The best truly wireless bluetooth earbuds: Samsung Gear IconX vs Jabra 65T (Sorry, Airpods)
Ok, so you want earbuds with no cable connecting them. You want the convenience and small form factor, and you also love music. Which ones do you buy? I love earbuds. In addition to these two sets, I also own the Beats Powerbeats 3. Thought it might be useful to do a comparison. Firstly, in terms of pure music quality, truly wireless earbuds can't compete with wired ones (this means a cable/wire connecting the two earbuds, not referring to a wire connecting to the device you're using such as an iPhone). The reason is the form factor size. The Powerbeats ones are larger because they do not go completely into the ear. The bulk of the electronics sits outside the ear, and hooks over via a rubberized hook that goes up and over each ear. They can fit more internal electronics and battery, giving a much better music quality and battery life. My Powerbeats get around 11 hours of battery life, with amazing bass and sound quality. However, if you want something even more portable and convenient, easier to put in/take out, truly wireless earbuds have come a long way. The generally two best reviewed pairs are the Samsung Gear IconX and the Jabra 65T Elite. Each coming in around $300AU (to be fair, the Jabra were about $269). I bought the Samsung ones first. They feature a touch interface on each earbud, so you do gestures to do things like increase/decrease the volume, play/pause, skip forward or back a track, etc. They also feature internal memory of 6GB, allowing you to copy music onto the buds themselves, so you don't even have to bring your phone and can still listen to music. Other key features include what is called "pass-through", where you can allow ambient noise to enter the earbuds so you can hear the outside environment, such as traffic or someone talking to you without having to take the earbuds out. What makes the Samsung unique is that normally, one earbud is a "master" and another a "slave", meaning you can only use one earbud by itself, not either. With the Gear IconX, you can use either earbud on it's own as they each have microphones in them. I primarily use these for work, and use one earbud paired to my PC so I can hear Jaws, and use a mobile phone on the other side holding the phone to my ear. I can access my laptop fine and still talk on the phone. The earbuds come with a charging case. The buds get about 5 hours of battery life, and the case holds an additional 10 hours, so you can charge them twice fully via the case, which is very sturdy and well made. It has a small button at the back to activate pairing mode, which is tactile and easy to use. If you have a little sight, there are lights on the front of the case indicating green lights when the buds are fully charged, or dim red ones if they are not, and a light on the back indicating whether the case itself is fully charged. The drawback to the Gear IconX if you're an iPhone user is that Apple and Samsung hate each other. As such, Apple doesn't allow Samsung to make the app for you to configure the earbuds. This is essential as this is how you set the equalizer for the buds, and also how you activate the "pass-through" that allows you to hear the outside world while using your earbuds. Note that you can use any Android device to do this, so if you have a tablet or Android phone handy, you can configure these settings and save them to the buds permanently. I do wish they made a gesture to activate/deactivate pass-through, which would have been way more handy. I also do not like the touch interface doing swipes and taps on each earbud to do functions. I find them way too sensitive, and easy to make unintentional commands. Lastly, in terms of comfort, I found my ears getting sore after 2-3 hours of use, so if using these, I recommend buying 3rd party tip replacements. I chose the brand called Compli, which are memory foam tips at a cost of $40AU and gives you 6 tips. Each tip lasts 3-6 months and are way more comfortable. So then I bought the Jabra 65T Elite earbuds. They also have the pass-through features, and can be used equally by iPhone or Android users. They are a little smaller than the Samsung. They are much more comfortable. I did not need to buy 3rd party tips for them. Unfortunately they do not work independently of each other, so if you want to use only one, it has to be the right earbud. Battery life is great, also at about 5 hours. Sound quality is great on both, but different. More clear on the Jabra. A little more bass-heavy on the Samsung, but both very good. The form factor could have been better on Jabra in a few ways. Firstly, the case feels cheaper and less durable. Also, they chose to have a glossy finish, which makes the buds feel slippery, and easy to drop when taking out of the case. The Samsung case is much better designed. However, neither case has magnetics in them like the Airpods, which locks them in place. This is the one feature of the Airpods which I find superior to both of these. Jabra's case also features 2X full charges for the earbuds. Jabra's case uses Micro USB, while the Samsung uses USB-C. The Jabra app allows you to configure the earbuds for equalizer, whether the 'pass-through' feature is enabled by default when you connect them (if you choose not to, you can activate it by double-tapping the right earbud). The other feature I like about Jabra is that all their controls are physical, and thus a bit more reliable than Samsung's touch interface. All in all, I rate both of these earbud sets highly, and I definitely use them both every day, but for different things. If I had to choose one and could not keep them both, I'd have to go the Jabra due to being an iPhone user, but if you use Android, Gear IconX would be an equally good choice and comes down to personal preference. By the way, why did I say "sorry Airpods"? I actually bought them before I bought both of these alternatives, and returned them after a week. I found the sound quality sub-par, and also always felt like they were going to fall out of my ears. Both of these sets 'lock' into your ears almost like screwing a screw and fit snugly. I go to gym, and never feel like I'm going to lose either of these. Airpods always felt the opposite. They're also ugly hanging down out of each ear. The best feature of Airpods is that, like Samsung, can be used each one on its own if you prefer, and also the 'find my Airpods' feature where you can make the earbuds emit a sound if you've dropped one. Airpods also have a magnetic case, giving you confidence that they are locked in place and charging when you put them in the case. But in terms of sound quality and sound isolation, they aren't in the same league as either of these. Hope this has been useful. Happy shopping. Ted Best Regards, Ted t...@nevernamed.com ____________________________
