Gears2 review: samsung' smartwatch work, Hardware. samsung has multiple s2 models in the offing, but i've been using the standard stainless steel version with a white elastomer band ($300).. Samsung gear s2 review | verge, Samsung; tech review; samsung gear s2 review a clinic on what a smartwatch should be. by dan seifert; on october 13, 2015 12:56 pm; @dcseifert; 244. tweet. Kaliini tim hashtech mau nostalgia dengan review smartwatch yang rilis kurang lebih 3 tahun silam. Apakah spesifikasi serta fiturnya masih oke untuk tahun 2 AsSamsung gears up to start selling its new round-faced smartwatch in Malaysia this week, DNA"s Keith Liu reviews the Gear S2 smartwatch to and tells us it's worth wearing. SHealth integration is extensive and spread all throughout the Gear S2. We love how the Gear S2 reminds us in a friendly manner to move a bit after long periods of inactivity. HvkqylI. Farwell, Android Wear. Hello, Tizen. Samsung's latest smartwatch abandons the Android Wear OS in favor of the company's homegrown Tizen OS, which proves to be a smart choice indeed. The Samsung Gear S2 $ has a user-friendly interface that's worlds easier to use than Android Wear. And the watch itself has a great design that combines the round face and stainless steel case of a traditional timepiece with a futuristic, rotating bezel that makes navigation even easier. But there's still some room for Tizen to grow, as a dearth of apps and weak voice recognition keep the Gear S2 from nabbing a higher score. Pricing and Design The Samsung Gear S2 comes in two flavors There's the regular Gear S2 for $ and the $ Gear S2 classic. The regular Gear S2 comes with a black or white silicone wristband, while the classic model has black leather strap. No matter which version you choose, the watch face is made of matte stainless steel. We reviewed the $ model, with a white band and a silver face. You Can Trust Our Reviews There are also 3G versions of each watch available with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon service. Pricing and availability will vary according to carrier; T-Mobile, for instance, offers the option to add the watch to your plan for $5 per month. Similar Products The standard Gear S2 model is extremely comfortable and light on the wrist, with a simple clasp and an adjustable buckle to stay in place. No matter which model you choose, you're sure to be happy with the watch's most distinguishing feature, a rotating bezel. Similar to the digital crown on the side of the Apple Watch $ at eBayOpens in a new window , you physically turn the bezel around the watch face like a dial in order to make selections. It's precise, quick, and feels very satisfying to use thanks to the little clicks it makes. The watch also has a Back button in the two o'clock position, and a Home button in the four o'clock position. The Home button brings you to the default watch face or to your main app library if you're already at your home watch face. The Back button brings you back one step in whatever app you're in. Of course, you can also tap your way through the interface without bothering with the bezel. I'll discuss navigation more in a bit, but the Gear S2 is the most easily navigable smartwatch I've tested. Left to right Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S2, Moto 360 The Gear S2's round watch face measures inches around, inches thick, and weighs ounces. The Huawei Watch at AmazonOpens in a new window , by comparison, is slightly larger at inches wide, inches thick, and ounches. The Motorola Moto 360 , meanwhile, meastures inches wide, inches thick, and ounces. The variations might seem slight on paper, but you can really feel a difference on your wrist. The watch is rated IP68 for water-resistance, which means it can withstand splashes at the sink, but you shouldn't take it to the beach or in the shower. DisplayThe Gear S2 has a circular Super AMOLED display with a 360-by-360-pixel resolution that works out to a sharp 302 pixels per inch. It doesn't get quite as bright as the Huawei Watch, but I was always able to see it outside, even with the brightness set to low. The screen is not always-on by default, but there is an option to do so if you wish. Without it on, the screen still activates quickly when you life your wrist, and it never accidentally turned on in my testing, which is very helpful for conserving battery. The screen turns off fast, though—after about five seconds—which can get a little annoying when you're trying to read an email, text, or CNN headline. However, a quick tap or turn of the bezel keeps the screen activated. Samsung uses an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness depending on surroundings, without the "flat tire" effect that cuts off the Moto 360's circular display in a horizontal line at the bottom. It's also easy to adjust the brightness on your own just swipe down on the display and tap the Brightness setting. I didn't detect any prismatic screen aberration here like I did on the Moto 360, unless you count some very slight reflections of