The Flex are Beats most affordable earphones to date, and they’re ever so close to being considered a bonafide bargain. Hilda Scott uses her combined passion for gadgets and bargain shopping to bring you the best prices on all things tech. She has a bachelor’s degree in film and media studies from Hunter College and 11 years of tech and entertainment journalism. Her beats flex review work has been featured on Tom’s Guide, iTechPost, Examiner.com, Parlemag, Enstars, and Latin Times. When she’s not scouting for the best deals, Hilda’s catching up on her favorite TV shows and pro-wrestling matches. Thanks to the Apple W1 chip, Beats Flex integrates nicely with iPhone/iPad offering a quick, one-touch setup and seamless interaction within iOS.
The iPhone 12 may have got the headlines, but Beats Flex demonstrate that what’s left out can be just as important as what’s left in. It’s more flexible and convenient, plus the Flex-Form cable is extremely lightweight and made of durable Nitinol material. You can nicely place them around the neck or collar and they are quite comfortable to wear, as if the cable fits the body shape and pleasant to the touch. I always like to give an honest review from a neutral position. I hope my may help you to choose the right earbuds.
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.
Therefore, if you plan to use them for workouts, you’ll have to be creative at trying to fixate them on your shirt and prevent them from falling out. Due to the boost in the bass, the midrange sounds warm yet natural. Both instruments and vocals are rendered naturally and without harshness or sibilance. Surprisingly, the sound signature is very balanced, with just a slight boost throughout the bass region. While the sound is pleasing and smooth, it lacks details and clarity.
My preference would just be a cable that hangs under my neck or around the back of my neck. The neckband got in the way during activities with a lot of movement (especially crunches!). The linguini cord goes where it wants to and ends up rubbing against our chin. The original Beats X beats studio3 sold for around £120-£130 in the UK, and over the last few years they’ve slowly slipped down to £60-£90 depending on where you looked. 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.
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.
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.