Beats Flex Review: Best Budget Buds

Between a combination of making sure to adjust how the cord sat on my neck and simply time spent using Beats Flex, the sounds became much less annoying. With the cable wrapping around behind the neck, it’s super easy to pop one or both earphones out of your ear without worrying about losing them. And when you’re taking a break from listening, beats studio3 the two earphones click together magnetically to keep the whole thing secure around your neck. 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.

Then I thought of sharing the detailed information about these Flex earbuds with you too. It’s the ‘loudness’ of the sound that the microphone can pick up. Multipoint allows you to link to more Bluetooth devices and switch between them. For example you can easily switch calls from one device to another without having to manually disconnect and reconnect. AptX is a codec used for transmitting audio wirelessly with Bluetooth. It is developed by Qualcomm, and supports 16-bit audio at a bit rate of 384kbps.

These headphones have outstanding frequency response consistency. Once you achieve a proper fit and seal, you should get consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use them. On-device controls allow you to adjust volume, manage music, take calls and activate your voice assistant.

beats flex review

The right compartment houses a single button for power and pairing. But if that’s my biggest gripe with the $50 Beats Flex, I think they’re a pretty clear success. There are all sorts of true wireless earbuds on the market now — including more budget-focused options at this same price range.

The W1 chip in the Beats Flex is the predecessor to the H1, so the H1 chip brings better stability and battery life, as well as always-on Siri support, among other things. Download theBeats app for Androidfrom the Google Play store. The app will give you access to firmware updates, as well as additional device controls. beats flex review The Beyerdynamic Blue Byrd might look a bit retro, but it boasts modern performance and features. There is also a good amount of emphasis in the upper-mids that gives a good bump in volume to vocals in songs and podcasts. The vocals in Julia by Retro Stefson are easy to hear in almost any environment.

The flexible cord is design to withstand pretty much anything you could put it through in a normal day. So if you bunch up the Flex to slip into your pocket then that’s no problem. The band itself is made from a nickel-titanium alloy, and that not only means the cord is hard to break, it also bounces back into shape after living as a coiled up ball in your pocket. Some people aren’t worried about rich lows and bright highs and all the beautiful robust sound in between.

The Flex are tuned in such a way that vocals aren’t quite as pronounced as I’d like, which I think some small EQ tweaks could fix, but that’s simply not an option. Not only do they compare very closely to the BeatsX, with an even more bass-forward sound signature, but they also sound very close to the AirPods Pro, which are nearly four times more expensive. The BeatsX missed out on being a Class 1 Bluetooth device, but the Flex has this feature, too, which means a much longer wireless range — up to 300 feet. The BeatsX were already one of the most responsibly packaged headphones I’ve come across, and the Flex go even further.