Here is a very unusual Bluetooth stereo headset. The model has an original shape, unique design, application support Samsung Gear and high quality sound. Let's take a closer look at the Samsung Gear Circle.
Appearance, quality of materials
The first acquaintance with the headset caused mixed feelings - it seems that we have a collar in front of us, how does it put on our ears? And everything is simple, because the headphones have magnetized elements that hold this necklace.
The control unit itself, from which the wires go to the headphones, has a streamlined shape. The model looks in general rather unusual and a little futuristic. We have a black headset on the test, white and blue models are also available for sale. The main material is plastic, while rubber is used in the cable and ear pads. The assembly is at a high level - nothing will hold together or fall apart, this gadget is pleasant to hold in your hands.
Ergonomics
“Unbuttoning” our necklace, we throw the control transmitter behind the neck and in front of us are two rather large earpieces, which can hang separately or linked. Much to our chagrin, it is not possible to say that a stereo headset is completely imperceptible and comfortable. With a static position, say, at home or in the office, there are absolutely no complaints. But as soon as you start using the device on the street, discomfort appears.
The headphones are large enough and have a significant weight, which limits head movement and does not allow for maximum fixation. Listening under the Samsung Gear Circle hat will also be problematic, due to its considerable size and shape. The ear pads turned out to be not the most comfortable - it always seems that the attachments do not fit well and you want to fix them.
Controls, interfaces
In order to turn on the Samsung Gear Circle, you need to move the slider on the left earphone; to turn on visibility / switch tracks / answer a call, use the button and the corresponding indicator on the right earphone. The main unit has a microUSB connector for charging and a corresponding indicator.
The volume itself is adjusted using the touch sensor on the left earpiece, you just need to slide your fingers up or down to change the volume, this is very convenient. The device also has a vibration drive that vibrates when it is turned on, incoming calls, pairing, and more.
The headset connects to smartphones and other devices using the Bluetooth 3.0 interface with support for HSP, HFP, A2DP, AVRCP profiles. The connection takes place like all modern Bluetooth-headsets and is not difficult.
Sound quality
The considered Bluetooth stereo headset works on the system on the CSR8670 chip, which guarantees high quality sound. Lossless codecs Apt-X, Samsung HD and SBC are supported. After a week of listening to music with the Samsung Gear Circle paired with Samsung Galaxy S5 creates an extremely positive experience. The sound is perfectly balanced and has no dominant frequencies. The headset makes the difference between MP3 and FLAC clearly visible. The instruments are well distinguishable, with high-quality recording, the width of the stage and the overall drive are pleasantly surprising. The maximum volume just rolls over, and the sound insulation is excellent - this allows you to listen to music in any place. The interlocutor can be heard loudly and clearly in any situations, no complaints.
Microphone
The quality of the transmitted voice is also at a high level, the interlocutor can hear you perfectly. The microphone itself is located in the right earpiece, which should be moved towards the mouth during a conversation, since audibility drops in the standard position.
Functionality
The headset works with any Bluetooth-enabled device, but to get the most out of the Samsung Gear Circle you need a Samsung smartphone and the Samsung Gear app. The latter is a headset manager, where you can find out about the battery status, rename the device, adjust the SoundAlive equalizer and notifications.
It is also possible to adjust the actions when connecting two magnetic ends - end a call or stop playback. In addition, you can turn on voice control and a sound monitor, which will save your hearing by calculating the level of stress when listening to music.
Autonomy
The device has a 180 mAh battery. The manufacturer claims that the Samsung Gear Circle is capable of 11 hours of talk time and 9 hours of audio playback. In practice, approximately the same, and in some cases even better, results are obtained. So during testing, the headset quietly worked for 10 hours in music listening mode at a volume of 70% of the maximum, which is a good result.
Outcome
In the rest we have in front of us an extraordinary outwardly Bluetooth-headset, forcing many passers-by to look at you. Besides the unusual appearance Samsung Gear Circle has incorporated great sound, which many will like, and good functionality. Of the shortcomings, it is worth noting not entirely successful ergonomics, but this is a matter of habit. The cost of the model at the time of this writing was about $ 100, which is quite justified for such a headset.
