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Samsung has three new wearables – the combination of which amount to a serious play for fitness fans, as the tech giant has openly targeted the health conscious.
Announced ahead of the IFA tech show in Berlin, the new Gear Sport and Gear Fit 2 Pro smartwatches proactively track and nudge users more than ever on what exercise they’re already doing and when they need to do more.
Then there’s the IconX 2018 ear buds, which offer wireless music listening that also removes the need take your phone with you when you exercise – while also tracking pace and feeding back at regular intervals.
With the Apple Watch having already established itself as a fitness and wellbeing savvy device with its Move notifications and Breathe app, these new Samsung products have stiff competition.
So, how do they stack up?
The flagship smartwatch of the new range, The Gear Sport has the same smart circular face that has become prominent on other Samsung Gear smartwatches.
Fittingly though, the Sport is designed to be as active as the consumers it’s being aimed at.
It is water resistant and can automatically track activity undertaken as well as being used to set and follow a wearer’s progress towards nutritional goals.
It looks the part too, the 1.2-inch circular screen is one of the best in the smartwatch world – big enough to swipe on without feeling cramped.
And the ability to customise straps in a range of colours will add some flair for those craving it.
There’s more to it than just fitness tracking too, with Samsung Connect technology built in, the Sport can be used to control smart home devices or as a remote during presentation or VR experience.
We don’t have a price or launch date yet, but interest in those details is likely to be high based on first impressions.
Referred to as a sports band, the Pro is much more sleek than the Gear Sport, lending itself to swimming and other activities where a larger wearable could get in the way.
The curved display that is designed to follow the curve of your wrist is again easy to work with, and the Pro has plenty to work through it seems as well.
There are even settings in the band for users to track their water and nutrition intake and log it throughout the day.
There’s also built in GPS for tracking outdoor workouts.
Like the Sport, the Pro also benefits from Samsung’s link up with Spotify and the newly announced partnership with Speedo – aimed at swimmers – which will enable users to track their pool work in detail through a new app.
To completely untether yourself, Samsung has updated its IconX wireless ear buds that first launched in 2016.
The buds are predominantly aimed at outdoor runners, enabling them to go out and exercise without being forced to take their phone with them.
The IconX come with 4GB of space in each ear bud for music, as well as voice coaching on pace and the status of your workout and touch controls for controlling tracks.
Samsung is also promising improved battery life of up to four hours – more than enough for a big run – even a marathon in some cases.
The complete lack of wires is a refreshing break for the tethered together status of some other wireless earphones, and the smart charging case looks good too – particularly in pink.
