Available in four fun colors, there’s certainly plenty to love here—especially at this price point. One of the best things about neckbuds is that the actual buds are quite light, which makes for a pretty comfortable fit. True wireless buds have a lot going on under the hood, so they’re often weightier than non-TW earbuds, which leads to more ear fatigue and discomfort. It’s still very much present, though you may be underwhelmed if you’re the “give me all the bass you can stuff into my brain” type of listener. I find the balance to be very good for most listening purposes, but I personally prefer a bit more low end in music than what the Flex offers. That said, it’s not something I’ve noticed myself missing after just a few minutes of listening to the Flex.
Once you achieve a proper fit and seal, you should get consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use them. The boosted bass response is noticeable in the song No Fear No More by Madeon. When I sit in my quiet room, unencumbered by external noise, the bassline sounds overpowering. This makes sense because bass notes are tuned to sound twice as loud as low-midrange notes. However, it plays to my advantage when I walk to the grocery store because I can more easily keep tabs on the main beat. My ears work best with the double-flanged tips, but your mileage may vary.
To see a company like Beats fit this in at $50 would constitute a minor miracle. Andrew Williams The mids are the weak point, as they are in most cheaper earphones. A soft mid-range that lacks detail and texture means naturally recorded vocals lack the timbre and cut through of the best-in-class pairs. The SoundMagic E11BT and Beyerdynamic Blue Byrd perform better beats studio3 in this area. One of the first questions to ask of any pair of earphones to use while you work out is whether they will stay in place as you run, or jump about at the gym. We’re testing with an older iPhone 8 running on the most recent iOS update and find the promised auto-pause functionality when the buds’ magnets click together a little hit and miss.
The company is offering a low-cost option for anyone who’s looking for wireless earbuds and doesn’t want to spend a lot of money. Especially those people who are looking for something to replace the Earpods that Apple no longer gives them for free with a new iPhone. Plus, Beats managed to pack features like quick pairing that go beyond the basic on-board controls. And it included great battery life to just round out a solid features list. But even at $50, you have to be willing to make some sacrifices — mostly in the audio department. At the end of the day, the Beats Flex works well, and sounds okay enough to be just fine for a lot of people.
That control handles play/pause , skipping tracks forward , returning to the previous song and summoning your virtual assistant . Because these are all physical buttons, they’re reliable and easy to use. Even when you have to double- or triple-press, the Flex receives each beats flex review command without issue. 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.
Using Bluetooth 5.0, they provide a very stable Bluetooth range. Beats earbuds manage to pass the second brick wall and continue playing music for up to 65 feet . One thing worth noting is that the neckband produces some cable noise. Thankfully, it isn’t obnoxiously beats studio3 loud, so you get used to it quickly. On the other hand, mics use overly aggressive noise cancellation for reducing background noise during phone calls. It can occasionally muffle your voice to the point where you don’t understand the words anymore.