Liked:
Sound
Original appearance
Functionality
Did not like:
- Ergonomics
 |
Samsung Gear Circle (Black) 1 999 - 1 999 UAH Compare prices |
| A type | Bluetooth headset |
| Headset type | stereo |
| Type of earphone (s) | vacuum ("plugs") |
| Mount type | intracanal |
| Bluetooth version | 3.0 |
| Automatic volume adjustment | no data |
| Digital noise and echo cancellation | no data |
| Multipoint | + |
| A2DP | + |
| AVRCP | + |
| Apt-x | + |
| Type, battery capacity, mAh | Li-Ion, 180 |
| Talk / playback time, h | 11/9 |
| Standby time, h | 300 |
| Charging time, h | no data |
| USB charging | + |
| Status indicator | + |
| Display | — |
| Dimensions, mm | no data |
| Weight, g | no data |
| Equipment | headset, USB cable |
| Phone ringtone | no data |
| Number of microphones | 1 |
| Vibrating alert | + |
| NFC | — |
| Wired connection | — |
| Connect your headphones | — |
| Battery case | — |
| More | — |
Recently, the fashion for wireless headsets, ala a sports and fashion accessory, has been gaining momentum. This is not to say that this is a new category of devices, but more and more eminent companies have recently begun to produce their own variations on the theme. Samsung has this Gear Circle, presented in the fall of 2014, which we will now review.
Equipment
The headset is sold as a separate, standalone accessory. It does not come with any of the mobile devices. Indeed, not all users need the Hands-Free function and listening to music via Bluetooth, so few are willing to pay extra when buying a smartphone.
Samsung Gear Circle box is quite impressive. Even the company's smartphones are shipped in smaller packages.
There is also thick cardboard with beautiful and high-quality printing, and a very interesting bundle is hidden under the lid.
Headphones are neatly placed on the first tier, and under them are two additional pairs of replaceable ear pads different sizes and a power supply unit (5V, 0.7A). There are also three seemingly incomprehensible plastic combs in sizes S, M and, of course, L. What are they and why are they needed at first it is not clear. Maybe these are some special stands for storing headphones on them, or maybe they are used to measure the thickness of the neck. In fact, everything is simple. I will explain it in the next section.
Design and usability
The Gear Circle can be worn in two ways. I put it on my neck, put in headphones, took it out of my ears if necessary, and, in principle, that's it. Not very reliable, but the easiest option.
In this case, it is impossible to practice any kind of sports, except perhaps chess.
Headphones continually fall out of the ear canals, and the headset slides onto your back or shoulders and can easily fall off.
The second way is to use these same headbands. First you need to choose a suitable neck girth. In my case, it was a comb under the letter M. Each of them has a special notch in the middle, where you need to insert the main body of the headset until it clicks.
Further, this whole structure is put on the neck and you can move forward. The headset will never fall to the ground, even if the head is tilted too far. The whole structure is supported by the plastic ends of the bezel. However, with active sports, listening to music still won't work. At least in my case, the headphones always fell out of my ears. The selection of suitable ear pads did not improve the situation.
With a simple walk or a relatively quiet pastime, the accessory does not cause any discomfort. Over time, you even forget about it.
Samsung has thought about another very handy feature. You don't need to take off your headset every time you stop listening to music. Headphones do not hang around the neck just like that, because at the slightest contact with each other, they are attracted and independently fixed in the form of a kind of technological necklace around the neck. No wonder the gadget is called Gear Circle (from the English "circle").
Accordingly, when the "ears" are magnetized, the music itself stops and you can start it again by pressing a special key. Again, a very convenient idea.
When a call comes in, it is enough to disconnect the speakers from each other and insert them into your ears. The answer will happen automatically. When a call comes in during playback, only one physical key is already responsible for receiving. Let's dwell a little on the latter.
Press once to pause playback or start from where you stopped. A double click on the button is followed by a transition to the next track. You can't go back. Long hold activates the search function for available Bluetooth devices within range. By the way, music is easily broadcast at a distance of 10 meters. When any obstacles in the form of walls or something similar appear in the path of a radio wave, no one promises anything.
In any position, the quality of speech transmission does not suffer and remains at a quite comfortable level for the subscriber at the other end of the line.
Next to the microphone is led indicator various events: the lack of charging, the power supply process or the shutdown of the gadget is highlighted with a red light, and a blue light is for turning on or an incoming call.
