In the process they’ve become the cheapest wireless headphones that Apple sells, the company having quietly stripped third-party options from its shelves. Eventually there’ll be Flame Blue, Beats Black, Yuzu Yellow, and Smoke Gray colors to choose from, but initially beats flex review only the black and yellow are shipping. I don’t expect them to do everything for $50, but if you’re hunting for similarly stylish Beats headphones that will hold up better during workout conditions, you might want to check out the Beats Powerbeats.
The Beats Flex are well-built with durable materials and connections. They come with a one-year warranty from Apple, which can be extended with an optional AppleCare purchase. Switching to USB-C makes a lot of sense if you’re going after the Android community as Apple seems to be doing with the Flex, but its choice of how to do that is perplexing. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Although Beats hasn’t said it to us directly, the Beats Flex seems to be a direct sequel to the older BeatsX Headphones that the brand released in 2016.
The Beats Flex may have a small wire, but they also pack solid sound and big battery life for that stellar price point. You’re getting quality materials and a few key extras, too. The only reason you might want to spend more is if you really need specific additional features, like noise canceling or sweat resistance. The most bothersome thing I encountered with the controls was turning the buds on. There’s no “powered on” sound, so you have to hold the button for a couple of seconds and hope they turn on.
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.
The Apple U1 may, at this early stage, be a little too expensive. And even if it is not, the rumored AirPods Studio would be a much better vehicle for the day-to-day benefits of that hardware. This can make it tricky to know if you’ve pressed it accurately. You get used to this arrangement quickly enough and on the bright side, you’ll never risk accidentally yanking the left earbud out when you use them. What’s odd about the Flex is that while overall battery life is better than their predecessor, fast-charging is actually worse. You now need 10 minutes to get a 1.5-hour boost, whereas the BeatsX could dish out two hours of extra time after five minutes of charging.
When you power on the Beats Flex for the first time, it will automatically enter pairing mode. After that, things get interesting since the process varies depending on whether you use an iOS or Android device. If you’re using something else, then the pairing process is simple. All you need to do is hold down the power button, and wait for the headset to enter pairing mode. From there just look through Bluetooth settings in your source device, and select the Beats Flex. The Beats Flex is great for everyday use because the soft-touch plastic makes the headset very lightweight at just 18.6 grams.
You never have to worry about losing an earbud, there’s no bulky charging case to stash in your pocket or purse, and when you want to have a conversation, just pull the buds out of your ears and let them dangle. For folks who routinely need to go back and forth between listening to music and listening to the world around them, it’s a much more convenient design. For $50, that’s a solid feature set, before we even talk about the audio performance, which is heavily boosted and sculpted, but will appeal to bass lovers.
But while they were cheap by Beats standards, the new Beats Flex are significantly cheaper still, firmly sitting in the budget headphone camp now. 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 beats studio3 to get an extra 1.5 hours of playback. If you haven’t charged your Beats Flex headphones yet, you’re in for a treat. They can charge from dead flat to full up in a little less than 90 minutes. But, if you need some “Fast Fuel,” you can plug them in for just ten minutes and get about 1.5 hours of playback.