If you want long battery life and on-ear headphones for running, choose Beats Solo 4; if you need open ears to stay aware of your surroundings, choose Raycon Fitness Open Ear. The deciding factor is not which one sounds more impressive on paper. It is whether you want your ears covered by cushioned ear cups or left open to nearby sounds.
For a run near traffic, that difference matters more than the headline battery figures. Beats offers up to 50 hours of battery life and wired listening options, while Raycon’s open-ear design, adjustable ear hooks, and sweat resistance are built around movement and awareness.
• Beats Solo 4’s biggest strength: Up to 50 hours of battery life, with a quick 10-minute charge providing up to five hours of playback. Its trade-off is an on-ear design that does not leave the ears as open as Raycon’s.
• Raycon Fitness Open Ear’s biggest strength: An open-ear fit designed to keep you aware of your surroundings, with adjustable hooks intended to stay secure during activity. Its trade-off is shorter playback from the earbuds themselves: up to eight hours before the case is needed.
• Beats Solo 4 sound and connections: Custom acoustic architecture, Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, and lossless listening through USB-C or a 3.5 mm cable. Those options make it more versatile for listening beyond a run.
• Raycon Fitness Open Ear’s workout focus: Sweat-resistant construction, wireless Bluetooth, and a charging case that adds 32 hours to the earbuds’ eight hours of playback. It has no headphone jack.
• Choose Beats Solo 4 if battery endurance, cushioned on-ear listening, and wired audio options matter most.
• Choose Raycon Fitness Open Ear if your priority is open-ear awareness and a fit designed for active movement.
Beats Solo 4 is an on-ear wireless headphone for someone who wants one audio product to cover more than workouts. Its custom acoustic architecture and updated drivers are designed for powerful Beats sound, and it supports Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. The adjustable, ergonomically angled ear cups and flex-grip headband are intended to provide a stable fit, while UltraPlush ear cushions add a comfort-focused element.
Battery life is a clear strength: Beats lists up to 50 hours. When the battery is low, a 10-minute Fast Fuel charge can provide up to five hours of playback. It can also play high-resolution lossless audio over USB-C or a 3.5 mm audio cable. That combination suits someone who listens for long stretches, wants a wired option, or expects to use the headphones for music and other everyday listening as well as exercise.
How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-22 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
Raycon Fitness Open Ear: Who It's For
Raycon Fitness Open Ear is the more activity-specific choice in this comparison. Its open-ear design is intended to let surrounding sounds remain audible, and its adjustable hooks sit behind the ears. The hooks rotate to help create a more secure fit, while the lightweight design and sweat resistance make the product’s intended workout use clear. For a route where hearing nearby activity matters to you, those are meaningful design choices.
The battery setup works differently from Beats. Raycon lists up to eight hours of nonstop sound from the earbuds and up to 32 additional hours from the charging case, for 40 hours in total. That gives it a useful distinction: the case extends listening time, but the earbuds themselves do not match the up-to-50-hour figure stated for Beats Solo 4. Raycon connects wirelessly over Bluetooth and does not have a headphone jack.
• Best for a more open fit while running → Raycon Fitness Open Ear. Its open-ear design is intended to leave you aware of your surroundings instead of covering the ears with cushions.
• Best for stated battery life without relying on the case → Beats Solo 4. Beats lists up to 50 hours, compared with up to eight hours of continuous playback from Raycon’s earbuds.
• Best for total listening time with a charging case → Raycon Fitness Open Ear. The eight hours from the earbuds plus 32 more from the case add up to 40 hours.
• Best for a fast recharge before heading out → Beats Solo 4. Its Fast Fuel feature provides up to five hours of playback from a 10-minute charge.
• Best for workouts where sweat resistance matters → Raycon Fitness Open Ear. Sweat resistance is part of its stated design, alongside ear hooks made for active movement.
• Best for wired listening flexibility → Beats Solo 4. It supports lossless audio through USB-C or a 3.5 mm audio cable; Raycon has no headphone jack.
• Best for someone who wants on-ear cushioning → Beats Solo 4. Its adjustable ear cups and UltraPlush cushions offer a different fit from Raycon’s open-ear hooks.
• Best for switching between a workout and other listening devices → Raycon Fitness Open Ear. Its multipoint connection is described as supporting multiple paired devices and quick switching.
For running, I’d choose Raycon Fitness Open Ear because its open-ear design and adjustable hooks are more closely aligned with movement and staying aware of nearby sounds. Those are the deciding features for this use case, not a claim that it suits every runner.
I’d buy Beats Solo 4 instead if I wanted one pair for long listening sessions, valued the up-to-50-hour battery life, or needed USB-C and 3.5 mm audio options. In my opinion, Raycon is the more purpose-built running pick, while Beats is the more flexible choice for a listener who also wants an on-ear headphone.
Raycon Fitness Open Ear is designed around running and active movement, with an open fit, adjustable ear hooks, and sweat resistance. Beats Solo 4 offers much longer stated battery life, but it uses an on-ear design rather than an open-ear one.
They use an open-ear design intended to leave you aware of your surroundings. The listed noise control is “None,” so they are not presented as noise-canceling earbuds.
Beats Solo 4 is listed for up to 50 hours of battery life. Raycon lists up to eight hours from the earbuds and 32 additional hours from the charging case, for up to 40 hours combined.
“Value” depends on which features you will actually use. Raycon’s open-ear fit and workout-oriented design may matter most to a runner, while Beats offers longer stated battery life and wired listening options. Check the current price on Amazon before making a value comparison.
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