Beats Flex: $50 Bluetooth earphones with Apple’s W1 chip and USB-C

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  The Beats Flex, Beats' latest wireless headphones. [credit: Beats ]

It's not just Apple that is announcing new products on Tuesday: the company's Beats subsidiary has unveiled its latest set of wireless headphones, the Beats Flex, as well. The new model is up for preorder today for $50 on Apple.com and will begin shipping on October 21.

The Beats Flex are the successor to the BeatsX, which the manufacturer released in 2017. Like that pair, the Flex are neckband-style wireless earphones. That means they connect over Bluetooth but aren't totally devoid of wires a la Apple's AirPods or Beats' own Powerbeats Pro. Instead, the Flex's earpieces are attached via a cable that extends behind your neck and has built-in modules for its microphone and call/music controls.

Beats is promising improved sound quality compared to the BeatsX with the help of a redesigned driver, along with greater clarity during phone calls and a design that's 8 percent lighter. (For reference, the BeatsX only weighed 0.05 lbs.) The earpieces can still connect magnetically when not in use, and Beats says the whole thing now supports auto-play/pause, so they'll automatically stop or resume your audio whenever they're removed or put back on.

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