Samsung has unveiled a new wearable known as Gear IconX. These smart earbuds are geared toward more casual exercisers who don’t quite need all the bells and whistles Samsung offers in its Gear Fit 2. They connect wirelessly to the user’s phone and do not have any wires connecting to each other.
Gear IconX offers a host of convenient features. It can tell users how far they have run, how quickly they are moving, and how fast their heart is beating thanks to the built-in heart rate sensor. In addition, a voice coach feature will help runners reach high-intensity zones and reduce their lap times.
The earbuds themselves are quite lightweight. They tip the scales at just 6.3 grams each, which puts them at approximately the same weight as a quarter. The buds feature hooks that lock them into the cartilage of the user’s ears, and early reports indicate they are surprisingly comfortable.
They feature a pad on top with capacitive touch that can be used for inputting gestures. For example, swiping up or down will adjust the volume higher or lower. Double tapping will skip to the next track, while triple tapping will go back to the previous track. The earbuds also boast a useful ambient noise mode, which is accessed by a long press. This allows people to hear what is going on around them in order to cross streets safely, for example.
Short battery life not likely to be an issue thanks to clever case
Like the Gear Fit 2, the IconX boasts 4GB of internal storage. It is expected to last for around 3.6 hours on a single charge if only stored music is played. This drops to 3.4 hours if workout tracking is also used, while a charge will only last 1.5 hours if it is streaming music from a phone while activity tracking is turned on. This relatively short battery life is still enough to serve most workouts, however, and the case doubles as a battery pack that can charge the buds twice from zero to full.
IconX is expected to hit the market some time in Q3 this year and will retail for $199.99. The initial color options will be black, white and blue. The data from the headphones will sync to Samsung’s S Health app and can also be exported to several other fitness apps. They will work with most Android phones that run at least Android 4.4 at launch but will not be able to work with iOS devices.
