Best for Android (but really just Samsung devices)

The Samsung Gear IconX headphones are comfortable, but the touch controls are wonky. Photo: Kyle Fitzgerald

Pros:

• The Samsung Gear IconX offer decent sound, probably on a par with that of $70 corded in-ear headphones, although treble spikes give consonants and strings an icy edge.
• The fit is mostly comfortable and secure for most ear types.
• Touch-sensitive volume, track, and voice-command controls mean you don't have to press the earbud uncomfortably into your ear to use controls.
• You can upload music to the IconX headphones themselves, so you can listen without bringing along your music player or phone.
• Sweat-resistant design.

Cons:

• The touch controls are easy to bump and activate accidentally when adjusting the IconX earbuds in your ears.
• When connecting to a device, you can accidentally trigger the songs uploaded to the earbuds themselves, which can get really annoying.
• All of the fitness features work only on Samsung devices.
• In our testing, the heart-rate monitors were hit-or-miss in accuracy.
• The range is very short; we could get only one room away from our source device before signal drop began to occur.
• You can't power these headphones off without putting them in their case.
• The fit can get fatiguing after a few hours.

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