Samsung is making its triumphant return to the world of fitness tracking, after spending some time concentrating on the Gear S2 smartwatch. The Gear Fit 2 is Samsung’s follow-up to the Gear Fit smart band, and the Gear Icon X are a set of wireless activity monitoring earbuds. Here’s everything you need to know.
You can also read our hands on posts with both the Gear Fit 2 and the Icon X.
Gear Fit 2
When Samsung released the original Gear Fit back in 2014, it stood out from other smart wristbands thanks to its beautiful, curved Super AMOLED display. Its successor continues that trend: the Gear Fit 2 features a curved 1.55-inch 216 x 432 display, one of the highest-resolution screens of any smartwatch.
In terms of internals, the Gear Fit 2 sports a speedy Exynos 3250 processor paired with 512MB of RAM and 2GB of internal storage. It packs a bevy of sensors, too, including a heart-rate monitor, gyroscope, barometer, GPS, and accelerometer. Powering all that silicon is a 200mAh battery protected by a water-resistant, IP68-certified outer shell. It should last you through 3-4 days before it needs a charge.
As you can see, the device features a curved screen mounted on a silicone strap, and a rear mounted heart rate sensor, with quick-release buttons to change the strap itself. There are also a pair of hardware buttons for going back and turning it on and off.
The Gear Fit 2 can get any notifications your Android phone receives, it can send canned replies and emojis to texts and calls, as well as track all your fitness metrics. It automatically detects some kinds of workouts, but not all of them. It’s running Tizen, so you can see all your stats on the screen, but it also syncs up with the S Health app on your phone for a deeper dive.
It costs $180 and you can order it now.
IconX earbuds
Unlike its fitness band exploits, Samsung has been more consistent with releasing Bluetooth headphones over the past few years, including the Level U and Gear Circle ‘halo’-style headsets. Now we have the Gear IconX smart fitness tracking earbuds. Like Motorola’s Verve Ones and the Earin wireless ‘buds, these are tiny, separate earbuds with no wires at all.
Working as both a music player and an in-ear fitness tracker, the earbuds have 4GB of internal storage space for your music, but you can stream Spotify over a Bluetooth connection as well. The storage case doubles as the charger, but the buds only last about 3 hours on a charge. These earbuds come in black, blue, and white.
Of course they play music, but these earbuds do much more than that. They also track all your fitness metrics and boast heart rate monitors. When you sync them to your phone via Bluetooth, you can see all your stats in S Health after your workout. There are touch-controls on the surface of the buds for volume controls and activating a workout coach.
These earbuds cost $200, and are available for purchase online at Samsung, Amazon, Verizon, B&H, and various other retailers.
