Type In-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless Yes
Transducer Dynamic
Noise Cancelling No
Mic Yes
The Beats Flex Wireless are colorful, budget-friendly in-ears with a neckband cable. They have a minimalist design that feels comfortable and well-built for all-day casual use. Thanks to their W1 chip, they pair seamlessly with different Apple devices. As with most Beats Models, like the Beats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless, the Flex have a thumpy, bass-heavy sound profile. Ultimately, these wireless headphones are designed as a plug-and-play option for casual use, meaning they lack an EQ function to fine-tune audio to your liking.
Our Verdict
6.9 Neutral Sound
TheBeats Flex Wireless are adequate for neutral sound. Their bass-heavy sound profile is well-suited for genres like EDM and hip-hop, but their underemphasized treble range veils vocals and dulls sibilants across all genres. Like most closed-back earbuds, sound feels like it's coming from inside your head, which doesn't feel natural or immersive. Their companion app is lackluster and doesn't have an EQ or presets to allow you to adjust their sound to your liking.
Pros
-
Comfortable, stable fit.
Cons
-
No adjustable EQ or presets.
See our Neutral Sound Recommendations
7.7 Commute/Travel
TheBeats Flex Wireless are very good for commute and travel. They're lightweight and can be worn comfortably around your neck. Since they're relatively small and have a flexible design, you can easily stash them in your pocket or bag without issue. They also have an 11-hour continuous battery life, enough for daily commutes. Unfortunately, they struggle to block the bass range from bus or plane engines during transit.
Pros
-
Comfortable, stable fit.
-
Good build quality.
Cons
-
Struggles to cut down bass-range noise.
See our Commute/Travel Recommendations
8.1 Sports/Fitness
TheBeats Flex Wireless are great for sports and fitness. They're well-built, have a comfortable fit, and stay in place during workouts. However, unlike other sports earbuds, they don't have stability fins or ear hooks. They also lack an IP rating for dust and water resistance.
Pros
-
Comfortable, stable fit.
-
Good build quality.
Cons
-
No IP rating.
See our Sports/Fitness Recommendations
7.0 Office
TheBeats Flex Wireless are decent for office use. They're comfortable and have 11 hours of continuous battery life, which will last well through the workday. While they don't have active noise cancelling (ANC), they still passively cut down a fair bit of ambient chatter around you. They also don't leak a lot of audio, so you can listen at a high volume without disturbing coworkers.
Pros
-
Comfortable, stable fit.
-
Reduces mid-range noise like office chatter.
Cons
-
No adjustable EQ or presets.
-
No NFC or multi-device pairing.
See our Office Recommendations
5.4 Wireless Gaming
The Beats Flex Wireless are Bluetooth-only headphones. While you can use them via Bluetooth on PCs, their latency is too high for gaming, so you'll notice delays with the audio.
See our Wireless Gaming Recommendations
5.3 Wired Gaming
The Beats Flex Wireless are Bluetooth-only headphones. You can't use them wired.
6.0 Phone Calls
The Beats Flex Wireless are mediocre for phone calls. Their integrated mic makes your voice sound muffled and thin over the phone. It struggles to filter out background noise, even in moderate-volume environments. They can passively isolate you from a good amount of mid-range noise like conversations, but they don't do a very good job blocking out the bass range of rumbling engines.
Pros
-
Comfortable, stable fit.
Cons
-
Mediocre performing integrated mic.
- 6.9 Neutral Sound
- 7.7 Commute/Travel
- 8.1 Sports/Fitness
- 7.0 Office
- 5.4 Wireless Gaming
- 5.3 Wired Gaming
- 6.0 Phone Calls
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- Updated Sep 28, 2023: This review was updated for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated Nov 04, 2022: Updated review to ensure quality, consistency, and relevance in the current market.
- Updated Oct 19, 2021: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated Jun 29, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated May 07, 2021: Updated review for accuracy and clarity.
