(Apple promises 12 hours of battery life.) Even better, Beats finally embraced USB-C with these earbuds, so you no longer need a Lightning cable to charge up. This makes the Flex a more appealing buy for Android users, who likely have no Lightning cables on hand. The USB-C cord included in the box is, like, two inches long, rendering it almost useless. But beats studio3 if you are grabbing those shiny, new, square iPhone 12 and looking for some affordable, wireless, Bluetooth earphones, you don’t have to look far. Apple Beats Flex retails for A$79.95 with very easy pairing to iPhone users and comes with a not-so-bad audio quality for the price. It’s probably one of the most affordable Beats audio earphones/headphones too.
A little sweat is probably okay , but these aren’t heavy workout headphones. Apple provides four tip sizes for the Beats Flex in the box, and while everyone’s ears will differ, I had few issues with the default tip size. What I did have issues with was the overall comfort of wearing neckband-style headphones for any considerable length of time. The neckband cable matches the colour of your chosen Beats Flex pair, with a pair of long, lozenge-shaped control boxes in line to the left and right.
The earbuds charge via USB-C, and the headphones are packaged with a short USB-C charging cable in the box. Like the iPhone 12, there’s no USB-C charging brick included, so you’ll actually have to invest in one if you don’t already. The earbuds also provide a nice 1.5 hours of extra battery life on a ten-minute fast charge. Available in black, blue, gray, or yellow models, the Flex’s neckband design features two compartments that help keep the cable in place, while also housing ports and controls. The left compartment has a multifunction button that controls various functions , as well as a volume rocker and microphone.
Since they’re fairly small in size and have a flexible plastic and silicone design, you can easily stash them in most pockets or bags without an issue. They have an 11-hour continuous battery life, which should be enough for daily commutes. Unfortunately, they struggle to isolate bass range against noise like bus or plane engines. The people I talked to said I sounded clear and the noise reduction outdoors in noisier environments was good. You can answer and end calls with the button on the left module, where there’s also a rocker switch for volume control. While playing music, tapping the universal control button twice skips tracks forward.
We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options. Deviate from the script, however, and holes begin to appear. It makes sense Apple-engineered buds should work best with its own devices, but a bit more democracy wouldn’t beats studio3 go amiss in 2020. A dose of digital processing is there to fine-tune the frequencies and provide enough audio separation. Beats isn’t rewriting the rulebook here, but on a pair of fifty pound earphones things are rarely this well balanced.
No matter what operating systems run your life, you won’t have any issues with playback or connection stability. In order to switch between devices, you will have to take the time to enter your phone’s Bluetooth settings. You must manually disconnect from the current device, before connecting to the desired device. This isn’t an issue if you live in the Apple ecosystem thanks to the W1 chip, but for the rest of us, that time adds up quickly. At this price, the Beats Flex is a fine deal as they offer a lot of the features found on the AirPods, minus the true wireless design.
Once you get used to wearing the buds, finding the controls becomes second nature. It took me a bit of time to get accustomed to how high up the controls are, but once I figured it out, it was smooth sailing from then on out. There was a time when the name “Beats” meant “these headphones have way too much bass.” That time has come and gone , with the Flex going lighter on bass than most other Beats I’ve heard recently. beats flex review Whether you’re looking to buy your first pair of Bluetooth earphones, then, or you’re the type of person who regularly breaks or loses them, you really can’t go too far wrong with the Beats Flex. They offer unbeatable value for money and should really make you question whether you need to spend more. The only significant shortcoming considering their low price is that the Flex don’t come with any waterproofing.
In this price range, we’re starting to see a few interesting true wireless options, some of which are even gym-friendly with water-resistant builds, like the $60 EarFun Air or the $35 Tribit FlyBuds 3. For the price, however, the Beats Flex deliver a commendable user experience and solid audio for anyone who wants added bass depth with balance. Everyone knows the audio brand Beats, first created by Dr Dre and later sold on to Apple, it’s one of the top dogs in music listening tech. Their devices take some of the top spots across all types of headphones from the best true wireless earbuds to the best noise-cancelling headphones. In the past, products like the Beats Powerbeats Pro and Beats Studio3 Wireless have impressed us here at T3, but you’re looking at spending upwards of $150 on those.