It’s intuitive and serviceable for when you want to stop songs to engage in brief chats. Bundled with the earbuds are a USB-C charge connector, quick start guide, warranty card, and four sets of ear tips, in various sizes. The necks of the buds are nicely mounted at a slight angle from the driver housings with the aim of offering a fit that doesn’t tug on the cable when worn. Their integrated mic beats flex review has a mediocre recording quality, so your voice sounds muffled and thin over the phone. It struggles to separate your voice from background noise, even in moderately loud environments. They also don’t do a very good job isolating you from bass-range noise like rumbling bus and plane engines, although they can passively isolate you from a good amount of mid-range noise like ambient conversation.
I would say the comfort level is moderate, as I noticed the inner casing was adding slight pressure to the concha. This will only cause issues if you have a low pain threshold or use the earbuds for longer than two hours. The Beats Flex headphones easily better Apple’s 2012 wired EarPods for sound – in direct comparison, the once-bundled EarPods sound overly bassy. We stream The Waterboys’ The Whole Of The Moon on Tidal, and the Beats Flexes offer a far more cohesive mix across the frequencies and a better sense of timing throughout.
The neckband is also the most comfortable I’ve used, even more comfortable than Powerbeats. The area that rests against your neck is molded so it rests perfectly against the next. The controls are on both sides of the buds, the volume, play/pause, and Siri controls are on the left while the power/Bluetooth button is on the right. The wires that connect the control panels to the earbuds are a little awkward — they’re thick and flat to help avoid tangling, but they are so stiff they feel weird.
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.
Certainly if you’ve never owned the Beats X and especially if you’ve only had unbelievably poor earphones until now, you’ll be more than happy with the Flex. The experience of using Flex with an iPhone is similar to using AirPods, with seamless pairing and iOS-specific audio features. Providing or obtaining an estimated insurance quote through us does not guarantee you can get the insurance. Acceptance by insurance companies is based on things like occupation, health and lifestyle. By providing you with the ability to apply for a credit card or loan, we are not guaranteeing that your application will be approved.
If a USB-C slot isn’t available to you, you can go online and buy a new power adapter for your headphones. That’s not to say your entire high-end is missing, but simply that the Flex lack some of the sparkle you’ll get from slightly more generous drivers. This isn’t much of a concern where stuff like modern rock, pop, hip hop, or rap are concerned, since most of the key elements in those styles fall between the sub-bass and upper midrange frequencies.