- Updated Jan 06, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Jan 04, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Nov 23, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Nov 18, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Nov 14, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Beats Flex Wireless come in four color variants: 'Black', 'Yuzu Yellow', 'Flame Blue', 'SmokeGray', and the 2021 limited-release 'Fragment Black'. We tested the Yuzu Yellow variant, and you can see its label here. We expect all color variants to perform similarly.
If you come across another variant, let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Headphones
The Beats Flex Wireless are simple, colorful in-ears with a neck cable design that are well-suited for a variety of uses. Unlike the Jaybird Tarah Pro Wirelessor theBeats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless, they don't have ear tips or stability fins to help keep them in place, making them better suited for light exercise. For commuting and on-the-go use, the Anker Soundcore Life P3 Truly Wireless offer a comparable sound profile with a superior noise isolation performance, thanks to their ANC features. They also have a better built-in mic and noise handling performance, making them a more natural choice for taking calls.
Check out our recommendations for the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds, the best wireless earbuds for iPhone, and the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds under $100.
Sony WI-C310 Wireless
The Beats Flex Wireless and theSony WI-C310 Wirelessare similarly performing headphones; you may prefer one pair over the other. The Beats are more comfortable, better built, and have a more stable fit. They also have a W1 chip, so you can seamlessly pair them with Apple devices. However, the Sony headphones have a better balanced sound profile, which some users may prefer, and longer continuous battery life.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Beats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless
The Beats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless are better wireless headphones for sports and fitness than the Beats Flex Wireless. The Powerbeats Prohave a more stable fit and a better-balanced sound profile. Their carrying case also offers an additional charge, giving them over 22 hours of continuous battery life, and featurea standby mode to conserve battery life when not in use.However, the Flexisolate againstmore noise and leak less sound.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Sony WI-XB400 EXTRA BASS Wireless
The Beats Flex Wireless and theSonyWI-XB400 EXTRA BASS Wirelessperform similarly. The Beats are more comfortable, stable, and have a better build quality. They also isolate more noise and pair seamlessly with Apple devices. However, the Sony headphones have a better-balanced sound profile, which some users may prefer, and a longer continuous battery life of 19.5 hours.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Beats BeatsX Wireless
The Beats Flex Wireless are better in-ears for most uses than theBeats BeatsX Wireless. The Flex are more comfortable, feel better built, and have a longer continuous battery life. They also have lower audio latency on iOS and Android. However, the BeatsX are more stable in-ear come with a case. They also have a better-balanced sound profile with less bass boost, which may be a better choice if you don't listen to a lot of hip-hop or EDM.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Beats Studio Buds True Wireless
The Beats Flex Wireless are better in-ears for their cost than theBeats Studio Buds True Wireless. While both headphones are comfortable, the Flex are morestable in-ear, have a longer continuous battery life, and have a W1 chip for seamless pairing to Apple devices. However, the Studio Buds have a truly wireless design, which some users may prefer.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Jaybird Tarah Pro Wireless
The Jaybird Tarah Pro Wireless are better headphones than the Beats Flex Wireless. The Jaybirds are better built and have a more neutral sound profile. They also have longer-lasting battery life, and their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets to help tweak their sound.However, the Beats are more comfortable.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
Anker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019
TheAnker SoundBuds Curve Upgraded 2019and the Beats Flex Wireless offer similar performances, and you may prefer one over the other. The Anker come with a hard case and are more stable. They also have a better-balanced sound profile and a longer-lasting continuous battery life. However, the Beats feel better built and have a W1 chip, so you can seamlessly pair them with Apple devices.