light around the edge of the bezel. The watch can be paired with Bluetooth devices, including headesets or speakers for music playback, or mobile devices that run Android or later. Unlike Pebble or Android Wear devices, there is no iOS support. To start the pairing process, you need to download the free Samsung Gear Manager app on your Android device and follow the simple on-screen instructions. I easily paired the Gear S2 with a Samsung Galaxy S6 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window . Once connected, you have a number of options at your command, like customizing the watch face, managing apps and notifications, and sending music files to the watch, which comes with 4GB of internal storage. Features, Performance, and TizenThe Gear S2 has an accelerometer, a barometer, a gyroscope, proximity sensors, and a heart rate sensor. Unlike the Sony SmartWatch 3 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window , there is no GPS, but there is Wi-Fi, which extends the range of the watch when connected to a wireless network. The heart rate sensor here works better than the one in the Huawei Watch or the Moto 360 by automatically measuring your heart rate throughout the day. By default it checks in about five times per day, though you can adjust it to check more or less frequently. You can also check manually, and it lets you know whether your heart rate is average when you're resting, in a state before exercise, or after exercise. The watch reported resting numbers in the low-to-mid sixties while sitting in a relaxed state, which is on par with measurements taken by the Huawei Watch. The watch counts steps and detects when you're exercising or resting for too long, similar to the Apple Watch. You can also keep track of the amount of water or caffeine you've been drinking. And you can install the Nike+ running app for more detailed fitness analysis. However, like I usually advise, you probably want to go with a dedicated fitness tracker rather than a smartwatch if fitness is your primary concern. The Misfit Flash Link $ at AmazonOpens in a new window is great if you're on a budget, while the Fitbit Charge HR $ at AmazonOpens in a new window is worth the splurge. Powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM, the Gear S2 uses Samsung's proprietary operating system, Tizen. It has the best user interface for a smartwatch yet, though it does have one annoying flaw. For some reason, the Gear S2 doesn't go back to the app you were previously using after it goes to sleep. Instead, it goes back to the default watch face every time it wakes up. That can be frustrating if you want to keep reading a story, or reply to a text when suddenly the screen shuts off from inactivity. Thakfully, the watch keeps images and headlines loaded in news apps when you finally return to them. The strength of Tizen lies in its layout, which is a pleasure to navigate. Turning the bezel or swiping to the left brings up any notifications, which you can tap to open or swipe up to dismiss. Swiping or turning the bezel to the right brings up the main menu for Apps, a list of favorite contacts, Settings, or the S Voice assistant. Keep swiping or rotating the bezel and you can see a whole collection of apps around the perimeter of the screen, as if they were numbers on a watch face, including the calendar, heart rate monitor, music playback control, pedometer, or whatever other apps you want to include. It beats swiping through endless vertical lists and cards like in Android Wear. However, you still have to tap on the touch screen to make selections. It would've been nice to be able to push the bezel in to make selections, but since your fingers are already on the watch anyway, it's not a big deal. Unfortunately, Tizen's selection of third-party apps is weak compared with Android Wear, Apple, and Pebble. There are no music streaming services besides Samsung's Milk Music, little in the way of fitness apps besides Samsung's S Health, and nothing when it comes to note-taking apps or popular social media like Facebook or Twitter. There are some useful apps available, like Bloomberg, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Yelp, but Samsung needs to lure many more companies if it wants to compete. And although watch apps aren't available, you can still receive and respond to phone notifications from Facebook, Google Hangouts, and Twitter on the Gear S2 with a robust set of options. You can choose from some short, canned phrases or send an emoticon. You can also respond with voice-to-text, though unfortunately this feature is hit-or-miss; I never reached a point in testing where I felt like I could rely on it to quickly send an accurate message. Surprisingly, the Gear S2 also offers a phone number pad-style keyboard with three letters assigned to each number so you can type out messages. It's a slow process, but predictive text helps things along. A friend texted me some good news and I was able to type in "Wow, that's great! Congrats!" fairly easily. Don't expect to take calls