Big fan of Samsung’s particular style of wearable fitness devices? Well, you’ve got a pair of new options on the horizon as the company just announced the Gear Fit 2 and Gear IconX.
Neither is a huge surprise: they broke cover ahead of schedule in late April thanks to leaked photos and details, but now we’ve got the official word and timeline on when to expect both. And it’s the totally new device that might be most appealing of the duo.
The Gear IconX is a pair of totally wireless Bluetooth earbuds, which aren’t even physically connected to each other. Like the Bragi Dash, they pop into your ears individually and can link up to your phone, but they also have 4GB of internal storage for holding onto your local music.
They offer about 90 minutes of music streaming from your phone, or about three and a half hours when playing local music. And the included storage case also holds a charge, and can charge the earbuds twice over once drained (according to The Verge)
They power up as soon as you pop them in your ears, and they’ll track fitness data like distance, speed, heart rate, and burned calories without a paired device – and all that data can go right into Samsung’s S Health platform. It also has a guide for voiced feedback, and you can tap or swipe the surface of the earbuds to control music.
Meanwhile, the Samsung Gear Fit 2 updates the underwhelming 2014 original with a refreshed and more comfortable-looking design, plus it bundles in a GPS and can auto-sense fitness activities. And the larger Super AMOLED display might help alleviate those touch responsiveness issues we struggled with on the original model.
The Gear Fit 2 will be out first, releasing on 10 June for $179 (about R2,800), while the Gear IconX will follow in July for $199 (nearly R3,120). Local launches have yet to be announced.
