 We all know what Apple's AirPods are, and if you haven't tried them yourself, you've at least seen a lot of people walking around wearing them. In fact, you might think they're the only completely wire-free earbuds out there, but over the past couple years, other companies have been getting in the game too. Like Bose, which is obviously a leader in high-end audio gear. And Samsung, which makes really, really nice phones. Which is why you should buy their headphones. If you have something hanging out of your ear. These are the Samsung Gear IconX Wireless Headphones. The second generation of IconX's, right? Because the first generation had crummy battery life. As I was going to say, these cost $160. These are the Bose SoundSport Free. They cost $200, so they're a little bit more expensive, but sometimes you have to pay for good sound quality. Sure. Here's the thing about buying headphones these days. It used to be that all you had to think about when you were buying a new pair of headphones was how good they sounded and how well they fit. Now, there are all kinds of options. You have to look at whether they're in-ear or around the ear, whether they're wired or wireless, or totally and completely wire free, and whether they work with voice assistance, and what else am I forgetting? Your budget. Oh, right. And price. I still think that true audio snobs are going to respect these more. A lot more. Mmm, no. Considering all I know about these, I think these are the better pair. Let's talk about fit first. Now, this is going to be a subjective thing, but personally, the IconX's fit my ears really well. I'm impressed with how comfortable they are. I mean, this fit my ears really well, too. It just...okay, just kidding. The problem I have with these is that they're huge, and I've tried all the tips that come in the box, and I just can't get a great fit. That's too bad. I was able to go running with these no problem. The right bud does fit my ear a little bit better than the left, but hey, no two ears are the same. I mean, I'm sure these fit some people well, and they're really light despite their size. Uh, yeah, I'm going to call this a win for the IconX's. But let's talk about sound quality. Once you can get these things to stay in your ears, music sounds nice and balanced. It's not too bassy, it's not too tinny, and there's a nice depth to it. I mean, I'd even go as far as saying that Bose has set a new bar for what truly wire-free audio should sound like. The sound on these is pretty good, too. I mean, if slightly over-processed, and I guess if I'm being honest, phone calls can sound a little bit hollow. But one thing that I have with these that you don't is the ability to really jam them in my ears when I want more isolated audio, as well as an ambient sound mode when I want to let in more noise. That's true, the Bose do have more of an open-air design, but I'd still say that these are the clear winners on sound. Another thing to consider with truly wireless earbuds is how you interact with them, since you no longer have a wire with a little remote on it. And I think that for both of these headphones, there are some downsides to that. I think the IconX's are slightly easier to control, not surprisingly, although there is a bit of a learning curve because there are a bunch of different ways that you can swipe and tap through them to control your music and phone calls and everything else. She hung up on me twice while she was wearing those. I was just trying to adjust my left earbud, but I thought they fit so well. At least they're not unnecessarily difficult to control. That's true, the Bose SoundSport Free have these tiny buttons at the top here that require kind of a firm press to change anything, but hey, at least I never accidentally hung up on someone or skipped a song track when I didn't mean to. I think we're even on this one. And then there's battery life. With the Bose SoundSport Free, you should be able to get up to five hours of playback time per charge. Same with these, except my charging case is nicer because it's smaller, because mine are smaller. Okay, well, I think my Bluetooth connection is better. These almost never drop out. Now, if you're still on the fence, there are other features to think about too, like the fact that these have four gigabytes of onboard storage so you can play music locally and not have to stream it. And these auto-track your runs for you too, which you can look at afterwards in the Samsung Health app. Oh, apps. Why do Bluetooth headphones need so many apps? You have a Bose app. Yeah, but with yours, it's like download the Samsung Gear Manager app and then download the Samsung Health app. It is apps. You don't have to download any apps. They'll pair with your phone just like any Bluetooth headphones. They're just more features and controls in the apps if you want them. Also, these work with voice assistants. Okay, so do these. That's not really a standout feature anymore. Look, if you want the best sound quality you can get in a pair of wire-free earbuds, then you can't go wrong with the Bose SoundSport Free if you can afford them and if you...if they happen to fit your ears, which they don't fit mine, and if you don't think they look ridiculous. That's a lot of ips. I still think overall that the Samsung Gear IconX are the better choice. They're smaller, they're more comfortable, they're less expensive, they have good battery life, and they have pretty good sound quality. I win. I'm really intrigued by how good this smells.