Samsung has announced both the Gear Sport and Gear IconX 2018 will release on 27 October, with pre-orders beginning from 13 October.
The Gear S3 successor, which was officially announced back at IFA in August, is set to hit stores in the US in both the blue and black colour variants, and is priced at $299.99. Samsung's next gen Gear IconX smart earbuds are also landing and will be available in black, grey and pink options with a $199.99 price tag.
Verdicts: Samsung Gear Sport review | Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro review
In terms of specs, the Gear Sport will feature a a 1.2-inch AMOLED display, 5 ATM water resistance, heart rate monitoring and offer tracking for a range of activities, while the rotating bezel is also back for another spin on the Korean company's smartwatch line. Handily, for Spotify users, the device will support offline mode, too, meaning you can listen to your music on the go.
Speaking of which, the wireless earbuds will provide storage of up to 1,000 songs, five hours of streaming and seven hours of life in standalone mode. Music can be controlled through a tap on the earbud or through the power of Bixby, with it also possessing the power to track your running routes and give feedback through its in-built running coach.
Interestingly, Samsung will be the last of the major smartwatch players to release a new device this year, with Apple launching the Watch Series 3 on 22 September and Fitbit releasing its first official smartwatch, the Fitbit Ionic, on 1 October, alongside its Flyer headphones.
We don't suspect that being slightly late to the party will hurt Samsung in the run-up to Christmas, but it will certainly need to improve Tizen app support in this generation if it hopes to lure people away from competitors. After all, while its partnership with Spotify is a promising step, it still lacks compatibility with popular services and exercise platforms, such as Strava.
In terms of UK availability and pricing, we haven't heard anything yet, but will update this story when we hear any announcements. And as for the devices themselves, we've had brief looks at both the Gear Sport and Gear IconX 2018, but stay tuned for our full reviews coming soon.
How we test
Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.