Samsung Launches the Gear Circle in the U.S.
by Brandon Chester on November 5, 2014 1:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Wearables
- Samsung
- Smartphones
Samsung has announced the availability of their Gear Circle Bluetooth headphones in the United States. The Gear Circle is a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that are worn around the neck and can gently vibrate when a notification arrives. When not in use, they can be attached together and worn as a necklace of sorts. It also supports voice notifications and voice commands through Samsung's S Voice software. Samsung promises up to nine hours of music playback and up to eleven hours of talk time.
There are currently no details on pricing, but Samsung has stated that they are now available in black and blue at T-Mobile stores, and will be available at AT&T stores, Samsung.com, and Amazon.com later this month. A special white color will also be available through Best Buy.
Source: Samsung Mobile Press
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phoenix_rizzen - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
Would be nice if more companies would concentrate on making good Bluetooth "dongles" (for lack of a better word) that incorporate the battery, the radios, making a very small display, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Stop incorporating the headphones into the BT device!Murloc - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
nobody wants that though.If you wear your headphones, you have a cable that is so long that you might just as well put it into your phone jack.
I mean, who wants to walk around with earphones and a bluetooth dongle brick flying around under your shirt?
The purpose of these is to be comfortable and allow answering to lots of calls without getting uncomfortable.
JeffFlanagan - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
>The purpose of these is to be comfortable and allow answering to lots of calls without>getting uncomfortable.
Are you sure of that? It's extremely rare for me to make or receive a call with my "phone" since they actually do much more than that now. In my use-case, any bluetooth headphone is going to be used for music and podcasts 99% of the time, and to take calls 1% of the time. Splitting the tiny dongle from the headphones allows me to use different headphones in different situations, and to use headphones that sound a lot better than most BT one's. It also clips on, rather than flying around as you mistakenly suggest. I have a little dongle from Sony that's served me for many years and outlived a lot of headphones.
rUmX - Thursday, November 6, 2014 - link
Are you talking about the mw600? I have one and its amazing.garretelder - Thursday, December 4, 2014 - link
Why not get real headphones instead? Aim for the top ones and you'll be so much better off. http://www.topreport.org/headphones/phoenix_rizzen - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
Yes, but now you have to find a device that's:a) comfortable to wear in/on your ears,
b) has good sound quality in the speakers,
c) has solid BT radio,
d) has solid/good BT audio support, codecs, etc
e) has a battery that lasts more than 5 hours
And then you have two separate set of headphones, wired and wireless, to keep track of. Not to mention you have to carry both sets with you in case the battery in the BT one dies.
Alternatively, you can find a good set of headphones that are comfortable and sound good that will work with any device that supports a 3.5 mm headphone jack (you don't need to find ones with 20' cords, either). And then pick up a BT dongle for when you want to be wireless. If the battery dies, you just move the headphone jack to your device.
Plus, the BT dongles usually include a mic, so you now have a hands-free setup for actually using your phone, whereas most BT headphones like this are audio-out only.
All the BT dongles I've had in the past have included clips to attach to your shirt, coat, collar, whatever. There's nothing "dangling" other than your headphone cable. As opposed to this where you are hanging the weight of the battery off your ears (which tends to make then uncomfortable for long uses).
I have headphones that I really like. I'd like to use them with my phone, my computer, my laptop, my HTPC, etc over BT. Why would I want to buy a separate set of headphones for that?
ZeDestructor - Thursday, November 6, 2014 - link
What I want a nice little remote I can clip while also having my normal headphones. I don't mind cables, bit I'd like to be able to have a mic somewhere on my lapel/collar rather than look like an idiot and hold my phone up to my mouth like a walkie-talkie...edzieba - Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - link
There are already a bunch of those. Sony alone has been making them for years, with multiple iterations and multiple lines (from a barebones screenless version with just buttons and a headphone jack, to one that has it's own mic and speaker to act as a self-contained mini-handset).phoenix_rizzen - Thursday, November 6, 2014 - link
Yes, I know. I've used them in the past. It would be nice if more companies made similar things, instead of all these all-in-one units that crop up everyday.ZeDestructor - Thursday, November 6, 2014 - link
http://www.sonymobile.com/au/products/accessories/...Enjoy :)