The Flex theme is the newest and most robust theme built by Out of the Sandbox. Flex includes multiple layout and section options, more granular control of settings, and easy addition of custom CSS. While Flex is a truly unique and versatile theme, here are a few key comparisons to consider when theme shopping!
This information reflects most recent version of the Flex theme! Stay tuned for updates and new features. As with all of our themes, we regularly keep them updated by including enhancements and features in subsequent releases.
To keep your theme up to date, check out this helpful document.
View our Getting Started with Flex Video Guide
In This Article
- Performance/Speed
- Key Features
- Header/Footer Layout Options
- Cart Options/Icons
- Homepage Sections
- Page/Product Templates
- Theme Settings
- Multi-Currencies
Performance/Speed
Does Flex have the same speed capabilities and performance modes as the Turbo theme?
Compared to Turbo, Flex is also a highly performant theme. Flex has been built with similar performance features and image loading methods to ensure a speedy performance, with one small difference to the performance feature-set; the 'page pre-loading' component (which is enabled when using the Ludicrous speed mode of Turbo) has been approached differently with Flex.
While the difference is not overly noticeable with most user-experiences, the 'page pre-loading' feature built into the Turbo theme is slightly faster on all browsers, yet presents conflicts with many third-party applications. Conversely, the Flex 'page pre-loading' approach is specified for modern browsers, and presents fewer conflicts. This approach allows for easier customization and integration with third-party applications. Otherwise, the performance features between Turbo and Flex are comparable when looking at similarly configured storefront setups.
What image loading styles are included in Flex vs Turbo?
Flex includes the following image loading styles under Customize > Theme Settings > Layouts:
- Appear, Blur, Fade, Dominant Color, and None.
Turbo includes the following image loading styles under Customize > Theme Settings > Performance:
- Appear, Blur, Fade, Dominant Color, and None.
Key Features
What are the key features included in the Flex theme?
- Multiple layout options
- Easy addition of advanced CSS in the theme editor for sections and pages
- Icons available to add in a variety of sections
- Four header styles
- Four footer styles
- Three product page layouts
- Demo shop import feature (import the content, sections, and images from the Flex demos into your own shop)
- Demo shop image download (download the images from the Flex demos to populate in your own shop)
- Mega menus and drop-downs
- Control over margins/spacing
- Width settings
- Background gradients
- Unique button styles
- Product sale stickers
- Sticky bottom bar
For documentation on all Flex theme features, you can check our the articles in our Help Center!
Header/Footer Layout Options
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What Header options are included in Flex?
Flex includes four different header layout options: centered, classic, search focus, and vertical.
Centered: The centered header style allows you to center both your logo and your main menu. The logo can be in between your main menu, or above the main menu.
Classic: The classic header style allows for a traditional, default layout with the logo on the left hand side and the navigation beside.
Search focus: The search focus header style displays a prominent search bar and is great for large inventory shops.
Vertical: The vertical header style allows for a vertical that displays on the left-hand side of the screen that remains fixed when scrolling down through the site.
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What Footer options are included in Flex?
Flex includes four different footer layout options: centered, promotional, classic, and none. The footer also includes an optional icon bar which can be enabled to display directly above.
Centered: The centered footer style does just that, centers all of the content. You can add up to 7 content blocks. The options are: logo, menu, text, newsletter, custom HTML, social icons.
Promotional: The promotional footer style includes an option to enable a promotion section on the left or right. The rest of your footer content will display beside the promotion, stacked vertically and you can add up to 7 content blocks. The options are: logo, menus, text, newsletter, custom HTML, social icons.
Classic: The classic footer style allows for a normal, default layout. You can add up to 5 content blocks and all of the columns display vertically. The options are: logo and text, menu, text, newsletter, empty column and custom HTML. Social icons can be added in as well.
None: If you wish to not have a footer on your site, you can set the footer style to 'None.' When your footer style is set to none, there are no section settings or content block options for the footer.
Cart Options/Icons
What cart type options are included in Flex vs Turbo?
Both Flex and Turbo include the following cart type options: mini cart, drawer, page, and refresh.
What cart icon options are included in Flex vs Turbo?
Flex includes the following cart icons to choose from under Theme Settings > Cart: basket, bag, cart, box. You can also choose to just display the word 'cart' instead of an icon by adjusting the Icon Style settings under Sections > Header > Icons to be 'text only'.
Turbo includes the following cart icons to choose from under Sections > Header: cart, bag.
Is there a Shipping Calculator included?
Turbo does in fact include a Shipping Calculator on the cart page.
The shipping calculator has been added to the Flex theme in the 1.1.0 release.
Homepage Sections
What homepage sections are available in the Flex theme vs the Turbo theme?
Please note that the sections may have different styling and settings available between the two themes.
In the Flex theme, all homepage sections have fields to enter custom CSS within the theme editor, as well as additional width and layout options.
| Section | Flex | Turbo |
| Blog posts | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Collection list | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Featured Collection | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Featured Promotions | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Gallery | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Image with Text | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Image with Text Overlay | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Logo List | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Slideshow with Text | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Slideshow | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Custom HTML | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Divider | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Heading | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Featured product | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Instagram feed | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Twitter feed | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Newsletter | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Contact form | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Map | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Testimonials | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Page | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Rich text (without image) | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Rich text and image | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Text columns with icons | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Text columns with images | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Video | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Search (section) | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Recently viewed products | ❌ | ✔️ |
Page/Product Templates
What page templates are available in the Flex theme vs the Turbo theme?
Please note that the page templates may have different styling and settings available between the two themes.
For instance, in the page templates included in the Flex theme, they will all have additional settings for custom CSS, width and margin/spacing settings. Those settings are not included in the Turbo theme.
The chart below reflects the the page templates included in the Flex 1.1.0 release. We have plans for additional templates to be added in future releases of Flex!
| Page template | Flex | Turbo |
| page.details | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| page.banner | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| page.sidebar | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| page.gallery | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| page.faq | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| contact page | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| page.team | ❌ | ✔️ |
| product.details | ✔️* | ✔️ |
| product.sections | ✔️ | ❌ |
| product.scrolling | ✔️ | ❌ |
| product.description-bottom | ❌ | ✔️ |
| product.full-width-images | ❌ | ✔️ |
| collection.sub-collections | ✔️ | ✔️ |
* In the Flex theme, instead of adding a 'product.details' template, the existing product templates (classic, image scrolling, sections) all contain additional content blocks. Read more about this here.
Theme Settings
What's the difference between color settings in Flex vs Turbo?
In the Flex theme, in addition to the sitewide color settings under Theme Settings > Colors, homepage sections will have "per section color settings".
View our article about per section color settings.
In the Turbo theme, color settings are sitewide under Theme Settings > Colors.
What search features are included in Flex vs Turbo?
In the Flex theme, the search features include:
- Search focus header style (enabled under Theme Settings > Layouts)
- Overlay display style (enabled under Theme Settings > Search > Display style)
- Popup display style (enabled under Theme Settings > Search > Display style)
- Predictive search (enabled under Theme Settings > Search > Predictive Search)
Information on Flex's predictive search feature can be found here
Information on Turbo's predictive search feature can be found here
Does Flex include Turbo's 'Multi-tag filter'?
The 1.1.0 release of Flex includes the multi-tag filter. Learn more about the multi-tag functionality here.
Multi-Currencies
The Flex theme and the Turbo theme (versions 4.2.1 and up) include support for Shopify Payments Multiple Currencies Feature. You can configure native multi-currencies to allow merchants to checkout in selected currency.
Learn more about using Shopify Payment's Multi-Currency feature.