  Features and applications of quasi-spherical settling accretion onto rotating
magnetized neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries are discussed. The
settling accretion occurs in wind-fed HMXBs when the plasma cooling time is
longer than the free-fall time from the gravitational capture radius, which can
take place in low-luminosity HMXBs with $L_x\lesssim 4\times 10^{36}$ erg/s. We
briefly review the implications of the settling accretion, focusing on the SFXT
phenomenon, which can be related to instability of the quasi-spherical
convective shell above the neutron star magnetosphere due to magnetic
reconnection from fast temporarily magnetized winds from OB-supergiant. If a
young neutron star in a wind-fed HMXB is rapidly rotating, the propeller regime
in a quasi-spherical hot shell occurs. We show that X-ray spectral and temporal
properties of enigmatic $\gamma$ Cas Be-stars are consistent with failed
settling accretion regime onto a propelling neutron star. The subsequent
evolutionary stage of $\gamma$ Cas and its analogs should be the X Per-type
binaries comprising low-luminosity slowly rotating X-ray pulsars.
