Samsung's Apple Watch and AirPod alternatives arrive Oct. 27
Samsung Gear Sport and Icon X 2018 cost $300 and $200 each.
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Samsung's newest fitness watch is around the corner.
This year, like many smartwatch makers, Samsung's focusing on fitness. Its latest sport earbuds and smartwatch, the Gear Icon X 2018 and Gear Sport, are arriving later this month: Oct. 27, with preorders starting tomorrow, Oct. 13. They'll cost $200 and $300, respectively in the US. (International prices and release dates weren't provided by Samsung, but we'll add them when we have them). CNET has tried them both briefly, but we don't have either for review yet.
The Gear Sport, announced earlier this year, didn't have a specific price or release date when we first saw it. At $300, it's nearly the same price as Samsung's 2016 Gear S3 watch.
The Gear Sport adds 50-meter water resistance for swimming, much like the Apple Watch Series 3 and Fitbit Ionic. It also has GPS, and sync-and-play music via Spotify, and works with both Android and iOS. But the square-circle watch doesn't have any cellular functions, and lacks a speakerphone for connected Bluetooth calls. (Also, if it's anything like previous Gear watches, the iOS experience isn't as good as it is on Android).
The Gear Icon X aims to be a set of standalone fitness and music earphones.
Samsung's 2018 version of its Icon X wireless sport headphones are also arriving on Oct. 27 for $200. That's more expensive than Apple's AirPods, but Samsung's Icon X headphones have built-in heart rate tracking for runs without a phone or watch, and even have 4GB of internal music storage. The 2018 update promises better battery life, up to five hours. Last year's version didn't last as long on a charge.
We'll review both as soon as we get them.