On the back there is the same multifunctional key and a small touch pad, which is responsible for the music volume. I ran my finger along it towards the ear - the volume increased, held it towards the eyes - it decreased. The sensor's sensitivity is quite good. The touchpad is marked with a special sticker, which came off during my use and was safely lost. However, there is still a sensitive area, you have to take my word for it.
Volume control takes place regardless of that level on the translator device. In other words, the smartphone has its own volume, the Samsung Gear Circle has its own.
The left darling of the headset is poorer by various elements... There is only a lever to turn the device on and off.
It's nice that the manufacturer has equipped the headset with a vibration motor function. It is located at the back of the gadget and vibrates slightly, signaling various events and notifications.
Nearby, under a rubber flap, there is a MicroUSB port for connecting a charger. By the way, the gadget as a whole is afraid of immersion in water, however, some protection from moisture is still present (P2i standard). This refers to exposure to rain, short-term exposure to water, etc.
The cable in the accessory is soft and, most likely, easily soiled. Although during my two-week operation, he did not have time to come into disrepair.
Specifications Samsung Gear Circle (SM-R130):
- Bluetooth 3.0 (profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP)
- sensors: magnetic sensor, touch pad for volume control
- codecs: apt-X, SBC, Samsung GD Codec, MicroUSB port (for charging)
- one microphone (MEMS)
- microUSB (2.0) connector for charging
- battery 150 or 180 mAh (more on that later)
- protection against corrosion and moisture (P2i)
- length 610 mm
- weight 28 g
No audio frequency specifications could be found. For some reason, the company did not present them publicly, so the sound quality will be determined from a subjective point of view.
Functionality
NFC connections were not provided here, however, even without that, pairing of devices is easy and fast via Bluetooth. Successful contact establishment will be signaled by a green LED.
By the way, the accessory can be connected simultaneously to two devices. Sparring occurs in stages for each device separately.
As I said earlier, the headset is capable of playing music in stereo from any compatible sound source (via Bluetooth), working as a regular wireless headset for conversations, and much more.
Additional functionality is opened when the Samsung Gear Manager application is installed on the smartphone. However, it is compatible only with devices of the same name and with Android 4.2.2 and at least one gigabyte random access memory.
For those who have all of the above, options such as voice notifications, SoundAlive and S Voice are available. In general, you can only feel all the delights of functionality if you have a smartphone from the Korean electronics giant.
Sound quality
I already mentioned above that Gear Circle supports the apt-X codec. I'll tell you a little more about this.
Most devices supporting the Bluetooth A2DP profile transmit the signal using the SBC codec, which, of course, is supported by our headset. However, this is yesterday, while apt-X is bright today. Music with the help of the latter is transmitted, so to speak, without loss and with more advanced content compression technologies. Everything looks great and promising, but the catch is that your audio source must also support this technology, otherwise the headset will not be able to unleash its potential. If your smartphone does not support apt-X, then the signal will be broadcast on the Gear Circle only using the SBC codec, which, of course, will slightly degrade the playback quality. In this case, one of the advantages of purchasing an accessory disappears.
And now directly about the quality. In general, it will more than satisfy the undemanding ear.
The accessory will definitely plug your standard headset from the kit into the belt, no matter whose brand it is.
A more sophisticated user is unlikely to discover something new. Personally, I was a little disappointed by the lack of deep and confident bass. High and medium frequencies are revealed well, but with low frequencies they are somehow poor.
As for the volume, it grabs her eyes. If you prefer the maximum level on Gear Circle, then most likely you need to see a doctor. 70-80 percent is sufficient for comfortable listening to audio content anytime, anywhere.
Noise isolation is not amazing. It is comparable to any headphone of this plug-in type.
At the same time, owners of smartphones or tablets from Samsung will be able to experience the sound of the accessory on themselves using proprietary sound filters, try to play around with the equalizer settings, and so on.
Battery life
On the official website, the specifications indicate the capacity of the built-in battery at 180 mAh. However, a different figure is printed on the back of the gadget - 150 mAh. It is not possible to find out what the actual capacity of the battery is.
The company claims that their gadget is capable of continuously playing music for 9 hours, talking / calling up to 11 hours and up to 300 hours of standby time.
