Read on to find out more about the Beats Flex budget wireless earbuds. The left-side housing includes a pair of buttons, but they’re easy to distinguish between by feel. Along the edge is an elongated volume rocker, while a raised, round button on the face of the housing offers playback control.
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 beats studio3 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.
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.
A quick press of the playback control will play or pause your audio or answer or hang up on a phone call. A double press skips forward to the next track, while a triple press skips backward, and pressing and holding activates Siri. At $50, the Beats Flex is an attractive proposition price-wise, but there are some solid alternatives in that price range. If you like wireless earbuds that are attached with a cable, I like Jaybird’s Tarah. They debuted at $100 in 2018, but now they’re regularly available for $50 or less.
Without the H1 chip, you also won’t get hands-free “Hey Siri” support, so you’ll have to press the voice assistant button on the left-side neckband housing in order to access Siri. With nearly identical neckband housings on each side, it takes a little bit of practice to remember which functions are located where, but once you learn that it’s easy to control things by feel. Unlike AirPods Pro, Beats Flex don’t have active beats flex review noise cancellation, but I still found they did a pretty good job shutting out background noise and letting me focus on what I was listening to. There’s some added thump to the drum loop, and the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with power and depth—these earphones will not disappoint lovers of boosted bass. The vocals are delivered cleanly and clearly, though some sibilance is added to the mix.
Elsewhere, the earphones come with Apple’s W1 chip to ensure quick, seamless pairing with iPhones and iPads; just bring the headphones near your device and you’ll instantly see a popup offering to pair them. I say everyday headphones, because their lack of waterproofing means they’re sadly no replacement for the Beats Powerbeats when it comes to exercise, despite the neckband design. Flex wireless earbuds have no fancy noise-cancellation tech inside of them to block out unwanted noise. However, they can provide passive noise isolation, which is above average. This sound reduction is achieved from the tips and earpieces physically blocking your ear canal.
There’s no noise-cancelling either, but with the correct seal you’ll still enjoy good levels of passive noise isolation. Check out our recommendations for the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds, the best wireless earbuds for iPhone, and the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds under $50. You can turn on and off the auto-pause that activates when you remove them from your ears. You can also turn on and off auto-call answering, but that’s about it. The Beats Flex’s passive soundstage is bad, which is to be expected for closed-back in-ears. To create a large and out-of-head soundstage, the outer ear needs to be activated by sound resonances.