Are Your Beats by Dre Solo 3s Legit?

Welcome to another fake vs. real article where we get a chance to take all the information we have and help you determine whether your Solo 3 headphones are authentic. At JoesGE.com we buy, sell, and repair so many Beats for customers from around the world that we’ve become experts at spotting fakes. Unfortunately, we see far too many of them. Over the years we’ve found that 10% of the items we get from our customers are counterfeit. When you consider that JoesGE services more than 50,000 Beats products per year, that 10% represents a staggering number of people ripped off by dishonest sellers. It sucks when we have to break the bad news to disappointed customers, so that pushes us to continue to educate you so you can make better buying decisions.

Of course the simple and easy way to get genuine Beats is to buy from reputable sellers and companies that have a good track record. Shameless plug: we sell authentic Beats if you need a reputable company to purchase from. But let’s say for some reason you didn't take the opportunity to purchase your Beats from JoesGE. Below are some tips to ensure your Beats are legitimate. The photos we use here are for the Solo 3 wireless Beats, but these steps can be used on any 3rd generation Beats product. This applies for the following models: Solo 3 Wireless, Studio 3 Wireless, Powerbeats 3 Wireless, and Beats X.

If you prefer to watch these steps in action watch our YouTube video.

Let's jump in.

1. Put your headphones into pairing model.

First power your headphones on.

Second, press and hold the power button for 3 seconds until it has a flashing light. This means your headphones are in pairing mode.

Now ensure your iPhone or Apple product has bluetooth on. Once you're in pairing mode and your bluetooth is on you will see a screen show up on your device asking if you want to “connect” your device. This is a sure fire way of knowing your Beats have the original W1 chip that is in the 3rd generation product.

2. Use the Beats updater to see if your item registers. Of course if your charger port is damaged you can not send information to the computer. Download Beats updater and see if your Beats get into the registration page. If this is the case your headphones are authentic.

3. Ear pads are also a great way to determine if your Beats are genuine. Fake earpads will typically have a blue foam. Genuine muffs will have yellow or black foam.

4. Digging below the surface--Internally your bluetooth board should be black in color. It should also have the W1 technology that allows for easy connections and long battery life.

5. The powerboard has to be black too. The board has all the correct technology to allow your Beats to function properly.

6. Your headband should have a lighter gray color on the band. This is only true for the matte black we reviewed on our YouTube video but it is the case for the matte black Solo 3 wireless.

7. Lastly your serial and model numbers. The hinge on the left side is authentic and the hinge on the right is counterfeit. The easiest way to spot the difference is to look at the fonts and colors and compare to the image below to ensure your Beats are authentic.