Real operation has shown that what the manufacturer claims is quite true. When listening to music for about two hours a day, the headset will last for 3-4 days. Answering calls and receiving various notifications, of course, will reduce the result of autonomy.
Outcome
Various color variations can be found on sale. There are black, white (like ours) and blue colors.
Official samsung price Gear Circle settled at 5,990 rubles. You can try looking for cheaper options. Most likely, you will be successful.
Let's summarize the sound. The gadget is definitely not suitable for seasoned audiophiles. There are no miracles in the world, at least for such a price. Nevertheless, the sound quality here is at a very decent level, both among wired counterparts and among Bluetooth accessories. And they also take headphones with their functionality and some brand loyalty. Owners of smartphones from Samsung will be able to get additional functionality such as voice notifications and proprietary sound enhancements.
The opinion of our sound expert Nikita Grishachev:
Among the Bluetooth solutions for smartphones available on the market, Samsung Circle stands out from the competition. At least with your design.
Finally, the company has found the right path to the hearts of people skeptical of Samsung. Finished is perhaps the most apt word to describe a device. Indeed, from the standpoint of design, it is difficult to come up with any feature that could complement the gadget.
However, not everything is so rosy. Due to the successful design, the usability of the device suffered. You see, the design of the headphones themselves does not allow all users to wear them comfortably. Although they are in-ear, the size of the halves does not allow them to fit comfortably in the ear. As a result, the user will have to compromise with headphones for the sake of catchy design.
The sound quality of the headset is on par. Moreover, this is the level of a headset for a smartphone, not higher. You should not expect an incredible sound from it. Quite smooth flow, without noticeable differences at different frequencies. A distinctive feature from other solutions is the presence of a clear scene. However, this trait immediately disappears as soon as you enter a noisy place. Therefore, Samsung engineers should pay special attention to sound insulation and, possibly, change the material of the nozzles to a higher quality one with better insulating properties.
But in essence, the headset looks great and performs its functions impeccably, what else do you need?
The number of different wireless headsets on the market has increased exponentially over the past few years, but no manufacturer has been able to show anything that attracts a significant number of consumers. Each brand has its own fans, but the wireless stereo headset niche itself doesn't attract much attention. As a result, these products are constantly getting cheaper, although their quality and characteristics are improving. A typical wireless headset with good characteristics costs in Russia about 3.5-6 thousand rubles, you can find solutions in higher price segments, but there is already a markup for the name of the company, marketing delights, or very rarely for real improvements in the field of sound. The Jabra Rox Wireless is a typical representative of this class of devices.
In the spring of 2014, Samsung launched a line of its Level headphones, two models can work wirelessly, differ in a fairly wide range of settings and good soundbut the price bites. Together with Galaxy Note 4 at IFA in Berlin showed the Circle earbuds, which first appeared in the Gear series. Which in itself suggests that this is an affordable device. Let's impose on this the deplorable situation with accessories from Samsung, which are very poorly presented outside of branded retail, and hence the rather democratic price of the Circle, which makes the device interesting in terms of price / quality ratio and the characteristics that it has.
The obvious, and biggest disadvantage, is how the headphones look, how they should be worn. To begin with, there are three colors available - white, black and metallic blue.
The headphone is attached to the neck, it is a small arc-bridge, it fits perfectly on the shoulders and does not slip in almost all situations. For those who are involved in jogging, there are transparent plastic inserts that are rigidly attached to the head. The set includes three such inserts - from the smallest to the largest. Insert a headset into it and attach it to your head. The fixation is hard, even painful with prolonged use. For example, on a treadmill in the gym, the use of such pads is unnecessary, the headphones do not slip. But when running on rough terrain or when riding a mountain bike, they can come in handy. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to remove the headphones from such a mount, the main thing is to pry them off correctly and not to break the wire.
The key feature of the headphones is a magnet located at the ends of the halves, that is, they can be worn like a necklace. I was so used to it that I did not pay attention to them, they are not perceived as something difficult or uncomfortable. But the impression my appearance, I think, made an indelible - a grown man with a sort of necklace. For many, this can be the very factor that scares away from the purchase. It is not difficult to wear the headphones in the open state; in a couple of weeks they slipped off only once, but I did not notice this and found that I almost lost them.