on the Gear S2, though. You can use it to dial a call, but you'll have to take out your phone or put on a Bluetooth headset if you want to take things any further. Battery life is relatively excellent. Samsung promises up to three days of use, which is accurate if you keep the display set to power off automatically. With it set to always-on, the watched lasted for nearly two days, which is still better than any other smartwatch with a color display I've tested with the exception of the Pebble Time, which can last for about a week, albeit with a much dimmer, lower-resolution display. The Gear S2 can also be set to go into Power-Saving mode, which turns the screen monochrome when you're running low on battery. It charges with an included magnetic dock and micro USB cable. ConclusionsThe Samsung Gear S2 should certainly sit alongside the Apple Watch and the Pebble family as one of the better smartwatch options on the market. It sports a sleek design, a user-friendly interface that blows the confusing Android Wear out of the water, very good battery life for a smartwatch, and a unique, rotating bezel. Unfortunately, a paltry selection of apps holds it back, especially when Apple and Pebble have so many to choose from. And underwhelming voice recognition ultimately makes the Apple and Pebble watches easier to use. I'd certainly choose the Gear 2 over Android Wear options like the Huawei Watch and the Moto 360, but it's a harder pick from there. The Apple Watch remains the smartwatch for dyed-in-the-wool Apple users, with a reliable heart rate sensor that works as you exercise, NFC so you can pay without flashing your credit card, the best selection of third-party apps, and an intuitive interface similar to that of the Gear S2. But our Editors' Choice remains with the Pebble family, which we highly recommended to smartwatch newcomers. The original Pebble is inexpensive, is compatible with both Android and iOS, and works with many useful apps. The Pebble Time $ at AmazonOpens in a new window adds a color screen and reliable voice-to-text messaging. Or you could wait for the Pebble Time Round, which is the Pebble Time with a traditional round watch face. The Samsung Gear S2 is definitely an intriguing new option, but it's worth waiting for the second generation. Pros Sleek design. Nice display. Useful rotating bezel. Intuitive user interface. Good battery life. View More Cons Weak app selection. Spotty voice recognition. Pricey. The Bottom Line The Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch has great software and a thoughtful design going for it, but a paltry app selection and finicky voice recognition hold it back. Like What You're Reading? Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. Summer '16 updateSo far, 2016 has been a quiet year for wearable tech. The best watches and fitness bands you can buy right now were, for the most part, released in 2015. You can count the number of new and notable wearable things that debuted in the first five months of this year on one hand The Fitbit Blaze, Fitbit Alta and - for hard-core runners - several new GPS watches from Garmin. The Good The Gear S2 has an eye-catching design, a clever rotating bezel that's actually useful, beautiful display, solid health tracking and slightly better battery life than other high-end smartwatches. Plus, it works with a variety of Android phones. The Bad Fewer available apps or seamless connected services than Android Wear and Apple Watch; no speakerphone; S-Voice commands work, but not as well as they could; not compatible with iPhone. The Bottom Line Samsung's newest smartwatch reinvents itself with a whole new look and feel to create one of the best-designed wrist gadgets around - but it still lacks the apps to set it above the competition. Samsung'sGear S2 debuted last year at at the IFA show in late August. It's a safe bet that the Gear S3 unveiling could happen at the same show this year. In the meantime, earlier this year, Samsung introduced the Samsung Gear S2 3G - a close copy of Samsung's Wi-Fi-only S2 smartwatch, only with the addition of a speakerphone, built-in GPS, and phone and data service. Though it's an interesting device, it's not particularly easy to use and it comes up short compared with the Gear S2; it's bigger, more expensive, and comes equipped with a weaker battery. Samsung also has yet to deliver the iPhone compatibility it promised for the Gear S2 back in January. And its app selection is still pretty weak. This summer, the company introduced its Samsung Gear Fit 2 - a mini fitness smartwatch featuring a slim design, beautiful curved AMOLED display, GPS, heart-rate monitoring, onboard music storage for up to 1,000 songs, all-day fitness and sleep tracking and automatic exercise detection. Despite relatively short battery life and some shortcomings for the hard-core athlete, it's a great-looking, feature-packed fitness band. Editors' note The Samsung Gear S2 review, first published in October 2015 and updated since, one has really truly nailed the next great the Apple