The right compartment houses a single button for power and pairing. If you own an Apple phone or tablet, you’ll be able to make the most of everything these wireless earbuds have to offer because they use the Apple W1 chip. It’s their older chip but will still seamlessly integrate these headphones into your ecosystem of Apple products. When you power them on they will automatically connect to your iPhone or iPad, and you can then use them with any Apple device that is synced to your iCloud without any extra set-up.
However, those pricier true wireless buds do come with charging cases that allow you to juice them up on the go – unlike the Flex. The Flex buds don’t have the noise cancellation technology offered by pricier brands, but do a decent job of blocking out the noise of passing cars and other potential disturbances. The gadget looks a lot like the now-discontinued Beats X, featuring a flat, flexible cable that hooks the buds together and rests on the back of your neck. Apple takes a lot of effort to provide the best quality products for every Apple user on the planet. Each earbud has a Magnet at the back, so they stick together and create no tangles. It is worth noting that when snapping or unsnapping, there is a little lag before the iPhone responds — around 1–1.5 seconds after you’ve done it.
The circular one controls the playback and calls Siri the voice assistant, the on/off button is for power and pairing, and the rocker is to adjust volume. These earphones have Apple’s W1 wireless chip, not the newer H1 or U1, which also acts as a way for iPhones to precisely track the location of devices. This will no doubt prove to be an excellent addition to a pair of future Apple or Beats headphones, letting you find exactly where you left them.
Apple took the spare parts bin and made one heck of a pair of earbuds. 10-minute Fast Fuel charging gives you 1.5 hours of playback. Overall, I’d say the Beats Flex are a fantastic option for anyone looking for great-sounding earphones but want to avoid breaking the bank.
You can now drop two pairs of Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro down to $162.50 each, or just go with the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ at $100 and call it a day. As for battery life, Beats Flex can last for 12 hours – which should be more than enough for most people but with USB-C charging, you can do a 10-minute fast charge to get an extra 1.5 hours of playback. There is one thing that Beats has gotten right with every new wireless beats solo pro wireless earbuds’ release. The power button of Flex Beats features a LED light to indicate power and battery life; this glows white for on, flashes when pairing, and blinks red when charging. As you can see, the affordable Beats Flex are pretty straightforward. While short on extras, connecting over Bluetooth is a cinch thanks to the W1 chip, and getting charged up fast is easy thanks to USB-C fast charging.
And despite not carrying an IP rating for dust or water protection, a source at Beats tells me the Flex are in fact quite capable of dealing with a sweaty workout. The USB-C charging port is waterproof and the controls have all been sealed against moisture. Positioned on the left earbud wire, it was ideally located to capture speech. The Beats Flex are almost as good, but the location of the mic on the Flex neckband does result in slightly worse quality.
You can toggle the automatic play/pause feature, which also applies to calls. Still, it’s worth having installed—you can use it to quickly see the remaining battery percentage of the buds if nothing else. I’ve reviewed a lot of true wireless earbuds over beats studio3 the last year, but it’s been a hot minute since I took a set of neckbuds for a whirl. The Beats Flex have been an excellent reminder that this type of earbud is still such a great choice if you want a solid set of ‘buds that won’t break the bank.
This isn’t much of a concern where stuff like modern rock, pop, hip hop, or rap are concerned, since most of the key elements in those styles fall between the sub-bass and upper midrange frequencies. However, classical music fans might find their favorite violinist doesn’t sound as full and vivacious here. I’ve given the Flex praise for their bass-forward, midrange-friendly soundscape, and for many casual listeners, those elements are crucial. However, the snug fit and tiny drivers don’t always treat higher-pitched treble frequencies with the same interest. There is a control panel on the device body, so you can easily access the volume control or remote without having to interact with a cable or another device it’s connected to. To charge the device, you simply put it down on a compatible charging pad.