Beats’ Flex are the wireless earbuds the iPhone 12 should’ve come with

As with the Beats X, you can magnetically attach them together — and this time, your music will automatically pause whenever you do so. Four sizes of ear tips come in the box, and while the Flex fit me well, I did notice that their passive noise isolation leaves something to be desired. But out on the street, you can hear a fair level of ambient noise. Apple’s solution to not including headphones with the new iPhone seems to be the Beats Flex.

Thanks to their flexible design, you can easily fold them up to fit into most pockets or bags. Since they have a neck cable design, you can also wear them around your neck when you’re on the move. It’s fine for quick calls and voice messages, but for extended beats solo pro wireless conference calls, you’re better off getting a dedicated USB mic for your next Zoom meeting. It does a poor job of rejecting background noise, so you may want to do everyone a favor and either use your smartphone, or get a dedicated headset for extended calls.

The Flex are a mix of wireless and traditional earbuds; Bluetooth to the phone but with a cable that sits around your neck and wires to earbuds themselves. The Beats Flex are a simple set of quality Bluetooth earbuds that get the basics right for at a more affordable price. We test dozens of earbuds every year, and few of them offered as poor of a fit as the new Beats Flex. Without wingtips to hold them in, the Flex can easily fall out, making them a poor choice for the workout crowd and anyone who’s ever had problems keeping earbuds seated properly.

Beats Flex are the cheapest headphones that Beats sells, with an MSRP of $49.99. You can even pay monthly if you want – it’s $8.33/mo for 6 months plus a $3 down payment (for a total cost of $52.98). You get great bass output, which is basically a requirement in Beats headphones which made their name from punchy bass . Tracks like Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in the Name of and White Stripes Seven Nation Army had the kind of punch that we’d hope for. I still wish that Apple would offer at least some basic EQ adjustments for bass and treble.

They have also been reworked for better sound quality and improved mic performance. The Beats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless are better wireless beats studio3 headphones for sports and fitness than the Beats Flex Wireless. The Powerbeats Pro have a more stable fit and a better-balanced sound profile.

Flex earbuds are compatible with any Apple device that is synced to iCloud. You can also use them with windows ten and android smartphones. Your earphones are now ready to set up with your devices again. Hold down the power button and it will automatically enter pairing mode. From there, just look through Bluetooth settings in your device and select . They are mostly made of silicone and rubber, which makes them very bendable.

One of the things I loved about the BeatsX was their call quality. Crystal clear and superb for separating voices from background sounds, they were the next best thing to actually holding your phone to your face. It proved to be a great way to compare the sound quality of the Beats Flex and BeatsX . As long as you grab the earbuds the right way, their flat cables keep themselves out of your face.

beats flex review

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.

Apple has stuck the older W1 headphone chip in its new buds, rather than the new H1 chip, but you still get all the instant setup and synced pairing across devices that make Apple’s audio tech a joy to use. For me, the design doesn’t look as good as that of true wireless earphones like the AirPods, but ensures you won’t lose one of your buds. Beats, which is owned by Apple, is best-known for producing stylish, pricey over-ear headphones, but has chosen a different route for the Flex neckband buds. If you are searching for wireless headphone and don’t want to go with bean-sized TWS earbuds or giant-sized Over-Ear headphones, the next best option for you to choose is the wireless neckband.