Once you achieve a proper fit and seal, you should get consistent bass and treble delivery each time you use them. The boosted bass response is noticeable in the song No Fear No More by Madeon. When I sit in my quiet room, unencumbered by external noise, the bassline sounds overpowering. beats solo pro wireless This makes sense because bass notes are tuned to sound twice as loud as low-midrange notes. However, it plays to my advantage when I walk to the grocery store because I can more easily keep tabs on the main beat. My ears work best with the double-flanged tips, but your mileage may vary.
They’re feature-rich, pack generous battery life, and paired with the right device and right selection of music feel like a steal for fifty sheets. If there’s one thing you expected to remain intact when Apple bought Beats in it was the asking price of its products, but actually that’s not how it’s played out. If anything the brand has become more competitive, with a newly refined sound, cultivated in Cupertino. When you remove the headphones from your ears, a magnetic system “sticks” them together, back to back, and automatically pauses music playback, which is very convenient. You have to fumble a bit at first to find the playback and volume controls on the case, but you get used to it quickly.
It’s also disappointing that the earbuds cannot be repaired or have the battery replaced, partly due to the cost of repair being higher than the cost of purchase. The earbuds are light at just 18.6g, which is 7.7g lighter than the Powerbeats, and fairly standard with silicone ear tips of which four sizes are included in the box. The Flex are very much designed for day-to-day casual listening so that’s just fine.
Available in four fun colors, there’s certainly plenty to love here—especially at this price point. One of the best things about neckbuds is that the actual buds are quite light, which makes for a pretty comfortable fit. True wireless buds have a lot going on under the hood, so they’re often weightier than non-TW earbuds, which leads to more ear fatigue and discomfort. It’s still very much present, though you may be underwhelmed if you’re the “give me all the bass you can stuff into my brain” type of listener. I find the balance to be very good for most listening purposes, but I personally prefer a bit more low end in music than what the Flex offers. That said, it’s not something I’ve noticed myself missing after just a few minutes of listening to the Flex.
Nor do they support the always-listening hands-free Siri mode, meaning you have to press and hold a button to talk to Apple’s voice assistant . The earbuds themselves are actually fairly light (18.6g), but the cord that runs between them is about 32 inches and wraps around the back of your neck. It’s a bit cumbersome having such a long cord wrap around your neck and, admittedly, having the two earbuds connected via a cable isn’t exactly what we’d consider the ideal solution in 2020. At 0.66 ounces, the Beats Flex is lightweight and isn’t cumbersome to wear around the neck when not in use. Your ears won’t feel weighed down when sporting them during exercises. I would say the comfort level is moderate, as I noticed the inner casing was adding slight pressure to the concha.
It uses Bluetooth 5.0 technology to provide low latency audio , which is useful when you want to avoid audio lag (e.g. when playing games). It is capable of a very high bitrate of 990kbps, which provides high resolution audio. It can also automatically adjust to a lower bitrate of 330kbps or 660kbps to increase stability.
To see a company like Beats fit this in at $50 would constitute a minor miracle. Andrew Williams The mids are the weak point, as they are in most cheaper earphones. A soft mid-range that lacks detail and texture means naturally recorded vocals lack the timbre and cut through of the best-in-class pairs. The SoundMagic E11BT and Beyerdynamic Blue Byrd perform better in this area. One of the first questions to ask of any pair of earphones to use while you work out is whether they will stay in place as you run, or jump about at the gym. We’re testing with an older iPhone 8 running on the most recent iOS update and find the promised auto-pause functionality when the buds’ magnets click together a little hit and miss.
That control handles play/pause , skipping tracks forward , returning to the previous song and summoning your virtual assistant . Because these are all physical buttons, they’re reliable and easy to use. Even when you have to double- or triple-press, the Flex receives each beats studio3 command without issue. Also on the left side is the microphone for calls, just above the multi-function button. The Beats Flex looks a lot like its pricier predecessor, the $150 BeatsX. They’re still behind-the neck wireless earbuds — or as I like to call them, neckbuds.
The timing shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, considering Apple owns Beats and it knows most iPhone owners need some sort of headphones or earbuds. Even if it’s a basic pair that gets the job done, without all the bells and whistles like active noise-cancellation. At $11 off, Beats Flex headphones have never been cheaper. They feature the same Apple W1 chip found in the Beats Solo3, a built-in mic, USB-C charging support, and up to 12 hours of battery life on a full charge. Beats work with Apple and Android devices via the free Beats companion app. Unlike “true wireless” earbuds, the Flex are still connected by a fairly long wire that can hang either in front or behind your neck while you wear them .
The company is offering a low-cost option for anyone who’s looking for wireless earbuds and doesn’t want to spend a lot of money. Especially those people who are looking for something to replace the Earpods that Apple no longer gives them for free with a new iPhone. Plus, Beats managed to pack features like quick pairing that go beyond the basic on-board controls. And it included great battery life to just round out a solid features list. But even at $50, you have to be willing to make some sacrifices — mostly in the audio department. At the end of the day, the Beats Flex works well, and sounds okay enough to be just fine for a lot of people.