They hardly compare to their more expensive Beats counterparts. The sound focuses on the high-end and low end while ignoring the mids, which can make some tracks sound a little empty. Because they sit inside your ear canal, they do isolate noise well though which means you can focus on the music without any distractions.
Enjoy rich, powerful sound with both accurate bass and low distortion across the frequency curve. Magnetic earbuds make listening that much easier with Auto-Play/Pause2, playing music when they’re in your ears and pausing when they’re connected around your neck. The Flex-Form cable provides all-day comfort with durable Nitinol construction while four ear tip options offer a personalized fit.
The earphones look like they’d be good for the gym, but there’s actually no IP rating, so we can’t recommend wearing them in the rain, getting them sweaty, or rinsing them off. That said, Beats reps inform us that the USB-C connector is waterproof, and the buttons are sealed to prevent potential liquid ingress. So there is a degree of water resistance here, but without a rating to give us a concrete idea of just how water resistant the earphones are, you’d be wise to avoid getting them wet. The Beats Flex earphones offers a bass-forward sound signature and the easy connectivity of Apple’s W1 chip for just $50. More so, earbuds offer active noise cancellation and ambient sound mode.
The Beats Studio Buds is a middling pair of noise cancelling earphones that actually works as well with Android phones as it does with iPhones. While the Studio Buds is significantly pricier than the Beats Flex, it’s still more affordable than the Beats Powerbeats Pro and is much more portable thanks to the compact design. Listeners who are drawn in by the AirPods Pro’s noise cancellation but want to express their style a bit more should grab the Beats Studio Buds.
The AirPods have the H1 chips, not the older W1 chip like the Flexes. H1 chip delivers a stable low latency wireless connection. Class 1 Bluetooth rating provides connections up to 300 feet that are beyond imagination with class 2 Bluetooth devices. Beats advertise a Fast Fuel feature that allows you to listen for 1.5 hours on a 10 minutes charge.
This will only cause issues if you have a low pain threshold or use the earbuds for longer than two hours. The Beats Flex have redesigned controls with a volume rocker and multi-function button. The integrated microphone’s noise handling is disappointing. The mic struggles to separate your voice from background noise, even in a moderately loud environment like a busy street. The Beats Flex have a decent noise isolation performance.
The device sits tightly in place, creating an acoustic seal which reduces background noise and prevents your music from leaking out. Speaking of weird, because the wire is stiff, I found myself fiddling with the buds way more than necessary. The wires pull at the buds so it feels like they might fall out at any time. I would sometimes end up shoving the buds deeper into my ears in an effort to make sure they didn’t pop out. I prefer the small in-ear hooks that the BeatsX had because it helped to anchor the buds in better.
The Beats Flex may not have a charging case, but with 12 hours of continuous operation, they can truly last an entire day before needing to be plugged in. You never beats solo pro wireless have to worry about losing an earbud, there’s no bulky charging case to stash in your pocket or purse. It’s slightly thinner on the Flex, but still just as robust.
They have wires connecting the earbuds to each other but Bluetooth to the phone. It goes without saying, but at this price the Beats Flex also doesn’t offer noise cancellation, either. He currently focuses on audio, reviewing the most coveted beats solo pro wireless headphones in the market for both Tom’s Guide and Laptop Magazine. Beats’ upgraded mic array does provide improved voice calling, though the Beats Flex’s call quality remains a level below any of the Powerbeats models and the BeatsX.
The volume rocker on the top of the left pod is handy for quick adjustments. The earbuds can magnetically link together when you’re not using them. Apple says none of this data could be used to personally identify you. You can use these headphones wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but can’t connect any other way. These are the settings used to test these headphones, and our results are only valid when using them with this configuration.