- We all know what Apple's AirPods are
and if you haven't tried them yourself,
you've at least seen a lot of people
walking around wearing them.
- In fact, you might think they're
the only completely wire free earbuds out there
but over the past couple of years
other companies have been getting in the game too,
like Bose, which is obviously
a leader in high end audio gear.
- And Samsung,
which makes really, really nice phones.
- Which is why you should buy their headphones?
- You have something hanging out of your ear.
(whooshing) (clicking)
These are the Samsung gear IconX wireless headphones.
It's the second generation of IconXs and--
- Right, because the first generation
had crummy battery life.
- As I was going to say, these cost 160 dollars.
- These are the Bose Soundsport Free.
They cost 200 dollars so they're a little bit more expensive
but sometimes you have to pay for good sound quality.
- Sure, here's the thing about buying headphones these days,
used to be that all you had to think about
when you were buying a new pair of headphones
was how good they sounded and how well they fit.
Now, there's all kinds of options.
You have to look at whether they're
in ear or around the ear,
whether they're wired or wireless
or totally and completely wire free
and whether they work with voice assistants
and what else am I forgetting?
- Your budget.
- Oh, right, and price.
- I still think that true audio snobs
are going to respect these more, a lot more.
- Mm, no, considering all I know about these,
I think these are the better pair.
Let's talk about fit first.
Now, this is going to be a subjective thing but,
personally, the IconXss fit my ears really well.
I'm impressed with how comfortable they are.
- I mean, these fit my ears really well too.
They just (sighs),
okay, just kidding, the problem I have with these
is that they're huge and I've tried
all the tips that come in the box
and I just, I just can't get a great fit.
- That's too bad.
I was able to go running with these, no problem.
The right bud does fit my ear a little bit better
than the left but, hey, no two ears are the same.
- I mean I'm sure these fit some people well
and they're really light despite their size.
- Uh, yeah, I'm gonna call this a win for the IconXs.
- But let's talk about sound quality.
Once you can get these things to stay in your ears,
music sounds nice and balanced.
It's not too bass-y, it's not too tin-y,
and there's a nice depth to it.
I mean, I'd even go as far as saying
that Bose has set a new bar for what truly wire free audio
should sound like.
- The sound on these is pretty good too.
If slightly over processed and, I guess if I'm being honest,
phone calls can sound a little bit hollow.
But one thing that I have with these that you don't
is the ability to really jam them in my ears
when I want more isolated audio
as well as an ambient sound mode
when I want to let in more noise.
- That's true, the Bose do have more
of an open air design but I still say
that these are the clear winners on sound.
Another thing to consider with truly wireless earbuds
is how you interact with them,
since you no longer have a wire with a little remote on it.
And I think that for both of these headphones
there are some downsides to that.
- I think the IconXs are slightly easier to control,
not surprisingly, although, they're is a bit
of a learning curve because there are
a bunch of different ways that you can swipe and tap
for them to control your music
and phone calls and everything else.
- She hung up on me twice while she was wearing those.
- I was just trying to adjust my left ear bud.
- But I thought they fit so well?
- At least they're not unnecessarily difficult to control.
- That's true, the Bose Soundsport Free
have these tiny buttons at the top here
that require kind of a firm press to change anything
but, hey, at least I never accidentally
hung up on someone or skipped a song track
when I didn't mean to, I think we're even on this one.
And then there's battery life.
With the Bose Soundsport Free,
you should be able to get up to five hours
of playback time per charge.
- Same with these.
Except my charging case is nicer because it's smaller.
Because mine are smaller.
- Okay, well, I think my bluetooth connection is better.
These almost never drop out.
(inaudible)
- Now, if you're still on the fence,
there are other features to think about too.
Like the fact that these
have four gigabytes of onboard storage
so you can play music locally and not have to stream it.
And these auto track your runs for you too,
which you can look at afterwards
in the Samsung Health app.
- (groans) Apps.
Why do bluetooth headphones need so many apps?
- You have a Bose app.
- Yeah, but with yours it's like,
download the Samsung Gear Manager app
and then download the Samsung Health app,
they're just apps.
- You don't have to download any apps.
You can go pair with your phone
just like any bluetooth headphones.
There are just more features and controls
in the apps if you want them.
Also, these work with voice assistants.
- Okay, so do these.
That's not really a standout feature anymore.
Look, if you want the best sound quality you can get
in a pair of wire free earbuds,
then you can't go wrong with the Bose Soundsport Free.
If you can afford them and if you--
(sighs) If they happen to fit your ears,
which they don't fit mine,
and if you don't think they look ridiculous.
- That's a lot of ifs.
I still think overall that the Samsung Gear IconX
are the better choice, they're smaller,
they're more comfortable, they're less expensive,
they have good battery life,
and they have pretty good sound quality, I win.
(rattling)
I'm really intrigued by how good this smells.
(chuckles)