This is where earphones like the $49.99 Beats Flex fit in perfectly, with a neckband-style design and roughly 12 hours of battery life. If you have an iOS device, the earphones also feature Apple’s W1 chip for seamless pairing, just like the far more expensive $250 Airpods Pro. The sound is our favorite quality of the new Beats Flex. There’s not a ton of frills, but they do what they need to pretty well. There’s supposed to be an auto-play/pause feature when the buds snap together with their built-in magnets, but it didn’t work on our pre-release version. Apple’s built-in W1 chip makes for quick-and-easy pairing and syncing with iPhone.
It is therefore necessary to carefully choose the size of the end caps to obtain good comfort, but above all good passive insulation. You shouldn’t have a problem, because Beats delivers four pairs of eartips in different sizes. The headphones fit well in the ears and deliver a satisfactory sound, but lacks a bit of depth. The measurement of the bandwidth reveals that the Beats Flex give pride of place to the mediums, but cannot correctly reproduce the highs from 4000 Hz, nor the bass below 200 Hz. Save even more cash when you ditch the Beats branding and go with theAnker Soundcore Spirit 2 Earbuds at$35.
As of March 23, 2022, nearly 43% of respondents have rated the above sample as just “Okay,” which is fair for a standard wireless headset. The in-line microphone was moved down the cord on the left side. They’re even magnetised and can stick together to help keep them tidy when they’re in your drawer or just hanging around your neck. We have also got loads of exciting offers, discounts, and amazing cashbacks. So what has changed between the outgoing X and the new Flex?
Of course, these are $50 earbuds, so it’s no surprise there’s not an adjustable equalizer. Beats hasn’t done that in the past, and the Flex would be a weird place to start. As is typical with Beats headphones, there’s no companion app on iOS with the Flex. Instead, the company includes everything right inside the Settings menu on iPhone and iPad. That means all you’ll have to do is turn on the Flex near your iOS device and a pairing pop-up will automatically be displayed. That message will also tell you the current battery level for the earbuds and allows you to connect to that phone or tablet quickly when you need to do so in the future.
The Flex have the same battery popup and connection features as Apple’s AirPods on iPhones and iPads, but also on Android devices via the Beats app. The earbuds stick back to back via magnets so pause the music and beats flex review to help prevent tangled cables when stored. But the Flex do not support Apple’s latest automatic switching between Apple devices, which swaps to whichever device – iPhone, iPad or Mac – that’s currently active.
The earbuds themselves are the same size as the BeatsX, though Apple claims there’s a new proprietary layered driver inside. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. Beats estimates battery life to be roughly 12 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels. Similarly warm sounding but with a slightly recessed mids and overall clearer and more transparent audio quality. However, paying more isn’t worth it, especially if you mostly care about sound quality.