Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless Headphones Review

The Samsung Gear IconX have a slick and compact truly wireless design. They don't stick out of your ears, and they're slightly angled to better fit the contours of your ears. Their small footprint and understated color scheme look great and should be good for most listeners. However, they won't be as immediately recognizable as some of the other truly wireless headphones already mentioned. They also come in a flashier pink or grey color scheme if you want your buds to be a bit more noticeable.

The Samsung Gear IconX are comfortable truly wireless in-ears. They come with three tip sizes and three stability fin options to help you find a secure and stable fit. The earbuds are very lightweight, and since they're truly wireless, you barely notice them once they're in your ears. The buds are also slightly angled to better fit within the contours of your ears. However, like most in-ears, they put a bit of pressure within your ear canal which may not be as comfortable for all users.

The Samsung IconX have a mediocre touch-sensitive control scheme. They provide all the essential functions, call/music, track-skipping, and volume controls. Unfortunately, the small touch-sensitive surface doesn't register sliding gestures as well as taps, so turning up/down the volume can be a bit finicky at times. If you prefer a truly wireless design with physical controls, then you can check out the Jabra Elite Active 65t Truly Wireless or the TREBLAB X5 Truly Wireless.

The Samsung IconX are very breathable headphones for sports and working out. They're compact, and like most truly wireless in-ears, they only trap a negligible amount of heat within the ear canal. This makes them suitable for more intense physical activities like running and exercising since they don't cover your ears and will not make you sweat more than usual.

The Samsung Gear IconX are very compact and easy to carry around on your person. Like most truly wireless designs, the earbuds easily fit into your pockets, and they're a bit more portable than Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless. They also have a compact case that doesn't protrude or stick out of your pocket like other truly wireless charging cases like the Jaybird Run Truly Wireless.

The Samsung IconX come with a sturdy hard case that will shield the earbuds against impacts and drops. The case is very portable, unlike some other truly wireless charging cases, and feels incredibly well-made. It doesn't have the premium leather finish of the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 Truly Wireless 2018, but it's a bit smaller and feels dense and more durable.

These earbuds have a decent build quality. They have a dense and durable plastic design that's sturdy enough to withstand a couple of accidental drops. The case also feels very sturdy, and since it doesn't have a material coating like the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 Truly Wireless 2018's case, it should be more resistant to wear and tear over time. Overall, their build quality may not feel as luxurious or as premium as the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless. The left earbud would often get clogged and lose a lot of its volume output. You can clean it, but this may be a deal-breaker for some if you do a lot of running and working out with your headphones.

Like the Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless, these are very stable sports headphones. They have a lightweight in-ear fit and don't move much once you find the right combination of tips and stability fins for your ears. They stay put during more intense workout routines and are more than stable enough for running. They don't come with as many tips as the Jaybird Run Truly Wireless, so they may not cater as well to all ear shapes and sizes, but the provided accessories are good enough for most listeners.

• Samsung Gear Icon X headphones
• Earbud tips (x3 sizes)
• Stability fins (x3 sizes)
• Charging case
• USB charging cable
• USB-C charging adapter
• USB Charging adapter

They have an excellent frequency response consistency. If the user can achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, they should get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use the headphones.

The Samsung Gear IconX have great bass accuracy. They have an underemphasized low-bass, which means that mixes lack thump and rumble. However, the mid-bass is quite even, and the high-bass is a bit overemphasized, so tracks have body and ample boom. That said, if you want more bass and like truly wireless headphones, check out the Skullcandy Push Truly Wireless.

The Samsung Gear IconX have excellent mid accuracy. The response is even and well-balanced, but the small dip centered around 700Hz gives bass instruments more emphasis and nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix.

The Samsung IconX have decent treble accuracy. The range is mostly underemphasized, resulting in veiled vocals and lead instruments. Sibilants like S and T sounds are also dull and lispy.

The imaging is outstanding. Their weighted group delay is 0.1, which is among the lowest we have measured. The GD graph also shows that the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold, suggesting a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Also, the L/R drivers of our unit were exceptionally matched, which is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects and instruments (like voices and footsteps) in the stereo image.

Like most other in-ears, the soundstage of the Samsung Gear IconX is bad. This is because in-ears bypass the pinna (outer ear) and don't interact with it. Activating the resonances of the pinna is one of the key factors in creating a speaker-like and out-of-head soundstage. Also, because of their closed-back design, their soundstage tends to be less open than open-back headphones.

The Samsung IconX have an good noise isolation performance. In the bass range, occupied by the rumble of airplane and bus engines, they reduce the noise by about 7dB, which is poor However, this is rather impressive for in-ears and more than what most active noise cancelling headphones can achieve (like the Sony WF-SP700N Truly Wireless). In the mid-range, important for blocking speech, they get 20dB of isolation which is outstanding. In the treble range, occupied by sharp S and T sounds, they achieved more than 41dB of isolation, which is fantastic.

The leakage performance is incredible. These in-ears don't leak in the bass and mid-ranges, and the entire leakage is concentrated in the treble range. The overall level of leakage is also very quiet, making the leakage of these headphones practically non-existent.

The recording quality of the mic is sub-par. The LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 494Hz, resulting in noticeably thin speech. The HFE (high-frequency extension) of 3.3KHz, indicates that speech recorded/transmitted with this microphone will sound muffled and lacking in detail. However, it would still be decently understandable since speech comprehensibility is mostly dependent on the 500Hz-4kHz range.

The integrated microphone is mediocre at noise handling. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of 11dB, suggesting that they're best suited for quiet environments and may struggle to separate speech from background noise in moderate and loud environments.

These headphones have a mediocre battery life with a good set of power-saving features. They last about 4.6 hours and have an additional charge in the case for a total of 9.2 hours. You can squeeze out a bit more if you use the onboard storage instead of a wireless connection. They should last up to 7 hours in this mode and benefit from the quick charge feature that gives you one hour of playback from a 10-minute charge. You can also use each bud individually while the other is charging in the case. They have a standby mode that will put the headphones in sleep after 10 to 15 minutes of inactivity and will resume the wireless connection with your phone as soon as you pick them up. For longer battery life and wireless Qi charging, look at the Samsung Galaxy Buds Truly Wireless.

The Samsung Gear App has a decent amount of features, especially for health tracking, but does not have a lot of customization options for your audio. There's an exercise coach feature when running. You can also switch between onboard music and the Bluetooth mode. You can find the last known location of your earbuds, and you get all your tracking data via the Samsung health extension in the app. There's also a customizable preset Equalizer when paired with the Gear IconX. It's a good addition that offers a bit more options but it's not as customizable as the Jaybird Mysound app when paired to the Jaybird Run Truly Wireless. The app also isn't available on iOS, which some users may find disappointing.

The Samsung Gear IconX can connect to other devices via Bluetooth. They don't have simultaneous multi-device pairing and don't support NFC. On the upside, they're very easy to pair, thanks to the Bluetooth pair button on the case. These headphones have way too much latency for gaming and watching videos. They should be fine for listening to music and streaming podcasts but will not be suitable for video content.

These headphones don't have an audio cable or a wired connection. If you want a decent sounding and stable in-ear with a wired connection, look at the 1More Triple Driver.

They come with a charging case that provides an additional charge but has no inputs. On the upside, the case makes pairing easier than other truly wireless headphones that pair with the earbuds instead of the case. However, this also means you won't be able to pair to new devices without the case.