A stream of emails over the past few years have asked me when Beats will update their formerly well-liked BeatsX neckband-style headphones. In all honesty, I never thought I’d see a version 2.0, but here it is with a new name, the Beats Flex, and a lot more affordable $50 (£50, AU$80) price tag, which is half of what its predecessor had been asking.
The Flex immediately becomes an affordable, Apple-friendly wireless alternative to the AirPods, which start at roughly $130 for the standard version with a wired charging case, with the new iPhone 12 models no longer including wired EarPods headphones in the package. They sound better than both the original BeatsX and regular AirPods, which is wonderful news. They have a longer battery life than the original and are also effective for making calls. Is that terrible news? In a world where genuine wireless earphones are now the standard, their design is outdated.
Pricing and accessibility
Four colors—Beats Black, Yuzu Yellow, Smoke Gray, and Flame Blue—were available when the Beats Flex first went on sale in January 2021.
Beats Flex cost $69.99, £59.99, or $99.95 in Australia. These are among the least expensive wireless earbuds Beats has ever released as a result.
Nevertheless, you may get a ton of comparable choices from other manufacturers at a lower price. Visit our SoundMagic E11BT review to learn more about this $100 (£69.99) or AU$150 product. Check out our evaluation of the $99/£99/AU$185 Lypertek PurePlay Z3 2.0 for an affordable genuine wireless solution.
Nonetheless, for a brand that is typically more expensive, they are actually quite inexpensive.
It’s also worthwhile to read our assessment of the Beats Studio Buds if you’re looking for an improvement in features and performance. If you’re looking for an AirPods Pro substitute, these more contemporary Beats earbuds have active noise cancellation, superb audio quality, and a stylish appearance, but they cost significantly more ($149.99/£29.99/AU$199.95).
The Beats Flex are the obvious choice for people who need a pair of earbuds now that Apple has removed the built-in headphones from the current iPhones. And if you’re simply buying them for that reason, well, the Flex are a fine alternative to Apple’s typically subpar built-in earbuds.
design The Beats Flex appears to be a direct successor to the earlier BeatsX Headphones that the firm debuted in 2016. Beats hasn’t explicitly stated this, though. Both are wireless (albeit not really; for true wireless options, see our reviews of the Beats Powerbeats Pro and Apple AirPods).
Design
Although the earphones are quite light (18.6g), the cord connecting them is around 32 inches long and goes around your neck.
Despite this, the cord has certain benefits, the biggest of which is that they are more difficult to lose than totally wireless earbuds. The second is that the cable connecting the two earbuds can have in-line volume controls, a multi-feature button, and a larger battery, extending the time between charges of the headphones.
Consider adding a play/pause button. You can utilize the multi-feature button, but the Beats Flex also have a sensor that detects when you take them off and when you put them back on, automatically pausing and resuming the music. It is not only practical, but it can also help you save a ton of battery life.
performance After experimenting with several eartip combinations, we eventually found one that provided a good seal, allowing us to evaluate the Beats Flex’s audio quality. What we heard was just what you’d expect: a deep v-shaped sound that emphasizes the highs and lows while downplaying the mids.
Performance
We listened to a lot of songs on Spotify and Amazon Prime Music throughout our two weeks with the headphones, so we have a fair sense of the sound quality you can anticipate. We discovered that while they don’t have a very big soundstage, the sound quality was actually rather clear for a pair of in-ear drivers. Fortunately, during our testing, there were no audio dropouts or delays, which may be issues with wireless devices. As a result, the Beats Flex’s reliability is a significant plus.
While most songs shared the same steep v-shape, there were a few notable exceptions, including the chunky bass of the Jackson 5’s ABC and the bass-driven masterpieces Super Freak by Rick James and Super Freak by Rick James. Be careful since these tunes unfortunately also show off how thin the mids are. On that topic, it is unfortunate that there isn’t really a means to change the EQ if you don’t like the way the sound is at the moment.
The Beats Flex will now prompt you to sync them to your Apple ID and iCloud if you are using an iOS smartphone. This process takes less than a minute. The Beats Flex doesn’t support high-end audio codecs like aptX or aptX HD; instead, you’ll only find SBC and AAC; nonetheless, pairing them as a standard set of Bluetooth earbuds will take a little bit longer and have an impact on the sound quality.
Conclusion
The Beats Flex are a good set of inexpensive headphones. Yet not everyone will enjoy them.
They may not be the best earphones for you if you have trouble getting earbuds to stay in your ears or want buds for working out. The Flex can easily slip out if there are no wingtips to keep them in place.
It shouldn’t surprise you that, at $50 (£50, approximately AU$70), the Beats Flex don’t have cutting-edge features like hands-free Siri or active noise cancellation and that the sound quality is only average when compared to some higher-end earbuds if you’re looking for sound quality or premium features. The Beats Flex may not be the best choice for you if that information is more important to you than the brand name.
But, these might work for you if you require a low-cost set of headphones for your new iPhone. The Beats Flex are a reasonably obvious solution if you need a pair of headphones because Apple has stopped including pack-in earbuds with new iPhone packaging.
