Samsung Gear IconX: Sound performance and setup

The IconX sound quality is more decent than we were expecting, but we wish it were better. Yeah, you might be buying these primarily for fitness, but that means ditching your best-sounding running headphones; which is why it's important that any hearables like these sound good. The audio is certainly clear enough, but it lacks bass. And we like bass.

The ambient sound mode is a nice touch that puts your music on gently, letting you still hear things in your surroundings you should be aware of - primarily oncoming traffic. It also means you can have a conversation with someone without switching off your music or taking the IconX out of your ears.

What we're less keen on is the setup process, which is absurdly complicated for something that prides itself on simplicity. You'll first need to download the Gear Manager app onto your Android smartphone - so far, no biggy - and then connect the IconX case to a computer to install an app installed in the case's internal memory, which will then install updates on the IconX. Samsung, this is not how we reach the future.

Once you're finally up and running, you'll designate which earbud will be the dominant one for taking calls with. You can also use this moment to install any music you'd like directly onto the earbuds' 4GB of storage, so you can listen without streaming from your phone - just the same as the Bradi Dash.

Another thing worth mentioning is compatibility. Samsung says you should be running Android 4.4 or higher on a phone with at least 1.5GB of RAM. Despite what you might have heard the IconX do work with iOS, but only for listening to music with.

And if you're not using a Galaxy device, you'll have to download an additional driver from the Play Store to ensure compatibility. If you're using an older handset (we're talking Nexus 5 era or before), we'd advise checking it will pair smoothly with the IconX before putting down the money.