Beats Flex Review: How Good Do Apples Sub-$50 Headphones Sound?

This means that the volume controls, the large battery unit and the multi-feature button sit neatly on your chest. Another advantage is that they don’t get tangled up if you stuff them in your pocket. The cable between the beats solo pro wireless earphones makes them a bit more noticeable while wearing, compared to something like AirPods. It results in a brief second where audio is playing while the earphones aren’t in your ear, but it’s a very workable solution.

beats flex review

For some people it is more comfortable than in-ear form. The first number of the IP rating refers to protection against dust, while the second number refers to protection against liquid. E.g. a first number of 6 denotes that it is completely dustproof, and a second number of 7 denotes that the device can withstand full immersion in water. Would it be nice to get a more secure fit using in-ear fins for running? But that’s the only real complaint we have with the Beats Flex. And it’s a minor one considering you could spend a little more elsewhere in the range for such a fit.

But while they were cheap by Beats standards, the new Beats Flex are significantly cheaper still, firmly sitting in the budget headphone camp now. As for battery life, Beats Flex can last for 12 hours – which should be more than enough for most people but with USB-C charging, you can do a 10-minute fast charge to get an extra 1.5 hours of playback. If you haven’t charged your Beats Flex headphones yet, you’re in for a treat. They can charge from dead flat to full up in a little less than 90 minutes. But, if you need some “Fast Fuel,” you can plug them in for just ten minutes and get about 1.5 hours of playback.

There is a good amount of focus in the mids around 1000 Hz. A conquered continuing from the bass range to the low mid can be found. These earphones utilize a dual-chamber acoustic design and a layered driver to attain outstanding stereo separation with rich and precise bass response.

Additionally, there’s a 2-way rocker to adjust your volume and a multi-function button to play/pause and skip tracks. One press will play or pause, two will skip forward, and three will skip back a track. However, this isn’t going to be all that convenient if you don’t pick up a longer charging cable. And some pundits say that this causes the battery to wear out faster. However, if you need to use them, the Beats Flex can be ready at any time. If you want to know if you’re running low on juice, there’s a handy LED that lets you know what’s going on.

The new Beats Flex rock out of the gate at just £49, a significantly lower entry point and makes them a really affordable set of wireless earphones. I half wondered if Apple mistakenly underpriced these when I saw the price, or perhaps had compromised them to get a lower price, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that it isn’t the case. I’ve yet to see beats studio3 another pair of earphones at the price point that offers such a balance of features and respectable audio. I’ve been using the Flex for close to a week now for a couple of hours each day, listening to jams while I work out and podcasts while on long walks or watering the lawn. I just hit the 20% mark, which mean the Flex can easily last a week on a charge.

The left side of the neck band has most of the controls, plus the USB-C port for charging and the microphone for calls. There’s a volume rocker and a multi-function button, which you press once for pause/play, twice and three times to skip track or press and hold for the voice assistant. As our beats flex review explains, inconsistent audio performance theatens to put a downer on things, though at this price it would be foolish to look past altogether. The Beats Flex look very similar to the Beats X, which have now been discontinued. As with the Beats X, you can magnetically attach them together — and this time, your music will automatically pause whenever you do so. Four sizes of ear tips come in the box, and while the Flex fit me well, I did notice that their passive noise isolation leaves something to be desired.