Samsung Gear IconX (2018) First Impressions: Promising Sound And Battery Life

Aug. 6, 2018

In India, the Samsung Gear IconX is likely to be a Flipkart exclusive as indicated by the #OnlyOnFlipkart tag added to the product on the e-commerce website. You can get notified when the Gear IconX goes on sale in India atthis link. The Gear IconX has a price tag of Rs 13,490 in India, as per the Flipkart listing.

The first thing you need to know about these truly wireless earbuds is that they are heavily reliant on Samsung smartphones.

For other Android phones, Samsung requires some workarounds such as installing the Samsung Gear app, plugins (for phones running Android 8.1) and then a Samsung Health app for the fitness-tracking features. It pairs just fine using the regular Bluetooth method, but that has its drawbacks as we will see.

The earbuds themselves sink into the cradle thanks to magnetic POGO pin connectors, and out-of-the-box Samsung has added the mid-sized rubber tips and wingtips. You get three sizes in the box to pick and choose the right fit.

In fact, when I first paired them with a Pixel 2 XL running Android P Beta, the sound was flat, instrumentation sounded tinny and there was barely bass to speak of. Once the Gear IconX are synced with the Samsung Gear app, everything changes.

Immediately after being paired with the app, the headphones have crisp sound, with rich bass and very robust treble. The mids were well-balanced, especially when you choose the Balanced preset in the equalizer. We will be testing the sound quality in depth for our full review.

They don’t have a heart rate monitor, which can be a deal-breaker given the price, but you would have to stay tuned for our full review to find out if it’s indeed such a big miss, especially if you have a Samsung smartphone.

We haven’t had much time to put the Gear IconX through its paces, though battery life does seem promising.Samsung says 10 minutes of charging in the cradle can provide up to an hour of listening. For a full charge, you would need to charge the cradle with the earbuds inside for just over an hour. The LED indicators glow from red to green when you hit full charge.

SEE ALSO:ESR Wireless Earbuds Review: Truly Wireless on a Budget