Samsung Gear IconX Review

Do you remember a time, not long ago, when the iPhone still had a headphone jack and wireless headphones still had a wire? In a way, the $199.99 Gear IconX can be seen as Samsung's answer to the forthcoming Apple AirPods, in that it too is a pair of completely wire-free earphones. Independent left and right earpieces snap right into a charging case, which also acts as an on-the-go charger, when not in your ears. But unlike the AirPods, the IconX is also focused on fitness, with a built-in heart rate monitor and the ability to track your activity. Whether this new earphone style will be ubiquitous in about a year's time is up for debate, but the IconX is a solid start, offering both respectable sound quality and fitness tracking capabilities.

Design
Available in blue, gray, or white, the Samsung Gear IconX has some distinguishing design flourishes, but is ultimately very similar to the wire-free Apple AirPods and Bragi Dash once you get past the cosmetics. Each pair has a tiny hard shell case that doubles as a charging dock and portable charger. Each is operated by touch-sensitive swipes on the outside panels of the earpiece. And like the Dash, an internal accelerometer allows for gesture-based control, as well.

The fit is quite secure thanks to a protruding fin that rests against the ear while the eartip seals off the canal. The earphones ship with three pairs of tips and three pairs of fins tips. Removing the earpieces powers them down, while placing them in your ears powers them up and pairs automatically, which feels kind of magical. After you're paired with your mobile device (both Android and iOS are supported for music playback, but all other features require Android 4.4 or above), tapping either earpiece will play your music, and tapping again will pause. Double taps answer and end calls or skip forward a track, while triple taps navigate to the previous track. Swiping up or down adjusts the volume, and tapping and holding calls up a menu. A voice guides you through the menu—this is how you initiate your workouts or switch to ambient sound.

Like the Bragi Dash, the IconX has an ambient mic feature so you can better hear your surroundings. It works just fine, but there is a slight delay that can get annoying. Sure, it's a very quick, slapback delay, but it doesn't sound natural.

The included 1.2-by-3.7-by-1.4-inch (HWD) charging case can hold up to two full charges, so when the earpieces are running low, popping them into the case for a short while will fill their battery life back up again. There are status LEDs on the front of the case that tells you when the earphones are charged, and on the back of the case, LEDs indicate when the case is charged. This is a good thing, considering Samsung estimates the battery life on a single charge to be a paltry 1.5 hours if you're streaming music and using the fitness features. If you play music stored locally on the device, you get up to 4.5 hours. These numbers are fairly similar to the Apple and Bragi models.

As mentioned above, the Gear IconX also has 4GB of internal storage, of which 3.5GB is actually usable. This means you can store tracks locally (up to 1,000) and leave your phone at home or in your locker while exercising. You load tracks via the Samsung Gear app while your earphones are docked and charging. The Bragi Dash also features internal storage.

Fitness Tracking

Using the Icon X for fitness tracking is easy. To start a workout, you just hold the left earbud with your finger for three seconds and it's off to the races. Whatever you're listening to will automatically lower in volume every ten minutes so a voice can report your fitness stats to you.

The default eartip fit is snug so you don't have to worry about either earpiece falling out and there's no cable thump against the back of your neck. Data collected includes distance and heart rate, which syncs with the Samsung Health app, though you can also connect the IconX to other fitness apps like Runkeeper or Strava.

For testing, we compared the Icon X with the Fitbit Charge 2, one of our Editors' Choice picks for wrist-worn fitness trackers. Distance and heart rate were consistent between the two devices to the point that they often reported the exact same numbers. So, you can definitely use the Icon X to track your walks, runs, or jogs. But they're only sweatproof, not fully waterproof, and you'll still want a dedicated tracker for keeping tabs on more advanced activities.

Audio Performance

For audio, it's imperative that you really make sure you have a secure fit with the Gear IconX earpieces—not because they will fall out (they're quite secure in that regard), but because the audio will suffer if they aren't pressed pretty tightly into the ear canal. The stronger the seal, the better your bass response will be.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Gear IconX delivers powerful low frequency response. This is a sculpted sound for sure, with beefed up lows and crisp highs. However, we've certainly heard more pumped up bass response in exercise-focused models. Bass lovers won't be disappointed, but there are models out there that have significantly more thump if that's what you're after. The pair also don't seem to get nearly as loud as most wired options—this isn't a bad thing, as it certainly gets loud enough to motivate you during a workout and block out your surroundings, but the max volume is lower than a typical wired model.

See How We Test Headphones

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better idea of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track get a heavy helping of extra bass—not so much that they sound unnatural, but there's certainly some added heft to the drums. Callahan's baritone vocals also get a solid amount of treble edge in the high-mids to provide definition and clarity. You can hear hiss in the background during playback, and it is pretty clear that the sound signature features heavily boosted high frequencies along with the boosted lows.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets plenty of high-mid presence, allowing its attack to stay crisp and slice through the layers of the mix. Once again, the highs are incredibly boosted—the vinyl crackle that is usually relegated to the background sits front and center here. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat have a solid thump, but again, it's not the kind of mega-bass low-end you often hear in exercise-focused earphones. Generally speaking, this is a bass-forward, treble-boosted sound signature with perhaps a little too much extra presence in the highs and less boosted lows than listeners looking for huge bass response will want.

Conclusions
There are currently few comparable cable-free wireless models to compare the Gear IconX with, but that will change in the coming weeks and months. The aforementioned Bragi Dash performs so similarly across the board, that at times it felt like we were testing the same earphones. If you're not a loyalist to the Samsung brand, it might be worth it to do some online bargain hunting—both pairs have the same list price, but we've seen the Dash for less recently. The AirPods aren't yet available, but we'll have a review when they come out later this month.

If none of these cable-free options are doing it for you (or your wallet), the good news is there are plenty of quality Bluetooth, in-ear models that have neckbands and are designed for exercise. Some of our favorites include the Bose SoundSport Wireless, the JBL UA Wireless, and the JBL Reflect Mini BT. Like the Dash, the Gear IconX gets a gold star for pushing the boundaries of wireless audio, but we are looking forward to a more refined experience with the next generation.

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