Samsung Gear IconX (2018) review

Sound coming from the wireless earbuds is better than expected. Music isn’t my area of expertise, but I’ve found the Gear IconX to play music that comes across as immersive. It’s rich, and it’s deep. It doesn’t sound empty like most phones’ speakers do. There’s a handy feature, too, in which you can activate ambient sound so that sound nearby comes through alongside music.

On top of sounding really good, I didn’t experience any drops in the Bluetooth connection between my unit and my Google Pixel XL. So, yes, Samsung appears to have resolved both issues that the original model suffered from.

Navigating through your library of music on the Gear IconX couldn’t be any easier because you have different ways of doing so. Samsung’s wireless earbuds work by tapping, swiping, and speaking.

If you want to switch songs, swipe forward. When a call comes in, you can just tap and start talking. Bixby or Google Assistant are also at the ready if you long-press on an earbud’s touchpad. Both digital assistants do the same things they do on your phone, but here they’re speaking directly into your ears. The practicality of doing these things is a major plus for the Gear IconX. A lot of what you would do on your phone can be done by using the touchpad and your voice.

Health and fitness are as important for this device as playing music. The Gear IconX links to Samsung Health to provide you with real-time coaching. Samsung’s hardware and software work together to track how far you’ve traveled, how fast you’re moving, and how many calories you’ve burned.

It’s actually pretty handy to get all of that information from something in your ears rather than something on your wrist. Smartwatches aren’t exactly blowing anyone away, so it’s nice to have device as simple as earbuds analyzing my runs. Unfortunately, though, the heart-rate monitor found in its predecessor is gone. Maybe you’ll have to still wear another activity tracker then.

By the way, a phone isn’t necessary to go out on a run or workout with the Gear IconX. Samsung included 4GB of internal storage for up to 1,000 songs. If you decide to go phone-free, don’t worry about losing valuable data. The Gear IconX will continue tracking your activity and sync with Samsung Health later on.

Battery life is the biggest change for the new Gear IconX. Now Samsung’s wireless earbuds can go the distance, literally. Without a phone, you can get up to seven hours of music listening. That drops to five hours if you’re using a Bluetooth connection. Both numbers are respectable, and you’ll get more than enough time to listen to music during runs and workouts.

Samsung tweaked the charging case, too. It has a larger battery to give juice to the earbuds when you’re not near a wall outlet. Just ten minutes of charging can provide about an hour of use. That turned out to be true. During my testing, the Gear IconX was able to get slightly under an hour worth of use after sitting on the dock for a few minutes. It’s also wise for Samsung to include a USB-C port on the dock. Given that phones and other devices are making the transition, the Gear IconX’s charging case fits right in.

Don’t be surprised to see Samsung’s Gear IconX receive an upgrade before Apple’s AirPods. The company’s been able to learn from the original’s shortcomings and see what the competition is up to. While the Gear IconX (2018) may not look like a significant improvement, it accomplishes enough to be a worthy successor.

The price, though, is a little tough to swallow. Samsung wants you to pay $199 for these. That’s a big ask considering competing products sit around $160 and, on paper, do mostly the same things. So battery life, wireless connectivity, and health analytics became three very important areas of focus for Samsung. All three areas have seen improvements, but it’s up to individual consumers to choose whether or not that’s enough to justify spending more money.

You can’t really go wrong with the Gear IconX unless you don’t care for activity tracking. If you do, then look no further — they’re comfortable to use while breaking a sweat, music sounds crisp and clear, and the tie-in to a digital assistant and Samsung Health is pretty useful.

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/reviews/samsung-gear-iconx-2018-review/