Samsung Gear S2 smart watch a rival to Apple Watch
Some hands-on time with the exciting Gear S2 smart watch reveals some killer features.
Is Samsung’s Gear S2 smart watch an Apple Watch killer? Is it as good? I spent hands-on time with the exciting Gear S2 here in Berlin and it definitely does come with killer features.
One is an ability to rotate the watch face bezel to access menus. Apple Watch comes with a crown that you rotate to make menu selections and other choices. Samsung is offering much the same functionality when you grab the watchface and quickly rotate it around.
It works surprisingly well and provides a watch navigation system similar to Apple Watch. The Gear S2 additionally has back and home buttons to aid watch navigation.
Accessing apps and other screens on the Gear S2 is therefore really easy. A long hard press of the watch face lets you choose from alternative watch face designs and you can also tailor a watch face to show different information.
The main navigation involves either rotating the watch face bezel or swiping it to the left from the watch face. Swiping leftward brings up a four option menu for calling or contacting contacts, apps, settings and S Voice for dictation.
So you are never more than a couple of clicks away from main watch functionality. Swiping further leftward or rotating the dial displays screens of information similar to what you might set up with Apple Watch glances.
You can configure what information is shown here. In my preconfigured review sample, the options going leftward were step and fitness, weather, heartbeat rate, fitness information, calendar and events, and how much water and coffee you had consumed that day. You can add more screens.
The watch has 4GB of internal storage and Samsung claims a battery life of 2 to 3 days.
Samsung again has snubbed Google’s Android Wear operating system in favour of its homegrown Tizen OS, and this year, the watch is proudly round and sized like a traditional Swiss watch.
The result of opting for Tizen is a vastly improved user interface and menu system compared to Google Android Wear watches in the market. The downside is there are only about 100 apps that are Tizen compatible.
I have a theory about smartwatch apps that goes beyond sheer numbers. After long stints wearing smart watches by Pebble, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Huawei and Apple. I found I didn’t want to load lots of them onto the watch.
The question for me was more: does this watch have the apps I really love and need on a watch? For example, I am a big fan of Sydney public transport app TripView which I use for nutting out which trains to catch. So I would miss it not being on the Gear S2 because I am used to it on other smartwatches.
It’s really whether you will miss your favourite apps if they are not available on Samsung Tizen. Samsung however is on the case. It has launched a software development kit (SDK) to make it easy for app developers to modify their code to work with Tizen. If the watch is successful, many developers might come aboard and your favourite apps might be available on Tizen. But probably not yet.
That aside, there’s an awful lot to like about the Gear S2, which comes in two equally sized but different versions: a 3G version with a smooth bezel supports Samsung’s bespoke watch straps and a 300 milliampere battery that recharges using Samsung’s watch cradle.
A variant of this version has an e-SIM card which lets the watch connect directly to a cellular network. You can make calls without needing your smartphone nearby. It supports 3G, Near Field Communication for contactless payments, Bluetooth and Wi-fi.
The Gear S2 classic version has a more serrated bezel, uses regular watchbands, has a smaller, 250mAh battery and can be charged wirelessly with Samsung’s fast charging plate as well as the watch cradle. It works more traditionally by pairing with a smartphone by Bluetooth. There is no Wi-Fi or cellular options.
Samsung Australia says the Gear S2 will be available in Australia but can’t confirm a date for this. Pricing is yet to be set as well.
Chris Griffith travelled to Berlin courtesy of Samsung
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