There is a certain chic in the magnetic latch: opening the headphones, you can automatically answer the call, the delay lasts one and a half seconds, just enough to have time to insert the earphone into the left or right ear. Silicone pads in three sizes are quite comfortable. Due to the fact that the blocks are weighty, and there is also a jumper, the weight is evenly distributed. The headphones do not fly out even when jogging, although here you need to choose earbuds for your anatomy, it is worth spending five minutes experimenting, especially since the replacement is not difficult.
There is a touch pad on the right block, it allows you to adjust the volume. Swipe away from yourself - increase the volume, towards yourself - lower it. There is also an answer button, you can receive calls by pressing it. As well as hitting. The other earbud has a power button.
There is a battery in the shackle, there is also a microUSB connector for charging. The kit includes charger (5V, 0.7A), it can charge the headset in 50 minutes. Capacity lithium ion battery - 180 mAh, according to the manufacturer, it is enough for 300 hours of standby time, up to 11 hours of talk time and up to 9 hours of music playback. When used with Note 4, the headset lasted about 2.5-3 days on average (1-1.5 hours of calls daily, up to 3 hours of music in total). The results obtained are close to those stated.
Bluetooth version in the headset is 3.0, connection with 8 devices is supported, the headset can work with two devices at the same time. In this case, one of them is considered the main one, by default it is a device with Gear Manager installed, that is, a tablet or smartphone from Samsung. But the headset works great with devices not from Samsung, another thing is that you will be limited in a number additional opportunities, in particular, voice control, message alerts, redial and the like. First of all, this headset should be recommended to those who use Samsung smartphones.
The headset supports codecs such as SBC, apt-X, Samsung HD Voice, it is built on a CSR8670 chip with noise reduction support. At the same time, the MEMS microphone, and it is here alone. How the ambient noise suppression system can work with one microphone is absolutely incomprehensible to me, since usually one of the microphones measures the surrounding sounds and subtracts them from the main signal, clearing the voice. In this headset, we were able to achieve the same with one microphone, it was tested during numerous conversations. Of the minuses of the headset during a conversation, I will only note that in elevators and corridors, the microphone catches an echo and the interlocutor hears it.
Let me remind you that the CSR8670 chip from the company of the same name belongs to the latest generation, it is characterized by low power consumption, as well as support for apt-X HiFi, which is unusual and distinguishes this device from previous generations of similar headphones. In fact, this is a heavily modified sound chip that has a well-developed sound, you can hear it when you turn it on for the first time, and distinguishes the headset from competitors. Another point to thank CSR8670 for is the maximum playback volume, which is pretty good, so I usually set the volume to 85 percent, I still have some headroom. In the metro, listening to headphones with such a loudness is comfortable, they have good sound insulation, although I cannot call it complete - but this is not needed, in my opinion, it personally scares me, since you cannot hear cars and surrounding sounds on the street.
When you first connect headphones to a Samsung smartphone or tablet, you are prompted to install Gear Manager, it is needed so that you can control equalizers, sound settings, which are quite rich here and greatly affect the sound quality of the headphones. With these settings, Circle reminded me of the Level ruler, which also offered similar settings.
In the program, you can see the battery level, as well as set up voice notifications or turn them off altogether. Since Samsung uses their own TTS engine, I recommend turning it off altogether. The girl who reports in a half-dead voice that a message from Gmail, WhatsApp, Facebook or something else has arrived quickly gets boring. You can leave notifications only from selected applications, there is complete freedom of choice.
Traditionally, you can turn on a warning about excessive sound volume, this can be useful for children. The rest of the settings are typical and do not pamper with something special, which, however, is not necessary.
The Gear Manager app requires a phone with 1 GB of RAM (!), Android 4.4.2 or higher. Keep this in mind if you want to purchase a headset and get all the features from it.
The headset is protected from moisture and rain by a special p2i coating, but you definitely shouldn't drown it - it will sink.
Despite the absurd appearance, which can only be my perception of this product, technically, and most importantly, in terms of sound quality, the headset is definitely a success. Try to listen to it in the store to form your opinion, compare with analogues. But I think that you will be satisfied with both the volume and the clarity of the sound. Considering the operating time, a rather nice package of delivery, the cost of 3,500-4,000 rubles does not look too high, it is quite adequate. This is surprising, especially considering that Samsung has gotten into the habit of charging a markup in recent years, this is clearly not the case here. You can certainly find cheaper headsets from previous seasons or chinese manufacturers, but their capabilities and / or quality will not stand comparison with Gear Circle. The headset turned out to be successful, the question is only in design, but here everyone decides for himself.
