Beats Flex Review: More Bass, More Battery, Half the Price
"12 hours of battery life, great sound, and a mind-boggling price make it hard to beat."
-
Good price
-
Cozy
-
Very good sound quality
-
Very good call quality
-
Easy pairing with Apple products
-
Fast charging is slower than BeatsX
-
Using controls can be a little tricky
-
The USB-C charging cable does not fit normal USB ports
-
No official IPX rating
Previously, the cheapest BeatsX headphones for $ 100 were the BeatsX for $ 100. With their balanced sound, easy pairing with iPhones, and great call quality, they were a great choice for Beats fans who wanted something smaller and cheaper than the brand's classic foldable wireless headphones.
But the BeatsX was released in 2017 and the wireless headphone market has changed a ton since then. True wireless earbuds have become very affordable, and the connectivity issues that once plagued these devices have largely been eliminated. As a result, the BeatsX looked unnecessarily expensive due to its bulkier design behind the neck.
Answer from Apple: The $ 50 Beats Flex. They have all the features like the BeatsX that the Flex replaces, but at a dramatically lower price point that keeps them going when people are thinking of a new set of earbuds.
Did Apple have to cut too many corners to bring the Beats Flex to their remarkably low price, or are these the beats to beat?
Let's find out.
What's in the box?
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The BeatsX was already one of the most responsible headphones I've come across, and the Flex goes even further. The plain black cardboard box isn't much bigger than a deck of cards, there is practically no plastic inside or outside, and everything is easy to recycle. This is how all of our technology should arrive.
Inside the box you'll find the Beats Flex, a USB-C to USB-C charging cable, three sizes of silicone earbuds (in addition to the factory-installed ones) and some paper documentation, including the de rigueur Beats sticker.
design
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Beats Flex is available in four colors: Beats Black, Flame Blue, Smoke Gray and Yuzu Yellow.
They use the same hybrid cable design as the BeatsX, which combines a flat, tangle-free wire and a thicker, rubberized neck section that springs back into its U-shape no matter how hard you twist and turn it. The flex is a bit thinner, but just as robust.
You never have to worry about losing an earbud. There's no such thing as a bulky charging case to stash in your pocket or purse.
At both ends of the U there are elongated plastic housings that house the battery, electronics (including the W1 Bluetooth chip developed by Apple) as well as the USB-C charging port and power / pairing button. Apple has concentrated most of its redesign (cost reduction?) Efforts in these plastic cases. Instead of placing the microphone and controls in an inline pod on the cable of the left earbud, they are now in the left housing.
The earbuds themselves are the same size as the BeatsX, although Apple claims there is a new proprietary layer driver inside.
They can really take a full day before needing to be plugged in.
It may seem a bit strange that the Beats brand is still making behind-the-neck wireless headphones while a new set of true wireless earbuds hit the shelves every day, but there is still a market for this style. You never have to worry about losing an earbud, there is no bulky charging case to tuck in your pocket or purse. When you want to have a conversation, just pull the buds out of your ears and let them dangle. For people who routinely have to switch back and forth between listening to music and listening to the world around them, it's a much more convenient design.
Battery life
With just eight hours of battery life, the BeatsX has been ruined not only by other wired wireless earbuds but also by some of the new true wireless earbuds. For example, JLab's Epic Air ANC can live for eight hours with the ANC on and 12 hours with the ANC off. And that's before you consider the extra juice in their charging case.
The Beats Flex may not have a charging case, but with 12 hours of continuous use, they can really last a full day before needing to be plugged in.
The strange thing about the Flex is that overall battery life is better than its predecessor, but fast charging is worse. You now need 10 minutes to get a 1.5 hour boost, while the BeatsX can give you two hours of extension after a five minute charge.
Maybe this is somehow related to the switch from the Apple Lightning connector on the BeatsX to the USB-C connector on the Flex.
Switching to USB-C makes a lot of sense when chasing the Android community like Apple seems to be doing with the Flex, but choosing how to do it is confusing.
The included USB-C to USB-C charging cable is an immediate problem for anyone who doesn't own another USB-C device. There's just no way to plug the cable into anything other than a USB-C charging port, and Apple didn't include a USB-C charger in the box. If you have a current MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, this is not a problem. Both computers have connectors that can be used for this purpose. However, if you're still rocking an older computer, or literally an iPhone, there's a good chance you can't top up (or buy) the Flex without an Amazon order Apple's USB-C charger for $ 20).