Compare Side-by-Side
SEE OUR REVIEW
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Test Results
Design
Type In-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless Yes
Transducer Dynamic
The Beats Flex Wireless have a similar design to the Beats BeatsX Wireless. While they don't have ear hooks, they feature an integrated neckband cable that lets you wear them comfortably around your neck when not in use. They come in four color variants to better suit your style: 'Black', 'Yuzu Yellow', 'Smoke Grey', and 'Flame Blue'. Beats also re-release their products with limited edition colors like 'Fragment Black', which look nearly identical to their 'Black' model but have a special logo on the modules and an all-black color scheme.
—
7.5 Design
Weight 0.04 lbs
Clamping Force
These buds are comfortable. They don't have a deep in-ear fit, and the cable is lightweight, meaning they're not tiring to wear. A few sizes of silicone tips are included so you can find the best fit for you.
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LEARN ABOUT COMFORT
6.8 Design
OS Compatibility
Ease Of Use Good
Feedback Good
Call/Music Control Yes
Volume Control Yes
Microphone Control No
Channel Mixing
Noise Cancelling Control No
Talk-Through
Additional Controls Voice Assistant
These headphones have okay controls. All the controls are on the neck band's left and right modules, but they aren't very intuitive as they can require a combination of presses to register the right commands. The multi-purpose button on the left module doesn't have a strong click, making it difficult to know if you've pushed or held it properly. There are audio cues for some commands, which help overcome the controls' shortcomings. They also have an auto-play/pause function, which will play audio when they're in your ears and will pause it when they're around your neck.
Left module:
Rocker
- Single press upper side: Raises volume.
- Single press lower side: Lowers volume.
Multi-purpose button
- Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends a call.
- Double press: Skips a track forward.
- Triple press: Skips a track backward.
- Single press and hold: Activates voice assistant or rejects an incoming call.
- Double press and hold: Scans forward through a track.
- Triple press and hold: Scans backward through a track.
Right module:
Power button
- Single press and hold: Turns earbuds on or off.
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LEARN ABOUT CONTROLS
9.2 Design
Avg.Temp.Difference 0.8 °C
Like most in-ear headphones, these wireless buds are very breathable. While they trap some heat in the ear canal, it isn't noticeable, especially during exercise.
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LEARN ABOUT BREATHABILITY
9.4 Design
L 3.7" (9.4 cm)
W 1.2" (3.0 cm)
H 0.4" (1.0 cm)
Volume 1.80 in³ (29.50 cm³)
Transmitter Required No
These are very portable headphones. Thanks to their flexible design, they can easily fit into most pockets or bags, and the earbuds have magnets on the back of their housing, which allows them to stay together and reduce tangling. You can also wear them around your neck when you're on the move.
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LEARN ABOUT PORTABILITY
0 Design
Type No case
L N/A
W N/A
H N/A
Volume N/A
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LEARN ABOUT CASE
7.5 Design
These buds have a good build quality. They're mostly made of silicone and plastic, making them very flexible and durable enough to survive a couple of accidental drops. However, the ear tips feel like they could easily rip, and they don't have an IP rating for dust and water resistance.
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LEARN ABOUT BUILD QUALITY
7.5 Design
These headphones have good stability. Once you get a good seal, the angled bud design rests firmly in your ear and stays in place during light or intense exercise. However, the buds can fall out of your ears if the neckband gets caught on something.
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LEARN ABOUT STABILITY
Design
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Design
—
Design
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Design
- Beats Flex Wireless earphones
- 4x ear tips
- USB-C to USB-C charging cable
- Manuals
- Beats sticker
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Sound
Bass Amount
Treble Amount
These headphones have a bass-heavy sound profile, which is well-suited for thumpy genres like EDM and hip-hop. Unfortunately, their treble is underemphasized, resulting in thin vocals and lead instruments as well as dull sibilants like cymbals. These headphones don't come with an EQ or presets, meaning you can't adjust the sound to your liking.
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LEARN ABOUT SOUND PROFILE
9.1 Sound
Avg. Std. Deviation
They have outstanding frequency response consistency. It's easy to achieve consistent bass and treble delivery thanks to the assortment of ear tips to help you get a proper fit and seal.
