Samsung Gear S2 smart watch one to keep an eye on

Samsung has nailed it with its new Gear S2 smart watch thanks to its decision to ditch Android Wear.

Samsung has nailed it with its new Gear S2 smart watch thanks to its decision to ditch Android Wear. Replacing Google’s pioneering but inadequate operating system with Tizen is the best thing Samsung could have done in stamping its own authority on the device category.

Tizen is an open-source operating system that Samsung plays a major role in developing. It not only changes how you use a smartwatch but also takes the fight up to the Apple Watch.

Although it looks like a typical Android Watch with its round face, the Gear S2 is a very different proposition with its intuitive user interface.

The key is the bezel, the circle at the edge of the display that you rotate to select menu items.

Rotate it clockwise, or swipe to the left and you access smartphone apps, health data and upcoming events. When using my fingertips, the bezel rotated sweetly, and I felt the click of each small turn. It was like being a master safecracker in a 1930s movie.

If you swipe to the right or twist the bezel anticlockwise, you get notifications. Headings are displayed in a clear, easy-to-read typeface. Again, you twist the bezel to flick through them. When you find an email or text message you need to read in detail, you can either read it on the watch or open it on the phone.

By rotating the bezel, I could flash through menu options in an instant. That is no exaggeration. With Android Wear I’d be constantly flicking up the screen with my finger to comb through all the apps, which is slow and laborious.

Galaxy Gear S2 classic

The second great feature is customisation. I could configure not only what items appeared in the menus, but also their order.

In my case, I wanted my steps to display one bezel click from the clock face and a menu with four publication apps, including The Wall Street Journal and CNN, to sit next to that, just two clicks from the clock face. Applying that personal touch to the watch was all done with a minimum of fuss.

You also rotate the bezel to make selections within apps. Take the Buddy app, which throws up contacts. You rotate the bezel to the chosen contact and then press the screen. I could initiate a call or text message from the watch. It was simple and fast.

The current S2 models in Australia don’t offer direct calling, they don’t support an e-SIM card and you can’t take calls on your watch. But you can set up or answer calls on the watch and then use the phone.

The S2 has another interesting party trick. Once the S2 and the phone are paired by Bluetooth, the watch can receive notifications over Wi-Fi, even when the phone is out of Bluetooth range. During testing the watch asked to connect to my home Wi-Fi network and it picked up notifications but no incoming calls.

The font and font size is appropriate for the watch face so it is easy to read notifications and text.

The battery life is adequate rather than brilliant, lasting more than 28 hours on a single charge but not two days as claimed. Still, it got through each day easily on one charge. When the battery is almost exhausted the S2 flips into a lower power mode and lives on.

But I did have to charge it nightly. Fortunately, the magnetic wireless charging cradle makes the job easy. The watch easily clicks into place on the charger. And charging from flat to 100 per cent takes less than two hours.

The sporty looking standard Gear S2 smartwatch

The S2 has a bright, easy to read 1.2-inch 360x360 display with good resolution at 302 pixels per inch. It has a 1.0 Gigahertz dual core processor and is IP68 certified. It’s dust resistant and Samsung says you can swim with it in shallow water. It also has a back button, and you can swipe and press on the display as you would an Android Wear watch.

It also pairs with Android phones that have a 1.5 Gigahertz processor and run at least Android 4.5, not just Samsung phones. However, you will need to download the Samsung Gear app, You can also upload 1 Gigabyte of music specified by a playlist to the watch, and up to 200 images. I could listen to tracks stored on the S2 with a Bluetooth headset with the phone out of sight.

There are very few Tizen apps. I counted 139 free apps and 300 paid ones, and most were alternative watch faces. I don’t use many apps on a smartwatch, but the Tizen compromise means that you miss out on a few favourites. However, Samsung is working with developers to port Android apps to Tizen.

The S2 is also a one-size-fits-all proposition and the S-Voice voice assistant isn’t quite up to scratch. Samsung may be better off joining forces with say, Microsoft and put Cortana on its watches rather than carry the burden of continually developing voice capability.

There are currently two models in Australia. The Gear S2 has a sporty look and uses bespoke Samsung silicon watch bands while the more expensive Gear S2 classic has a serrated bezel and uses regular 20mm straps. It also comes with a leather band. The third variant, which has an e-SIM card, is not available here.

Finally, this is a very important product for Samsung because it shows that when using its own tailored operating system on its own devices, the Korean manufacturer can deliver a great user experience. Samsung Electronics chief executive JK Shin was reported in 2013 as saying he envisaged Tizen running on a large range of devices, from smartphones through to cars.

The Gear S2 is therefore an interesting proof of concept of this vision.

While the lack of some key apps is a pain, the Gear S2 still packs a pretty hefty punch thanks to its slick user interface.

Rating: 8/10
Price: Gear S2, $499, Gear S2 classic $599, watch bands $59-89

Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch