Ask anyone who uses earbuds what their number one complaint is and it will have something to do with the wires. Whether it’s getting them tangled or getting caught on clothing, wires are a pain. Samsung have felt that pain and have come up with the Samsung Gear IconX earbuds.

The Samsung Gear IconX earbuds are wireless. They come with their own charging case and have a touch-sensitive surface for easy control. Samsung have said the set will also be available with its own 4GB media player in case you don’t want to use your smartphone.

Samsung aren’t the first to try wireless earbuds but they are the first of the big boys. And at first glance it looks like they are setting the bar for this emerging technology. Partly because as earbuds they are pretty good but also because that isn’t all they can do.

Primarily, the Samsung Gear IconX earbuds are just that – audio earbuds with great sound quality and ambient noise pass-through capability. However, they also include an optical heart rate monitor, a touch button to start and stop workouts and they sync with the Samsung S Health mobile app to track you as you work out.

The material released so far says the Samsung Gear IconX earbuds will also sync with MapMyRun, Runkeeper and Strava. They will also play nicely with Android phones version 4.4 and higher but as far as I can tell, there is currently no iOS support.

The earbuds use Bluetooth technology to connect to a smartphone for both tracking and music. Samsung claim a battery life of 1.5 hours for music streaming from a phone and up to three hours purely as a fitness tracker. Charging time is as yet unknown.

With a release ‘sometime during Q3 2016’, there is a little time to wait until the Samsung Gear IconX earbuds hit the market. Given how fast the wearables industry moves, we wouldn’t be surprised if the capabilities and specifications change too. I will cover them in more depth when I get hold of a pair.

Jesmond Darmanin is a technology enthusiast who has his own blog at www.itnewsblog.com.