Table of Contents 64q43
The concept of connected earbuds/in-ear headphones Bluetooth It's something relatively new. Some manufacturers, such as Apple and Motorola/Lenovo, have abandoned the earphone jack in their latest generations, which creates an interesting market opportunity for wireless models. These aren't new, even though the market focused almost exclusively on headsets. After all, there is room to install a larger battery, while the earphones have reduced dimensions. Until then, manufacturers opted for an arc approach, as is the case with LG Tones and gear circle of own Samsung. 16666c
Now we have a different approach, with separate earbuds, each with an individual battery, and a case also used to charge it. This is the proposal of AirPods da Apple , as well as Gear IconX, which we will get to know in the next lines.
Design and construction 5k2i6f
Unlike AirPods, IconX's proposal focuses on athletes. That's exactly why it's fixed tightly in the ear, with an outer arch to make it even more secure. In fact, it does not slip during use, whether walking or running. But we cannot fail to note that, after an hour of use, it starts to bother us.
The model we received is black, and even so it is very discreet. Sometimes, other people didn't notice that we were using it, and the fact that it is in-the-ear certainly intensifies this fact, isolating much of the external noise in a ive way.
The charger/case of IconX It is quite small, fitting easily in your pocket or backpack. In addition to protecting the headphones, it has the function of charging. Just put away and close the lid and it starts recharging, with LEDs individual indicating battery status (red: charging – green: 100% battery). To charge the charger (exactly) there is a port Micro USB on the back, also featuring a dedicated LED.
Setup and sound quality 5i1t3o
Technologically, the IconX it's very modern. There are no physical buttons: just put it in your ear to activate it, with the infrared sensor automatically turning it on. There's also no on/off switch, so to turn it on, just take it out of the case.
After pairing it with the smartphone, the control options are enabled. The IconX's outer region is actually a touchpad with the following functions:
- 1 touch: pause/resume songs;
- 2 touches: change tracks;
- Swipe up/down: volume control;
- Touch when receiving a call: answer;
Yes, even with the reduced size, it has a microphone. Which works very well, by the way, since the quality of the call was not compromised. It is worth ing that he also works with iOS, with no compromise on quality or functions.
In of quality, well, we expected more. No AptX , so that the IconX works with a generic Bluetooth audio connection. That doesn't mean the sound quality is low, though. But honestly we would have a hard time distinguishing it from the wired headphones included in the line Samsung galaxy.
Battery and extras 575w2y
Here we have IconX's “Achilles' heel”. Contrary to what Samsung reports, we were able to a maximum of 2 hours and a few minutes on a single charge. Although it is something to be expected, considering its size, it is certainly an underwhelming value. As a comparison, the Quantum LIV can run for up to 20 hours on a single charge.
Still, it's an expected result. In the end, each of the headphones has only 47 mAh of battery. case has 315 mAh capacity, enough value to fully charge the earphones twice. Incidentally, these two values make us worried, as this will certainly accelerate the use of recharge cycles of the IconX.
Those two hours turn into two and a half hours with songs played from the internal memory. Are 4GB capacity combining both, enough for a good dozen songs with an average bitrate. To transfer songs to the IconX it is necessary to store them in the case, install the adapter and connect it to the PC. This combination also serves to update your software.
Heart rate monitoring is done through the S Health on Galaxy models. If your model is from another brand, you can choose Strava or by Map My Run, just activate them on your smartphone to start counting.
Conclusion 60664y
We're still in the early generations of Gear IconX and competitors, which means there's a lot to improve. Like any product with a new concept, its price is not at all inviting: R$999. Still, it's cheaper than Apple's AirPods (R$1399), which is curious, since American prices are inverted: US$ 159 (AirPods) to US$ 199 (Gear IconX).
Is it worth your investment? Yes, if you are willing to try the concept, as it is one of the first models with this proposal. Now, considering its characteristics, perhaps it is better to wait for a next generation. not only from IconX, but of headphones with this concept, in general. Especially for those who don't want to worry about battery life, by far the main problem we encountered.
