossible, because the Fidelio sound MUCH better than the Bose.
Actually, the Fidelio sound much much better than the Beats Studio Wireless!
What-hifi and Digitalversus give them a wonderful 5 Stars. And Digitalversus posted grafics of their Frequency Response, showing that they are very well balanced, which is a super thing if you hear them, because they are not boring like the AKG K845, they are balanced but powerful and lively.
Thewirecutter are a bit arrogant (specially since when the guy of Forbes helps them) and have very often very different opinions than I have. I do not dislike them. But I do not like them either. It does not seem to me that they are hyping the reviews for obscure reasons, but people who are able to suggest the Jabra Revo Wireless as the best BT Headphone must really have their very own kind of criteria to compare headphones. The Revo are at best a mediocre headphone, no more.
Besides, why on Earth they did not even try the Plantronics? I can understand the Fidelio, they are not available in US (although these people do not buy headphones like I do, they receive them from the producers). But the Plantronics are American!
Then, they have lately tested the Bose and they still prefer the Revo for some idiot reasons!
You can NOT say that the Revo are better than the Bose!
The way they make comparison is WRONG, they mix different, VERY different price ranges.
And they include the price in the rating. And so, of course, the Revo at $100 against the Bose at $250..., they say the Bose is not worth the Money. The Revo is NOW cheaper, but when they wrote the review was as expensive as the Bose now, and they still gave them the first place without ever saying that it was not worth the money.
Beats is not worth the money, JBL is not worth the money, but Bose sound great and have very nice functions and a great portability. All this is worth the money for me and they should NOT look in my wallet when they make review.
They should give different options for different price ranges like What Hi-Fi does.
Or just stop choosing ONE Headphone. People are different, it is a LIE that ONE Headphone can be the best for everybody.
Also if they are a group and review in group, it does NOT mean that what they like must be liked by everybody.
If then you see how they completely excluded the Plantronics from the Best ANC comparison in the BT category, only selecting the mediocre sounding Samsung Level over, although the Plantronics sound better and have many more functions... NO WAY. They should have given both options, because many people may be interested in all those extras of the Plantronics and just want some ANC but not necessarily the super best ANC.
Digitalversus seem ok.
What hi-Fi, I do not know. I like the Fidelio but their review seems a bit too hyped to me.
Digitaltrends seem interesting.
I do not know what to think but, I have the impressions that some reviewers are a bit superficial in their reviews.
And others, well, they may be even paid. We all know that some Professional Reviews are hyped, and some Amazon reviews are just not real (like also some of the trolls downvoters who downvote negative reviews).
It's part of the business. Or they think it is.
Now, you can trust "paper", or you can trust EARS.
Your choice.