Samsung Galaxy Gear Circle Hands Free, a unique headset designed especially for you!
With the Samsung Gear Circle around your neck, you can make and receive calls, send text messages and listen to all your favorite music, all without having to take out your smartphone every time.
Galaxy Gear Circle brings Headphones into a new space of sophistication, fashion and functionality, and work with all the latest Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, as well as any other Bluetooth®-enabled device.
Your tunes are nearby and ready to listen to with the wearable Samsung Gear Circle.
The unique design of the Circle mechanism keeps your music and your calls comfortably around your neck. With touch volume control to enjoy high quality sound wirelessly. Plus, use the Mobile App Transfer Manager for custom audio adjustments and device control!
Elegant, comfortable to wear around-the-neck design.
Intuitive music and call features, light weight, sweat-resistant design and exceptional battery life make the Gear Circle ideal for long distance runners or outdoor music lovers, so grab this set today!
HD Audio via Bluetooth
Using the advanced APT-X audio codec, the Samsung S160 Bluetooth Headset allows you to stream the highest quality stereo audio over a Bluetooth connection in real time *
Easy Pairing by Multipoint Technology
Pairing with any bluetooth devices automatically, without any passcodes. Just turn on the Bluetooth function on your smartphone and then select Circle and you are connected, no passcode. And with built-in Multipoint Technology, you can pair your headset with two different devices at the same time for wireless integration between devices.
Gear Manager Mobile App
Samsung Galaxy Gear Circle is compatible with Mobile App Manager. The app allows you to control the connection of your headphones, change control, notification and access settings, and customize the sound output using the built-in equalizer in SoundAlive.
Features:
Elegant, wearable design around the neck
Moisture and sweat-resistant design
Touch volume controls
Support for Samsung Gear App Manager (Search Gear Manager on the Galaxy in Apps Store)
APTX high quality bluetooth sound with HD audio
Improved battery life of up to 9 hours of music listening, 11 hours of talk time, and 300 hours of standby time **
Built-in answer / call button
Multipoint technology allows the user to pair with multiple devices
S Voice support
Compatible with all Bluetooth® devices
Specifications:
CHIPSET
CSR 8670: Supports SoundAlive ™, NR, EC
SENSOR-SENSOR
Magnetic Sensor (Smart Magnetic Control Clasp)
Touch sensor (Volume Control)
KEYS
Volume Control Touch Panel, Play / Talk Key
Switch
BATTERY
180mAh
* Features and specifications are subject to change without notice.
Samsung Galaxy Gear Circle
Take calls, control your phone with voice commands, and more.
And although most consumers do not associate the Samsung brand with accessories from the world of sound, the company also has some portfolio and interesting devices in this segment. For example, the Gear Circle wireless headset, which will be discussed in the review.
What is it?
Samsung Gear Circle is a Bluetooth headset with apt-x support, thoughtful management and dependence on devices from this company (the word Gear in the name hints at the need to use the corresponding application), in particular smartphones or Gear S smart watches with which the model was presented. And although Samsung is not famous for low prices for its devices, Gear Circle, among other things, is also interesting for its cost, which in Ukraine does not exceed $ 80.
How she looks like?
Family portrait: Samsung Gear Circle headset and Galaxy A7 smartphone
Samsung Gear Circle is a wireless headset with a back-mount design and earplugs with good noise isolation. In terms of form factor, the model is closest to devices such as Plantronics Backbeat Fit and LG Tone Infinim, albeit with its own case features. So, on the neck, the Gear Circle is held tightly. Especially if you use the transparent plastic bow that comes with the kit. They come in three sizes in total, we had M, which was perfect for me. In the cold season, when there is a lot of clothes, a headset with a bow should be worn under all scarves and hairstyles, otherwise the headphones will fall out.
The exact weight of the model is not indicated in the specifications. But its body consists of three rather weighty (by the standards of a headset) elements: two headphones and a battery located in the occipital region. The use of a bridle, which is held on the neck, neutralizes excess weight. The wire that connects the headset together looks secure. Gear Circle is p2i protected against moisture in rain or other damp conditions.
