Apple’s easy-pairing feature gets you instantly connected to any iPhone or iPad linked to your iCloud account. They’ve been tuned as earbuds you can wear around your neck throughout the day and pop in your ears as needed, and they’re perfectly good for casual listening. Sure, it lacks a few things, like accurate frequency response, sweat resistance, and a sub-standard microphone system, but all of this is forgivable at this price point. Don’t worry about the battery life, as a rechargeable lithium-ion battery powers this Beats Flex Wireless Earphones.
You will get this headphone straight to your Doorsteps without any delay. Speaking about Audio Sharing, the option lets you share your audio wirelessly with another pair of Apple AirPods or Beats headphones. The built-in microphone is available to pick up your voice by reducing wind noise for high voice clarity and call performance. The microphone clarity is also great, but it lacks the noise-reducing and voice isolating qualities of the more expensive PowerBeats. In a relatively quiet environment, your phone calls will sound great.
Fast charging promises 1.5 hours of use from a 10-minute charge. The Apple U1 may, at this early stage, be a little too expensive. And even if it is not, the rumored AirPods Studio would be a much better vehicle for the day-to-day benefits of that hardware. However, there are benefits to this classic style and the Beats Flex are beats studio3 a great budget buy for runners. And for general listening if you’re not going to sit down and critique every last element of their sound quality. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies.
First released last October, the Beats Flex made headlines at launch because of their low price compared to other Apple headphone options, and they have been a popular purchase option… These microphones are designed to filter out background noise from the desired sound. You can use the app to play a sound from your earbuds to help you locate them. Aptx Adaptive is an audio codec for Bluetooth devices that is developed by Qualcomm. It has a variable bit rate , which means it can adjust the bit rate for different scenarios, such as listening to HD audio or reducing interference from other devices. The W1 chip makes these headphones worth every penny, hands-down.
But the multifunction button that controls play/pause, track skip forward/back, call answer/end, and accessing Siri has only a tiny amount of travel and virtually no click. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver some serious low-frequency thump. At top, unwise listening levels, this track doesn’t distort, and at more moderate volumes, the bass is still powerful.
Actually I’ve owned several pairs because I use them constantly so the battery never lasts me long enough, even though they’ve got a respectable 8 hours . They’ve been my go-to and I practically live with them on. That said, there’s plenty to like at the Beats Flex and that low price makes them sound seriously appealing. We’d also say that they don’t feel as premium as the more expensive Powerbeats but you are paying almost half the price for the Flex so it’s harsh to fault the overall build quality too much. So, there’s no doubt that price tag is clearly enticing, but are the Beats Flex really worth your hard-earned cash? Express.co.uk has been putting them to the test and here’s what we think…
On-device controls allow you to adjust volume as well as manage music, take calls, or activate voice assistant. Beats Flex come with the same four tip options that are completely interchangeable with the other Beats in-ear bud tips. 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.
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. The Flex are very much designed for day-to-day casual listening so that’s just fine.
It uses Bluetooth 5.0 technology to provide low latency audio , which is useful when you want to avoid audio lag (e.g. when playing games). It is capable of a very high bitrate of 990kbps, which provides high resolution audio. It can also automatically adjust to a lower bitrate of 330kbps or 660kbps to increase stability.