# Samsung unveils Gear smartwatches



## editor (Sep 1, 2015)

They look really nice - and I like the idea of the rotating bezel - but who the fuck wants a watch running Tisen OS?
















Gear S2: 


> 1.2″ Circular Super AMOLED
> 360×360 resolution with 302ppi
> Dual core 1.0 GHz processor
> 4GB storage
> ...



http://www.androidguys.com/2015/08/31/samsung-officially-unveils-the-gear-s2-and-gear-s2-classic/


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## Mojofilter (Sep 2, 2015)

The battery looks a bit small.

Not too bothered about Tizen - I still maintain that 99% of what I want from a smartwatch is the time, notifications & music control.
If one came out that got even close to Fitbit for fitness tracking then maybe that - but they seem miles off at the moment.


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## Bernie Gunther (Sep 2, 2015)

I found notifications really annoying on my Suunto and turned them off.

Agree about smartwatch vendors seeming clueless about fitness stuff, although I could imagine Apple doing something interesting (and probably also annoyingly invasive) with the data using IBM Watson, if they ever produce a watch that you might wear to run.


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## editor (Sep 4, 2015)

So it looks like it might actually be rather good. The rotating bezel seems far more intuitive than Apple's fiddly crown and I like the size of the thing. 








> *Samsung’s Gear S2 can make me a believer in smartwatches*
> Samsung’s Gear S2 is unlike any other smartwatch pretender I’ve yet seen. It is the size and weight of a regular watch. It also works like a watch by showing the time all the time. That’s the baseline I expect every smartwatch to be starting from, but none had fully reached it until today. Android Wear and Pebble watches have always-on screens, but they’re all in need of either a weight loss plan or a plastic surgeon appointment. Apple’s Watch is showing up on people’s wrists everywhere, but its iconic appearance is that of a big, obsidian, information-less block on the wrist. More jewelry and mobile computer than a watch.




http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/4/9260263/samsung-gear-s2-smart-watch-ifa-2015


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## editor (Sep 4, 2015)

Could Samsung have actually got something right here? 



> I spent a good 45 minutes with the Samsung Gear S2 ahead of Thursday's event, and I came away more impressed than I've ever been by _any_ smartwatch, and I'm one of the weirdos that's owned a few (Pebble, Pebble Steel, Samsung Gear Live, Moto 360, and Apple Watch).





> But I'd never had that thought about a Samsung device before. I'd long regarded them with alternating waves of scorn and derision, mocking their penchant for badly copying designs of others, falling flat on their faces when trying their own design language. I'd laughed at their build quality, their software quality, and their marketing. Samsung was the company I loved to hate.


I want a Samsung Gear S2 and I'm not sure how I feel about that


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## Mojofilter (Sep 5, 2015)

I 100% agree with the bit about showing the time all of the time bit, it's ridiculous having to do an overly pronounced 'moving your arm into time checking position' movement or awkwardly pressing a button (especially if you have something in your hand) to wake the screen.
It's borderline as much effort as just pulling your phone out of your pocket.

I hadn't thought about it before I tried the Moto 360 but with my Sony Smartwatch 3 I don't raise my arm to check the time, I move my head to look down and slightly twist my wrist.


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## editor (Sep 8, 2015)

These watches are getting almost universally rave reviews.



> The more I swiped, rotated, and touched my way through the Gear S2, the happier I became. Soon, elation set in — I still haven’t come down from the high.
> 
> Simply put: the Gear S2 is better than the Apple Watch.
> 
> ...


The rotating bezel is very, very good. Real innovation.


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## editor (Dec 13, 2016)

Here's a review of the Gear S3. I'm still loving the design


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## Ponyutd (Dec 21, 2016)

1949 Steinback camera. Love it.


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## editor (Apr 18, 2018)

Of all the watches I've ever worn, I've had most complements by far about the Gear, with everyone thinking it's a 'real' watch. This is the ambient mode where it looks like a glowing traditional watch (the hands are luminous green in my version).



And this is handy: Samsung Gear S3 owners will soon be able to unlock their Windows PC with the watch | TechRadar


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## Virtual Blue (Apr 19, 2018)

editor said:


> Of all the watches I've ever worn, I've had most complements by far about the Gear, with everyone thinking it's a 'real' watch. This is the ambient mode where it looks like a glowing traditional watch (the hands are luminous green in my version).
> 
> View attachment 133096
> 
> And this is handy: Samsung Gear S3 owners will soon be able to unlock their Windows PC with the watch | TechRadar



but its massive.


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## editor (Apr 19, 2018)

Virtual Blue said:


> but its massive.


It's really not 'massive' at all. Granted it's not the smallest watch I've ever owned but 46mm isn't that big. It's certainly of a size that makes people think it's a 'normal' watch.


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## Virtual Blue (Apr 20, 2018)

editor said:


> It's really not 'massive' at all. Granted it's not the smallest watch I've ever owned but 46mm isn't that big. It's certainly of a size that makes people think it's a 'normal' watch.



46mm is massive but maybe you have bigger wrists. 
Anything of 42mm looks silly on me.

Wish they had a smaller version, say 38-42mm as my partner originally wanted one (her wrists are tiny).


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## editor (Apr 20, 2018)

Virtual Blue said:


> 46mm is massive but maybe you have bigger wrists.
> Anything of 42mm looks silly on me.
> 
> Wish they had a smaller version, say 38-42mm as my partner originally wanted one (her wrists are tiny).


The Gear Sport is 42.9mm
Specifications | Samsung Gear Sport – The Official Samsung Galaxy Site

Oh and I think the Gear S2 is smaller.


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## Crispy (Apr 20, 2018)

These things will improve a great deal (in terms of efficiency and therefore size) when (if?) the chip inside them gets an upgrade. All Android Wear smartwatches are stuck with a 2 year old chip based on 5 year old technology.

Android Wear is getting killed, and it’s all Qualcomm’s fault


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