There are only three controls on the headset body: a slider that launches pairing mode, an on / off / call / call S Voice button, playback controls, and a touchpad for volume control (on the right earpiece). I liked that there is a separate control for starting pairing mode. Usually on all headsets this function is combined with the on / off key. A touchpad for volume control is a good idea too. But there is a nuance - it is unrealistic to use it with gloves. Through subtle sports contact occurs, but not in warm winter ones. You have to adjust the volume on your smartphone if the need arises.
And although the Samsung Gear Circle sits perfectly on the neck, due to the large weight and size of the “ears” themselves in the user's ears, it does not always hold perfectly. There are no problems when walking, especially if you choose the right attachments. Alas, I cannot show them three pieces in a box, since the gadget was brought to us without a complete set. Apparently, we had some averages. They were a bit large for my ears, although when walking it is again almost invisible. On a run, especially in winter on the ears, the model does not hold so reliably. Headphones often fall out due to shaking and their own weight. Due to their size, the cap always tends upward, and controlling the sound using the touch panel with a gloved hand is inconvenient. But headsets for sports are a separate topic altogether. During physical activity, almost all headphones fall out of the ears. and those with the occipital attachment annoy with a knock on the neck. The only exception in my practice was the Plantronics Backbeat Fit headset. Samsung Gear Circle sits in your ears when running no better and no worse than average, wireless or wired, but inferior to specialized ones.
The size of the attachments, of course, plays an important role in how securely the model is held in the ears.
Samsung Gear Circle is called a “circle” for a reason. If you connect the headphones (with a built-in magnet), then the whole structure will really turn into almost a circle. Playback control or call answering occurs automatically - just connect or disconnect the magnets. If we add to this the fact that in standby mode the Gear Circle battery keeps a long time, much longer than the same Plantronics Backbeat Fit, then you get perfect solution for those who talk a lot on the phone, do not like to often charge gadgets and fool around with their connection. As planned by Samsung, the gadget in an idle state around the neck should look like a decoration. How harmonious it will be in this role depends on your clothing style and color scheme. This is how it looks
Access headset in black, blue and white.
The ergonomics of the Samsung Gear Circle case seemed to me successful for people with an active social life, and those who like to have music from a mobile device everywhere. The only contraindication for Gear Circle is using it during active sports activities - there are headsets that stay in your ears much better.
What's so special about management?
Firstly, this is turning on and off music or automatically answering a call when the headphones are disconnected. I cannot directly convey in words how convenient it is. You have to try it once in order to expect similar behavior from all headsets in the world in the future. Secondly, I repeat that I liked the fact that the device search function is placed on a separate key. Thirdly, the volume control is elegantly implemented - no need to look for any buttons. Only in winter it turns out uncomfortable.
In fact, Gear Circle does not need a Samsung smartphone to work as a headset - it connects to anyone. And it supports simultaneous work with two gadgets and pairing - with eight. But in order to connect and configure notifications, as well as organize voice control of a smartphone via S Voice, you need Gear Manager. You can download the application from Galaxy Apps. It requires Android at least 4.2.2 and at least 1 GB of RAM to work. If you don't want to download from the Samsung store, you can follow the link apps.samsung.com/gear. Oddly enough, on samsung tablet (Galaxy Tab Active) the program refused to be installed. There were no problems with the smartphone (Galaxy A7).
On the main screen in Gear Manager, you can see the headset's charge status - useful, although it's a shame that this information is not displayed in the notification panel. There you can also configure the programs from which you want to receive notification in the headphones. Notifications can be sounded in two forms - simple and detailed. At first, I set the verbose mode for messages, but then practice showed that for any programs a simple one is enough. In simple, only the source of the event in the smartphone (Gmail, Skype, SMS, etc.) is voiced. In detail - the content of the message. After a woman robot meticulously read me two notices from the bank, I almost lost my mind and decided that I only needed to know the source. I thought that for the full text I would have to look into my smartphone, and from the headset I would only learn about the sender. But no, everything is much more complicated. While driving a car or bicycle somewhere, especially if you are in the habit of using your smartphone with S Voice, the detailed format will be useful. You can connect notifications to absolutely all programs installed on your smartphone.
