Truly wireless earbuds (read totally no cables) are the flavor of 2016 among audio manufacturers. We've seen companies like Earin bring them from Kickstarter concept to production and to the stores. Now, Samsung wants a piece of the pie and you can be sure the competition will start to heat up big time.
3 June - Samsung announced the launch of the Gear IconX, a pair of truly wireless earbuds that target fitness enthusiasts. Out of all the manufacturers of this product category so far, Samsung is undoubtedly a giant and has the financial clout to make wireless earbuds work and hit the mainstream.
What's the Big Deal?
1. Weight / Fit
At 12.6g for both earbuds, it's light and looks like it'll fit snugly in your ears.
2. Tracking of Fitness Data
This data is synced with Samsung's mobile app called S Health. This allows tracking of heart rate, distance and speed of your run.
3. Voice Guide / Touch Controls
This voice guide should help oodles especially when playback controls are actuated through tapping and swiping the capacitative touch exterior of the buds. They provide helpful updates on your fitness status during runs. And it comes in a massive 15 languages.
4. Internal Storage
You connect to your source device via Bluetooth (4.1) but what sets this apart is that it has 4GB of internal memory (good for about 1000 songs) squeezed somewhere. The common MP3, M4A, AAC codecs are all supported.
5. Charging / Power
The 47mAh in the really small Samsung Gear IconX gives about a decent 3.6 hours on music from internal storage and a slightly less impressive 1.5 hours on music via Bluetooth. Once you park them inside the 52g case, they will kick start the charging process and it promises a few charge cycles with its 315mAh power.
For an intro, check out this video from Samsung:
Pricing
We checked with Samsung Singapore on the SG pricing and they advised an MSRP of SGD 298. In the US, it will retail for USD 199.
Availability
They are heading to hit the stores sometime in Q3 2016 in a flurry of 3 colors - black / blue / white.
Where To Buy
If you like what you have read, feel free to support me by buying from Amazon. Going for USD 199.99, here are the affiliate links for the Black , White and Blue variants.
What's the Big Deal?
1. Weight / Fit
At 12.6g for both earbuds, it's light and looks like it'll fit snugly in your ears.
2. Tracking of Fitness Data
This data is synced with Samsung's mobile app called S Health. This allows tracking of heart rate, distance and speed of your run.
3. Voice Guide / Touch Controls
This voice guide should help oodles especially when playback controls are actuated through tapping and swiping the capacitative touch exterior of the buds. They provide helpful updates on your fitness status during runs. And it comes in a massive 15 languages.
4. Internal Storage
You connect to your source device via Bluetooth (4.1) but what sets this apart is that it has 4GB of internal memory (good for about 1000 songs) squeezed somewhere. The common MP3, M4A, AAC codecs are all supported.
5. Charging / Power
The 47mAh in the really small Samsung Gear IconX gives about a decent 3.6 hours on music from internal storage and a slightly less impressive 1.5 hours on music via Bluetooth. Once you park them inside the 52g case, they will kick start the charging process and it promises a few charge cycles with its 315mAh power.
For an intro, check out this video from Samsung:
Pricing
We checked with Samsung Singapore on the SG pricing and they advised an MSRP of SGD 298. In the US, it will retail for USD 199.
Availability
They are heading to hit the stores sometime in Q3 2016 in a flurry of 3 colors - black / blue / white.
Where To Buy
If you like what you have read, feel free to support me by buying from Amazon. Going for USD 199.99, here are the affiliate links for the Black , White and Blue variants.
 | Samsung Gear IconX | USD 199  |  |
