Beats Solo3 (2016) vs Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012)

The Beats Solo3 (2016) is an example of a great On-Ear Headphone at its $90 budget.

In the case of the $279 Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012), however, we weren't able to find enough data to come to any reliable conclusions. If you're considering buying a On-Ear Headphone in the $140 range, we encourage you to take a look at some other options.

The Beats Solo3 (2016) was loved by reviewers at SoundGuys, a highly trusted source that performs reliable in-depth testing. It did great in its "Best Fashion Headphones for Men and Women" roundup where it was named its "Best on ear headphones", which, in itself, makes it a product worth considering.

Moving on to the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012): it was unable to reach the very top of any roundups from sources that conduct reliable and unbiased testing. Nonetheless, it still managed to impress reviewers from a number of such sites, like CNET, PCmag, Rtings, What Hi-Fi?, and Reviewed, enough for them to include them on those lists.

Out of the sources that tested and rated both of these On-Ear Headphones, Rtings preferred the Beats Solo3 (2016), whereas reviewers at CNET and Digitaltrends liked the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012) better. PCmag and What Hi-Fi? gave them identical review scores.

We also took a look at which sources liked these products best - the highest Beats Solo3 (2016) rating came from barbend.com, whereas the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012) most impressed reviewers at CNET; they earned scores of 8.5 and 9, respectively.

Lastly, in order to better compare them to the rest of their competition, we averaged out their review scores. The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012) managed to get 7.5 out of 10 - considerably better than the 7.4 review average of On-Ear Headphones in general - whereas the Beats Solo3 (2016) earned 7.0 points.

It should be said that doing a direct Beats Solo3 (2016) vs. Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 (2012) comparison might not be entirely fair due to the difference in their prices - some sources don't put much weight on value for money and thus tend to give better review scores to more expensive products.