Beats Flex Review: Best Cheap Bluetooth Earbuds You Can Buy

The audio can even veer towards tinny when you’re streaming a show or a film on Netflix. Watching Steve McQueen’s Small Axe with the Beats Flex in wasn’t an entirely pleasurable experience. Dialogue was quite hollow, and that’s largely because of the headphones’ limited soundstage. That said, all this should be couched in that we should really be comparing these to the EarPods. And in that respect, the sound quality is a huge improvement. It took less than 90 minutes to fully charge Beats Flex once I depleted their battery, and a 10-minute Fast Fuel charge when the battery is low will give you up to 1.5 hours of playback time in a pinch.

Also on the left side is the microphone for calls, just above the multi-function button. The Beats Flex looks a lot like its pricier predecessor, the $150 BeatsX. They’re still behind-the neck wireless earbuds — or as I like to call them, neckbuds. Visually, the main difference is the company moved the on-board controls from the cable that attaches to the left bud down to the thin pod on the end of the neckband. That band that rests on your collar is where the Flex gets its name.

When I try to pass those 65 feet, the audio starts to choke a little but continues playing, nevertheless. Nevertheless, that’s still a reasonable duration, enough for a full day of constant use. Considering the brand and the price, Beats Flex are made quite well.

However, they still offer more than other wireless earbuds at this price range. Magnetic earbuds also serve as a feature, primarily for pausing your playback or answering phone calls.Another thing users mention is that the battery likes to swell and burst open the control module. The Beats Flex are Apple’s latest neckband Bluetooth earbuds, and bring many of the fancy features of its AirPods to headphones costing just one third of the price. The Beats app gets zero promotion, and for good reason, as it has very few features. There are only two toggle controls, which are tied to automatic playback and call management. Besides that, you can rename the buds, register them online, view the battery level indicator, or experience a quick tour of the controls.

You can even leave them paired to a device for hours, inactive, and the battery levels will barely drop. I attribute the cleaner audio presentation and small glimpses of bass resonance to the Beats Flex’s great isolation. A proper fit establishes a tight seal that blocks out ambient noise from coming into the soundscape, so you can enjoy full sound to the best of the buds’ capabilities. The inclusion of four ear tip options provides a variety of fits to accommodate different ear shapes. Sure, it would have been awesome if Beats added some of the wing tips bundled with the BeatsX, but that doesn’t take away from the Beat Flex’s acceptable fit. If you’re worried about them slipping out during runs, don’t, because the tips grip onto the ear canal and the modules on each side do a fantastic job with weight distribution to keep the buds stabilized.

When the meeting is over, all I have to do is tap the play button on my iPhone and the Beats Flex will reconnect to the iPhone so I can continue to listen to music. The most convenient feature of Beats Flex is the magnetic buds that clip together so the earbuds hang around your neck like a lanyard. It’s actually my favorite way to keep my earphones nearby when I’m not wearing them. I don’t have to take them out of my bag or stick them in my pocket. They’re just dangling there, waiting for me to use whenever I want them.

Their lightweight, portable and bendable structure is ideal for traveling and commuting. What if your earbuds have any manufacturing defect or they get damaged somehow. beats flex review Let’s know about the services they can provide in that case. The headphone will establish a connection to your device and all the devices on your iCloud account.

beats flex review

However, the bump in the high-mid can make vocals and lead instruments sound a little honky. Your beats studio3 browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.

Easily connect via the Apple W1 chip4, get extended range and fewer dropouts with Class 1 Bluetooth®, and control volume, music, and calls with on-device controls. And don’t break for battery life—use 10-minute Fast Fuel for 1.5 hours of playback when battery is low3. As an aside, I also noticed that the buds connected much faster to my Pixel 5 with the app installed, which helps cut down on the previously mentioned power on/connection tone delay.

Surprisingly, the sound signature is very balanced, with just a slight boost throughout the bass region. While the sound is pleasing and smooth, it lacks details and clarity. Voice quality on both ends of a call was pretty good, although not quite as clear as with AirPods. The Beats Flex do have a port on the top of each tough plastic earpiece, which can often limit passive isolation, but these do not seem to leak much noise at all. The Beats Flex have dynamic drivers with a “layered” design claimed to improve stereo separation.