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LEARN ABOUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE CONSISTENCY
Sound
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LEARN ABOUT RAW FREQUENCY RESPONSE
7.6 Sound
Std. Err.
Low-Frequency Extension
Low-Bass
Mid-Bass
High-Bass
These in-ears have good bass accuracy. The range is overemphasized, which gives extra thump and boom to mixes and is especially good for genres like EDM. In bass-heavy tracks like Genesis by Justice, this bass makes the drop around the 0:40 second mark sound full and intense. However, the extra bass can also muddy vocals and instruments.
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LEARN ABOUT BASS ACCURACY
8.6 Sound
Std. Err.
Low-Mid
Mid-Mid
High-Mid
The Beats Flex have excellent mid accuracy. There's some overemphasis coming from the bass range into the low-mids, which can slightly clutter your mix. However, the rest of the range is fairly flat, so vocals and instruments still sound present. The bump in the high-mid also helps add clarity and intensity to these sounds.
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LEARN ABOUT MID ACCURACY
6.4 Sound
Std. Err.
Low-Treble
Mid-Treble
High-Treble
These headphones have passable treble accuracy. It's underemphasized across the range, so the higher ends of vocals and instruments don't come through as clearly, while sibilants like S and T sounds are dull and lispy. In vocal-centric songs like Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero, the upper harmonics of her voice, including S and T sounds, are veiled throughout the track.
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LEARN ABOUT TREBLE ACCURACY
7.9 Sound
Peaks
Dips
They have very good peaks and dips performance. There aren't too many deviations in response overall, meaning these headphones follow their own sound profile well, but a peak in the high-mid adds harshness to vocals and lead instruments. A dip in the low-treble veils the upper harmonics.
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LEARN ABOUT PEAKS/DIPS
9.5 Sound
Weighted Group Delay
Weighted Phase Mismatch
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
Like many Beats headphones we've tested, these have outstanding imaging, which is a good indicator of quality control and ergonomics. Their weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold, and the L/R drivers are well-matched, which is important for the accurate reproduction of sound objects like voices in the stereo image. However, keep in mind that imaging can vary across units.
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LEARN ABOUT IMAGING
0.8 Sound
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
PRTF Size (Avg.)
PRTF Distance
Openness 2.9
Acoustic Space Excitation 0.7
The Beats Flex Wireless' passive soundstage is bad, which is normal for closed-back in-ears. Headphones need to bounce sound off the outside of your ear to produce an immersive, out-of-head soundstage. These headphones don't interact with your outer ear by design, so their soundstage feels small, closed-off, and unnatural.
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LEARN ABOUT PASSIVE SOUNDSTAGE
0 Sound
Head Modeling
Speaker Modeling
Room Ambience
Head Tracking
Virtual Surround
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LEARN ABOUT VIRTUAL SOUNDSTAGE
7.8 Sound
WHD @ 90
WHD @ 100
These in-ears have a good weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's a slight peak between the low to mid-treble at normal and high volumes. However, it isn't very noticeable with real-life content. All ranges fall within acceptable limits, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.
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LEARN ABOUT WEIGHTED HARMONIC DISTORTION
Sound
Firmware
Power
Connection
Codec
EQ
ANC
Tip/Pad
Microphone
These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when using them with this configuration.
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LEARN ABOUT TEST SETTINGS
7.1 Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
Noise Cancelling No
Bass
Mid
Treble
These in-ears have a decent noise isolation performance. They aren't an ideal choice for commuting as they don't reduce much sound in the bass range, meaning sounds like bus and plane engines are still quite audible. However, they can cut out a significant amount of office chatter and the hum of AC units.
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LEARN ABOUT NOISE ISOLATION
9.4 Isolation
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
The leakage performance is outstanding. If you're working at the office, people won't hear your audio, even at a high volume. Leakage stays in the low-treble range, meaning escaping audio sounds thin and isn't noticeable to others unless you're somewhere quiet, like at home.
