Samsung's Gear Icon X
Getting fit usually means wristbands and watches, but a handful of
companies are trying out ears. Samsung is now in the fitness earphone game with
the Gear IconX, debuting later this year. They're small buds that combine
fitness tracking with Bluetooth earphones that also can store music locally.
Other companies have done this before , but Samsung's buds are also
completely, independently wireless. Two separate buds, no connecting wire or
neckband necessary. They nestle in their own charging case, which tops off the
battery life twice. The IconX battery life is estimated at 3-ish hours on its
own as a fitness tracker and music player, or an hour and a half when paired
and streaming from a phone.
Onboard heart rate monitoring tracks activity, and a touch button
on the earphones can be used to start and end workouts. I wasn't able to go
outside for a run, but holding my finger down on the IconX's earbud button gave
me some audio feedback on how I was doing. I found it hard to navigate the menu
with one-finger touch controls, though.
IconX earbuds will sync with Samsung S Health, but also pair with
Endomondo, MapMyRun, Runkeeper and Strava as a Bluetooth heart rate monitor.
They'll work with anyone who has an android 4.4
phone -- sorry, no iOS support -- but the music playback part of the Icon X is
limited to storing MP3s, or streaming music from your phone.