Convenience, control and connections
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The sound of an earphone depends a lot on how it seals against your ear canal. With four sizes of silicone tips to choose from, most people should be able to get a secure and comfortable fit with the Beats Flex. The standard set of tips is the medium size, and these turned out to be very convenient for me.
The behind-the-neck design is also very comfortable. You barely notice its presence and the rubberized texture prevents it from sliding around while you move.
As long as you properly grip the earbuds, their flat cables will stay away from your face. Twist them and the opposite will happen.
The placement of the controls in the plastic housing (compared to the inline controls on the BeatsX) makes it a bit more difficult to use. The volume rocker is easy to operate with precisely defined clicks. The multi-function button used to control play / pause, skip forward / backward, answer / end of calls and access Siri (or Google Assistant) has only a small travel and practically no click.
This can make it difficult to know if you pressed it exactly. Since it's attached to the inside of the case, you have to squeeze it with your index finger – unless you're reaching across your neck with your right hand – something that was harder for me to do accurately than my thumb. You will get used to this arrangement quickly enough and you never risk accidentally pulling out the left earbud when using them.
As with all Apple wireless headphones that use the company's W1 or H1 wireless chips, pairing the Flex with an iOS device is a breeze. Just turn them on and wait for your iPhone to show you the one-tap pairing animation. If you own more than one Apple device, switching the Flex from one to the other is also a breeze.
It's almost as seamless on Android devices, too, as long as you download the free Beats app first.
The Flex doesn't have a wear sensor that allows you to automatically pause your music when you pull out an earbud. However, it has the next best thing: a sensor that pauses and plays when the earbuds magnetically snap in and out. It doesn't help if you just remove a single bud, but it's more convenient than stopping manually.
The Beats Flex are also compatible with Apple's audio sharing function, which allows two headphones or earphones equipped with W1 or H1 to listen to content from an iOS device at the same time.
It turned out to be a great way to compare the sound quality of Beats Flex and BeatsX (more on that in a minute).
The BeatsX missed out on being a Class 1 Bluetooth device, but the Flex has this feature too, which means a much greater wireless range – up to 300 feet.
Sound quality
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Given that the Beats Flex costs half the price of the BeatsX, I was prepared for a drop in sound quality, but that's not the case: they sound great.
For the price, these things rock.
Not only are they very closely comparable to the BeatsX, with an even stronger bass-forward sound signature, but also very close to the AirPods Pro, which is five times more expensive.
They don't quite match the AirPods Pro in terms of the width and depth of their soundstage – the flex keeps things a little closer to your head – but for the price, too, these things rock. To get a really noticeable improvement in audio quality, you need to spend between $ 200 and $ 300.
I still wish Apple offered at least some basic EQ adjustments for bass and treble. The flex is so tuned that the vocals are not quite as pronounced as I would like them to be. I think some small EQ tweaks could fix this, but that's just not an option.
Some people may prefer the way the flex has been tuned thanks to an even more pronounced lower register than the BeatsX, which is particularly good for rap, hip-hop, and a variety of club and EDM sub-genres.
Call quality
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
One of the things I loved about BeatsX was the call quality. Crystal clear and ideal for separating voices from background noise. You were the next best thing to actually holding your phone to your face.
The secret was where the microphone was placed. Positioned on the left earbud wire, it was ideal for voice recording. The Beats Flex are almost as good, but the position of the microphone on the flex neckband results in a slightly poorer quality.
Your voice is still very clear under most circumstances, but background noise is not filtered as well. They don't drown you out like real wireless earbuds do, but they're more noticeable than the BeatsX.
The only thing that would make calling on the Flex better (other than moving the microphone) is a listen-through mode so you can better hear your own voice.
Our opinion
If you prefer the back of the headphone design, the Beats Flex has everything you could want, at an amazing price.
Is there a better alternative?
If you need a longer battery life, Sony makes several models with a battery life of 15 to 20 hours, such as: B. the bulkier model C400 and the WI-C310.
However, if you are an iPhone user, the Flex is still a better choice because of its great integration with the Apple ecosystem.
How long will they last?
The Beats Flex are well built with durable materials and connections. They come with an Apple one-year warranty that can be extended with an optional AppleCare purchase.
And although I don't have an IP rating for dust or water protection, a source at Beats tells me that the Flex are actually quite capable of handling a sweaty workout. The USB-C charging port is waterproof and the controls are all sealed against moisture.
Should you buy it?
Absolutely. For the price, the Beats Flex are a killer value that Apple owners in particular should definitely consider when looking for a great alternative to buying a set of true wireless earbuds.
Editor's recommendations