Beats Flex review: The cost of $50 wireless earbuds

That means all you’ll have to do is turn on the Flex near your iOS device and a pairing pop-up will automatically be displayed. That message will also tell you the current battery level for the earbuds beats flex review and allows you to connect to that phone or tablet quickly when you need to do so in the future. Right now, that pop-up card only says Beats Flex, but doesn’t have an image of the device.

In the early days, Beats headphones were notorious for massive, booming — but almost painfully overbearing — bass tuning. The company has opted for a more even-handed approach as of late, and the Flex continues that trend. There’s a decent amount of bass here, but these earbuds lack the pleasant thump that can keep you energized at the gym. Ditto for appropriately recreating the kick drum or drum machine from your favorite artists. I’d even say this is the least amount of low-end tone I recall in a Beats product.

A 10-minute quick charge when the battery is low provides about 90 minutes of playback. The Flex are a mix of wireless and traditional earbuds; Bluetooth to the phone but with a cable that sits around your neck and wires to earbuds themselves. The Beats Flex are a simple set of quality Bluetooth beats studio3 earbuds that get the basics right for at a more affordable price. The Beats Flex last up to 12 hours off a charge but, in our test Android at least, do not give you a battery level indication if you don’t use an iPhone. Fast charging promises 1.5 hours of use from a 10-minute charge.

beats flex review

The Beats Flex have a flexible but formed neckband that grips the back of your neck ever so slightly. Pair that with low weight and you have the perfect mix for a runner’s fit. I still wish that Apple would offer at least some basic EQ adjustments for bass and treble.

They don’t drown you out as tends to happen with true wireless earbuds, but they’re more noticeable than with the BeatsX. But the BeatsX were released in 2017, and the wireless headphone market has changed a ton since then. True wireless earbuds have become very affordable and the connection problems that once plagued these devices have largely been eradicated.

From the $250 AirPods Pro to the $150 Powerbeats, where do the Beats Flex fit into Apple’s headphone lineup? These are the headphones you get your kids for Christmas alongside their new Apple Watch or iPhone SE. These are the earbuds you get for working remotely for convenient pairing across your Apple devices. These are the Beats you buy because you can’t justify spending $100 more on those Powerbeats, but you really like the brand.

But they are neckband buds, which means there’s a band that sits on your neck and cables to the earbuds, not the truly wireless design that’s become popular in the past few years. It’s also disappointing that the earbuds cannot be repaired or have the battery replaced, partly due to the cost of repair being higher than the cost of purchase. The earbuds are light at just 18.6g, which is 7.7g lighter than the Powerbeats, and fairly standard with silicone ear tips of which four sizes are included in the box.

Beats has come up with another collaboration, and this time it’s with Amsterdam-based fashion brand Daily Paper. As part of Daily Paper’s spring/summer 2022 collection,… Some say it is because of the sweat as it is not water-resistant.

The button lets you play or pause tracks with a single press, or skip tracks with a double-press. You can also summon Siri with a long press for more granular music controls using your voice in Apple Music. The Beats Flex uses a neckstrap design to deliver way more battery power than true wireless earbuds. You also can’t lose one or the other, although you can lose both. And that’s why there’s a place for them in today’s highly competitive headphones market.