Beats by Dr. Dre, $ 50 or less "Beats Flex" to change the music experience of earphones --CNET Japan

Beats by Dr. Dre has introduced a new product in the volume zone of earphones. The Beats Flex wireless earphones released in October are priced at 5,400 yen. It will be the cheapest earphone for Beats by Dr. Dre.

Beats Flex is a wireless model that connects the left and right earphones with a cable, similar to the "Beats X" released in 2017. "We had high quality and usability in mind when developing, and lowering the price," Beats by Dr. Dre said.

The earphone market is driven by completely wireless models such as "AirPods," and has recorded a 13% year-on-year increase. As demand for fully wireless models grows year by year, the price volume zone is under $ 50. Globally, 75% are models in this price range.

Beats by Dr. Dre started planning a new model based on the data that models under $ 50 occupy most of the market. In this zone, about 60% are wired models, but the number of wired headphones and earphones sold in 2019 decreased by 14% from the previous year. This number has been declining since the iPhone's earphone jack disappeared in 2016. The wave of wirelessization is rushing even in low-priced models, such as the earphones that come with smartphones are no longer included.

On the other hand, looking at the low-priced earphone market as a whole, the high frequency of replacement is conspicuous. "Earphones break quickly, so replacements are frequent. Therefore, the number of units sold is high. This is one of the reasons why low-priced earphones account for a large proportion of total sales."

Based on these analysis results, Beats by Dr. Dre will devise a plan for low-priced earphones. Then, "Many users are considering replacing the wired model with a wireless model, but the troublesomeness of wireless connection and charging are the bottleneck."

Also note that the frequency of replacement is high because it is fragile. "Users using low-priced models can't get rid of the image that earphones break quickly. I don't want to have the experience of buying them for money and breaking them quickly," he said.

The product concept derived from market research is high quality while keeping prices down. "We have to deliver the same experience as any other Beats by Dr. Dre product, not only in connectivity, sound quality, and call performance, but also in the feel and sensitivity of the buttons. A high hurdle was imposed.

Beats X was the basis for the development of the Beats Flex. "Because the Beats X was successful as a popular model, we thoroughly analyzed the cost and conducted a user interview survey. We knew that reducing the quality of the material would reduce the price, but there are some uncompromising parts. , One of them is a Nitinol cable. "

The Nitinol cable is used as the material for the neckband that connects the left and right earphones, as is the Beats X. It is durable and supple, so you can roll it up and put it in your pocket or bag. It is also an advantage that it returns to the same shape immediately because it is a memory alloy.

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"Earphones need to be comfortable to wear all day long. That's why I absolutely needed a Nitinol cable. In addition, usability was revealed by user research. From Beats X, earphones are connected to each other with a magnet. I was able to do it, but I got an opinion that it would be easier to use by adding another device here. "

This led to the autoplay and pause functions that were first installed this time. When the magnet part is connected, the music playback stops automatically, and when it is attached to the ear again, the music playback starts. It works not only on the iPhone but also on the Android OS, and the feature is that the user can smoothly stop the music without operating a button. Pursuing convenience, "it can be used not only for playing music but also for calling."

Thorough pursuit of sound quality even under $ 50, good sound regardless of genre

We are particular about sound quality. "Earphones under $ 50 basically don't touch on sound quality, but Beats by Dr. Dre has to pursue sound quality, even though it's in the low price range. We put a lot of effort into tuning." do.

This time, it is a newly designed custom driver. It has a multi-layer structure similar to the completely wireless model "Powerbeats Pro", and each layer separates and vibrates independently, so it is characterized by bass reproducibility and resistance to sound distortion. In addition, by providing fine ventilation holes cut with a laser, the sound will be sharpened and the sound quality will be improved.

"Beats Flex is characterized by playing a well-balanced sound regardless of the genre that the user listens to. You should be able to enjoy listening to the music of any artist," Beats by Dr. Dre is proud of. In addition, "Call performance is as important as playing music. The microphone, wind noise filter, and new tuning algorithm improve the call quality. Especially, in Beats X, the position of the microphone in the middle of the cable is batteryed. By bringing it to the club, I was able to pick up my voice more clearly. "

A "W1 chip" is built into the main body to support seamless connection with Apple products. All you have to do is turn on the power and bring your iPhone or iPad closer to connect, and the technology solves the user's anxiety that they are worried about the connection. By using a new battery cell, it is possible to play for up to 12 hours. It also freed the user from the hassle of charging. In addition, the charging terminal has been changed from the Lightning terminal to USB Type C. "In the past, some terminals used USB Type-A, etc., but now that the number of devices connected to USB Type C is increasing, we can prevent waste loss by making it compatible with C as soon as possible."

Taking on the new challenge of under $ 50, Beats Flex transforms the volume zone music experience by creating high-quality earphones that offer low prices while not sacrificing functionality or sound quality.

The name Flex has the meaning of switching from one task to another, and indicates how to switch one after another, such as listening to music, making a call, or watching a video.

Beats by Dr. Dre cut into the low-priced market with the Beats Flex. It is expected that models close to the same price will continue to appear in the future.