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LEARN ABOUT LEAKAGE
Microphone
Integrated
In-Line
Boom
Detachable Boom
Mic Yes
These headphones have an integrated microphone.
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LEARN ABOUT MICROPHONE STYLE
6.1 Microphone
Recorded Speech
LFE
FR Std. Dev.
HFE
Weighted THD
Gain
The integrated microphone's recording quality is mediocre. Your voice sounds boxy, thin, and slightly muffled. However, you'll still sound understandable on the other end of the line.
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LEARN ABOUT RECORDING QUALITY
5.0 Microphone
SpNR
Noise Gate
Speech + Pink Noise Handling 5.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling 5.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
The integrated microphone's noise handling is disappointing. If you're somewhere with a lot of loud sounds, like a subway, background noise will drown out your voice. However, it won't be as much of a problem if you're taking a call from a quiet space like your home.
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LEARN ABOUT NOISE HANDLING
6.2 Active Features
Battery Type
Continuous Battery Life
Additional Charges
Total Battery Life
Charge Time
Power-Saving Feature
Audio While Charging
Passive Playback
Charging Port USB-C
The battery performance is passable. The manufacturer advertises them to last 12 hours continuously, and we measured just under that, at 11 hours. Beats also advertise a 'Fast Fuel' feature, which gives you 1.5 hours of playback time on a 10-minute charge. However, battery performance can vary with real-life usage. These headphones also don't have any power-saving features, and you can't use them while charging.
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LEARN ABOUT BATTERY
5.0 Active Features
App Name Beats
iOS Yes
Android Yes
macOS No
Windows No
Equalizer
ANC Control
Mic Control No
Room Effects
Playback Control
Button Mapping No
Surround Support
The Beats Flex Wireless have a disappointing companion app. You can toggle auto-call answering and an auto-pause feature that activates when you remove them from your ears. That's about it.
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LEARN ABOUT APP SUPPORT
7.3 Connectivity
Bluetooth Version
Multi-Device Pairing
NFC Pairing
Line Of Sight Range
PC Latency (SBC)
PC Latency (aptX)
PC Latency (aptX HD)
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
iOS Latency
Android Latency
These buds have decent Bluetooth compatibility. They don't have multi-device or NFC pairing. However, unlike the Beats Studio Buds True Wireless, they have a W1 chip, so you can seamlessly pair them with Apple devices. They also have an audio sharing feature via Remote Play that allows another person to listen on a different pair of Beats headphones or Apple AirPods. While they have high audio latency on PC, their iOS and Android latency is much lower, making them better suited for streaming on mobile devices. However, latency can vary as devices and apps compensate for latency differently.
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LEARN ABOUT BLUETOOTH
0 Connectivity
Non-BT Line Of Sight Range
Non-BT Latency
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LEARN ABOUT NON-BLUETOOTH WIRELESS
0 Connectivity
Analog Audio
USB Audio
Detachable No
Length N/A
Connection
Analog/USB Audio Latency
You can't use them wired. They come with a USB-C to USB-C charging cable.
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LEARN ABOUT WIRED
Connectivity
Analog
Wired USB
Non-BT Wireless
The Beats Flex Wireless have full audio and mic compatibility with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. However, you can't connect these buds to your PC in any other way.
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Connectivity
PS4 Analog
PS4 Wired USB
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
PS5 Analog
PS5 Wired USB
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
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LEARN ABOUT PLAYSTATION COMPATIBILITY
Connectivity
Xbox One Analog
Xbox One Wired USB
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
Xbox Series X|S Analog
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
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LEARN ABOUT XBOX COMPATIBILITY
0 Connectivity
Type
USB Input
Line In
Line Out
Optical Input
RCA Input
Dock Charging
Power Supply
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LEARN ABOUT BASE/DOCK
