See Samsung’s smart, $100 Gear Circle Bluetooth headphones in action

By Andy Boxall Published December 16, 2014

Back in August, we found mention of a new Samsung Gear product hidden in the Gear S press release. The Gear Circle is not another smartwatch, but a new type of crossover device, this time combining Bluetooth earpiece-style functionality with a set of sports earbuds. Then, because Samsung’s never happy with a product until it spans several genres, it throws in a hint of designer-style smart jewelry too. Now the smart and sporty Gear Circle Bluetooth headphones are available to buy in the U.S.

Updated on 12-16-2014 by Andy Boxall: Added further availability and pricing information, plus a video showing the Gear Circle in action.

Recommended Videos

The Gear Circle Gear Circle comes in black and blue and is currently available at a handful of retail stores, networks, and through Samsung.com. An exclusive white version of the Gear Circle is available at Best Buy for $100, just in case you don’t fancy the other color options. The earbuds cost $100 from Samsung’s website and through AT&T, while T-Mobile’s online store has them up for $130.

The Gear Circle uses a Bluetooth 3.0 connection to link up with your smartphone, and supports all the usual Bluetooth profiles, plus apt-X for improved sound quality, provided the other device has it too. Once it’s connected to your phone, you can listen to streamed music, plus the Gear Circle can be used to make and receive calls, and it’ll listen out for voice control commands too.

Inside is a 180mAh battery, which Samsung says will keep playing music for nine hours, or sit in standby for 300 hours. Total talk time is somewhere around 11 hours. A micro USB port is used for charging, and we’re willing to bet Samsung will be happy to sell Gear Circle owners one of its new multi-cord USB cables to charge all your gadgets from a single power outlet too.

If you’re wondering where the smart jewelry aspect comes in, it’s when you want to store the Gear Circle. Instead of taking it off and bundling it up in a bag, it has a magnetic clasp that turns it into a futuristic necklace, hence the Gear Circle name. It sounds convenient, but we remain unconvinced by its style until we’ve seen it round a few necks in real life.

Previous Updates:

Updated on 11-05-2014 by Malarie Gokey: Added availability and pricing info for the Gear Circle in the U.S.

Article originally published 8-28-2014.

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

Yes, Reddit is down. Here’s everything you need to know

The Reddit app icon on an iOS Home screen.

Bad news, fellow Redditors. If you're trying to browse your favorite subreddit right now, you're probably unable to. Why? Because Reddit appears to be down due to technical difficulties.

What's going on with the outage? Do we know when it'll be back up? Here's a recap of everything we know.
Why is Reddit down?
On the Reddit status website, the company indicates an "unresolved incident" taking place on November 20. The company confirms "degraded performance for reddit.com," which appears to be accurate.

Mobile

I traveled 8,000 miles to get an Android phone unlike any I’ve used before

Someone holding the Lava Agni 3 smartphone.

The U.S. smartphone market is a well-known entity in 2024. Apple dominates the flagship space with the iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy S handsets are a reliable force every year, and Google's Pixel phones continue improving. But what about budget phones? There are some decent choices from Google, Motorola, and OnePlus, but your options are limited.

It's a trusty, if somewhat unexciting, swath of smartphones, especially when you get a glimpse at what's happening in other parts of the world. On a recent trip to India with MediaTek to see the company's presence in the Indian tech market firsthand, I was given the Lava Agni 3 — a new smartphone release from the India-based company Lava.

Mobile

The Nubia Z70 Ultra just gave the Galaxy S25 Ultra some tough competition

A render of the Nubia Z70 Ultra.

With all eyes on Samsung and the upcoming Galaxy S25 release, it's easy to forget about other players on the field. And the Nubia Z70 Ultra could be the underdog competitor no one considered. This powerful phone was just announced in China and will see a global launch on November 26 for roughly $635.

This phone has a lot going for it, but the absolute first thing that catches the eye is the breathtakingly gorgeous design. I'm a fan of Post-Impressionist art, and I have to say that the Starry Night pattern looks better than any case could dream of, but this handset is no slouch in the specs department either. It comes with the same display as the RedMagic 10 Pro and has a screen-to-body ratio of more than 95%. The Nubia Z70 Ultra uses a 16MP underdisplay camera rather than a pinhole camera, giving the screen a more complete look.