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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless vs Samsung Galaxy Buds
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless
Samsung Galaxy Buds
Tested using Methodology v1.4
Updated Jan 15, 2024 09:04 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.4
Updated Apr 24, 2025 02:03 PM
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Amazon.com
TypeIn-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
Noise CancellingNo
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeIn-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
Noise CancellingNo
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Variants
- Gear IconX (Black)
- Gear IconX (Grey)
- Gear IconX (Pink)
- Galaxy Buds (Black)
- Galaxy Buds (White)
- Galaxy Buds (Yellow)
Our Verdict
Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless
Samsung Galaxy Buds
The Samsung Galaxy Buds and the Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless are very similar headphones. They perform almost the same way and have practically the same audio reproduction. The Gear IconX have 4GB internal storage, which is very useful to load music on them and work out without your phone. On the other hand, the newer Galaxy Buds now support wireless Qi charging and have a noticeably better microphone. They also have a longer battery life, but latency is worse on the Galaxy Buds than the Gear IconX.
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Black
Gear IconX
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Galaxy Buds
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Gear IconX
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Galaxy Buds
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Gear IconX
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Galaxy Buds
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Finding storeMain Differences forMixed Usage
Mixed Usage
Threshold
Mixed Usage
7.2
7.5
Noise Isolation
7.5
6.8
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
In-ear
In-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
7.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.03 lbs
0.02 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs
0 lbs
Controls
6.3
5.4
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Okay
Decent
Feedback
Okay
Okay
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
No
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
No
No
Talk-Through
No
On/Off
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Breathability
9.0
9.2
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
1 °C
0.8 °C
Portability
9.4
9.6
Portability Picture
L
1.5"
2"
W
1.2"
1"
H
0.7"
0.5"
Volume
1.6 in³
1 in³
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
8.0
8.0
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
2.8"
2.8"
W
1.5"
1.5"
H
0.9"
1.1"
Volume
4.5 in³
4.6 in³
Build Quality
7.0
7.5
Build Quality Picture
Stability
8.0
8.0
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Frequency Response
Bass Amount
-0.58 dB
1 dB
Treble Amount
-2.11 dB
-0.75 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
8.6
9.8
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.28 dB
0.04 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Accuracy
8.3
9.3
Std. Err.
2.27 dB
0.99 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
46.21 Hz
10 Hz
Low-Bass
-3.43 dB
0.95 dB
Mid-Bass
0.63 dB
1.36 dB
High-Bass
2.7 dB
0.53 dB
Mid Accuracy
8.9
9.0
Std. Err.
1.46 dB
1.4 dB
Low-Mid
1.01 dB
0.03 dB
Mid-Mid
-1.85 dB
-2.12 dB
High-Mid
-0.05 dB
-0.45 dB
Treble Accuracy
7.4
8.9
Std. Err.
3.45 dB
1.41 dB
Low-Treble
-2.14 dB
-0.01 dB
Mid-Treble
-2.37 dB
0.02 dB
High-Treble
-5.32 dB
-4.85 dB
Peaks/Dips
8.0
8.7
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.19 dB
0.97 dB
Dips
1.18 dB
0.57 dB
Imaging
9.1
9.3
Phase Response
Weighted Group Delay
0.1
0.16
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.46
0.07
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.23
1.29
Weighted Phase Mismatch
2.54
2
Passive Soundstage
0.7
0.9
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Distance
N/A
N/A
Openness
2.5
3.2
Acoustic Space Excitation
0.6
0.8
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
No
No
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
No
Virtual Surround
No
No
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.9
7.8
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.213
0.211
WHD @ 100
0.117
0.134
Test Settings
Firmware
Unknown
R170XXU0ATA2
Power
On
On
Connection
Unknown
Bluetooth 4.2
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
EQ
Off
Off
ANC
No ANC
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Silicone (small)
Silicone (small)
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation
7.5
6.8
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-22.45 dB
-18.62 dB
Noise Cancelling
No
No
Bass
-6.74 dB
-3.65 dB
Mid
-20.44 dB
-18.7 dB
Treble
-41.42 dB
-34.99 dB
Leakage
9.5
9.3
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
23.96 dB
25.12 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
5.7
6.4
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
493.51 Hz
403.18 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.48 dB
5.27 dB
HFE
3,319.91 Hz
4,902.93 Hz
Weighted THD
5.721
0.403
Gain
40.58 dB
11.03 dB
Noise Handling
6.0
5.9
Speech + Pink Noise
Speech + Subway Noise
SpNR
11.32 dB
10.36 dB
Active Features
Battery
6.3
7.0
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
4.6 hrs
7.5 hrs
Additional Charges
1.0
1.0
Total Battery Life
9.2 hrs
15 hrs
Charge Time
1.1 hrs
1.6 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Standby mode
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
USB-C
USB-C
App Support
7.0
7.0
App Picture
App Name
Samsung Gear
Samsung Wearable
iOS
No
No
Android
Yes
Yes
macOS
No
Yes
Windows
No
Yes
Equalizer
Presets
Presets
ANC Control
No
No
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
Yes
No
Button Mapping
No
Yes
Surround Support
No
No
Connectivity
Bluetooth
6.6
6.6
Bluetooth Version
4.2
5.0
Multi-Device Pairing
No
No
NFC Pairing
No
No
Line Of Sight Range
89 ft
100 ft
PC Latency (SBC)
280 ms
372 ms
PC Latency (aptX)
N/A
N/A
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
N/A
iOS Latency
71 ms
72 ms
Android Latency
139 ms
51 ms
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
0.0
0.0
Non-BT Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
N/A
Wired
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connection
No Wired Option
No Wired Option
Analog/USB Audio Latency
N/A
N/A
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC/PS4 Analog
No
No
PC/PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PC/PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox One Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
2.2
2.2
Type
Charging Case
Charging Case
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
Yes
Yes
Power Supply
USB-C
USB-C
Check Price
Black
Gear IconX
Searching
Finding storeBlack
Galaxy Buds
Searching
Finding storeGrey
Gear IconX
Searching
Finding storeWhite
Galaxy Buds
Searching
Finding storePink
Gear IconX
Searching
Finding storeYellow
Galaxy Buds
Searching
Finding store
Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless
Samsung Galaxy Buds
Comments
Samsung Gear IconX Truly Wireless vs Samsung Galaxy Buds: Main Discussion
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