Right there, in Gear Manager, you can adjust the equalizer. That is, his worth adjust, because the result of this adjustment will affect the result of the music data of the headset.
And also use samsung smartphone together with Gear Circle allows you to control it with your voice. To be honest, I don't really like all these smart functions in gadgets. S Voice knows commands in Russian, but all these nuances of pronunciation (both mine and the electronic “voice” of the smartphone) annoy me a lot. The second point - to start S Voice, you need to press the only one for about 1 second. physical button on the headset. If underexposed, the music will turn on or off. Overexposure will turn off the headset. It takes skill. I was able to get used to the pace of the Gear Circle in ten minutes, but I still didn't get into the habit of controlling my smartphone with my voice. If you have one, then having such an opportunity in Gear Circle will be a definite plus for you.
How long does it work?
Samsung Gear Circle is equipped with a 180 mAh battery. The specifications claim 300 hours in standby mode, 11 in talk mode and 9 in music playback mode. I was pleased with the autonomy of the gadget. It would be difficult to check the veracity of the assessment of standby and talk time, but the Gear Circle fulfills 9 hours of music playback at medium volume. In the conditions of the measurement, it even turned out to be a little more, for 10-15 minutes, although during the day I interrupted the music for a conversation a couple of times. In use mode, when the Gear Circle is connected to a smartphone, but I listen to music for an average of an hour and a half a day, the gadget lasted for three days. The result is much better than the Planctronics sports headset.
And with the sound, how are things?
Samsung Gear Circle supports Bluetooth audio transmission (version 3.0, by the way) without loss of quality (apt-X and Samsung HD). Therefore, it is suitable even for those users who previously gave up comfort. wireless technologies in favor of sound.
Gear Circle is distinguished by good noise isolation - the listener does not bother the office, the office does not bother the listener. If you gape on the road, you may not notice the approaching car, and on the subway train you will be able to listen to music rather than the rumbling of wheels. Somewhere in the background, the noise of the subway will still be heard, and the hum of the road will be heard a little while walking along a busy highway, but at an unobtrusive level. The Gear Circle has a decent volume margin, I like listening to music loudly, and every time I had to reconnect the gadget, I turned down the sound a little. But Technoslav Bergamot, having connected the headset to his Macbook, complained that it didn’t sound as loud as he would like. To get a loud sound from the Gear Circle, you first need to agree in the app on which possible problems hearing, you are solely responsible (as shown in the screenshots above). This practice is found in many modern Android smartphones. Then you can do it loudly.
By the standards of a wireless headset samsung sound The Gear Circle is great, voluminous and clean, with no “metallic” flavor in the highs when plugged into a decent source. Even though the device supports sound transmission standards without quality loss. But in comparison with LG Tone Infinim to me (and by the way, Technoslav Bergamot, who also compared both devices), it seemed less expressive. However, the comparison can only be conditionally called objective - different sources, different music. This could all affect perception. But the sports Plancronic Backbeat Fit, the Samsung headset definitely wins.
In the dry residue
The feasibility of buying a Samsung Gear Circle depends on whether you have a Samsung mobile device (qualifying) and what kind of lifestyle you lead, respectively, for what purposes you will use the headset. If you can't imagine your life without running, then Gear Circle is not the optimal choice. If you do not consider yourself to be inveterate athletes, yogis and wizards, but you need the most comfortable headset with good autonomy and high-quality sound, and you have a Samsung smartphone, then you definitely need to look at Gear Circle. There is simply no better control and connectivity on the market. If, in addition, your lifestyle involves voice communication with mobile device Through S Voice, Circle will only make your life more convenient. If there is no Samsung gadget on the farm, then by and large there is no point in Circle. You can get a decent headset from the LG Tone line with more outstanding sound (Infinim) or at a better price (Tone + 1st generation).
5 reasons to buy Samsung Gear Circle:
- better implementation of control in headsets;
- high-quality sound;
- convenient neck mount, with which it is difficult to lose the gadget when not in use;
- large volume reserve;
- possibility of voice control of a smartphone (Samsung) from a headset.
2 reasons not to buy the Samsung Gear Circle:
- purchase is meaningless without a Samsung smartphone;
- you need a headset that fits perfectly on your ears while exercising.