Watch landed in April, Google's Android Wear smartwatches have already been around for more than a year.. Some of them look really nice. But they all run the same software underneath. And even after a 2015 software update, however, it hasn't changed enough to really make any of these watches feel new and imagine if someone reinvented the Android smartwatch. And that someone was Samsung. What would that be like? The Samsung Gear S2 is that watch. I've been wearing it for several weeks and, yes, I really like it, both for what it does and for how it's designed. And for how it advances thinking about smartwatches. But forgive me, I have a hard time recommending that you plunk down $300 AU$499 or £299 and scoop it A dearth of apps, mostly. And, from time to time, a lack of some of the deeper smartwatch hooks that lurk in Apple Watch-to-iPhone and Android Wear-to-Android phone, enabling even deeper connected functions. Sarah Tew/CNETBut as a reference design for how watches should look next? Wow, it's cool. And it's brought sexiness back to Android-compatible watches alas, it doesn't work with iPhones. It is the best-designed smartwatch next to the Apple Watch. And yes, it's going to have an uphill battle competing against two very aggressive platforms in Android Wear and Apple is a watch I really liked note January 5, 2016 Samsung has announced that it will be bringing iOS compatibility to the Gear S2, as well as two new colors rose gold and platinum, later in round, with a spinThere are already many round Android smartwatches Moto 360 , Huawei Watch , the LG Watch Urbane and so on. Here's a secret They don't do anything differently than square-screened ones. The round look is all for show - and it does make round Android watches look more attractive. Get closer, though, and their beauty is only skin-deep. Android Wear doesn't do anything differently with interface or hardware across all the various watches...by design. But that makes the watches start to blend together, and prevents them from being ambitious or Gear S2 uses round for its design, down to the interface. It's built to be round. And its really impressive rotating bezel is part of that magic. Giving the bezel a spin. Sarah Tew/CNETInstead of the Apple Watch's digital crown, a side-mounted button-slash-wheel, the Gear S2 lets you spin around the bezel that surrounds the watch face, rotating different interfaces into action. Suddenly the watch face slides away, and you see your fitness status. You can set the time by rotating. r dial up an app from a wheel of app rotating bezel, in some instances, just replicates what you can already do on the touchscreen. Other times, it feels like a revelation, hearkening back to the genius clickwheel on the original iPods. It's the best watch idea in smartwatches next to Apple's digital crown, and it feels good, too. Subtle clicks give a sense of motion and the raised metal dial also protects the inset Gorilla Glass-covered had a smartwatch before Android Wear or Apple Watch even existed - and it was a mess. Then there were five more in just 14 months, during which Samsung vacillated between Google's Android Wear platform and its own Tizen operating system. But this Gear S2 is a total rewrite of the whole idea. It's a ground-up rethinking. And that's pretty rare in an industry where companies tend to dig in and perfect. Imagine if Apple Watch and Android Wear met in the middle, and that's a little how the Gear S2 feels. Left to right new Moto 360 42mm, Apple Watch 42mm, Samsung Gear S2. Sarah Tew/CNETAnd yet, amazingly, the Gear S2 manages to stand out, despite also being a round watch. And that's partly because of its looks. The white watch I tried looks clean and futuristic, like a Swatch married with a prop from "Minority Report". It catches people's eyes; and, to my surprise, people want to try it say, "Cool watch, what is that?" even when I'm wearing an Apple Watch on the other wrist. The steel body isn't too thick. The rubberized white bands hug my wrist well. It's comfy there's another sized band in the box in case you have different wrists. And it looks really good. The watch face is about as large as the 42mm new Moto 360 inches, 360x360 pixels, and the body is nearly the size of the 42mm Apple Watch. It's not too big at all. It's perfect for me. The problem with the S2 is that watch bands are proprietary and they clip in and out using a button release on the back. The Samsung Gear S2 Classic. Tyler Lizenby/CNETThere are a few other Gear S2 options to choose from Samsung's step-up Gear S2 Classic uses regular watch bands and has a slightly more compact ceramic body, but costs a bit more at $350 AU$599, £350. There's also a thicker-bodied 3G version coming in November to the US on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which adds standalone functions and built-in GPS using its own 3G cellular connection for around $350 some carriers may offer different pricing.Dialed-down complexityThe Gear S2 doesn't do as much as the crazy feature-rich previous Galaxy Gear and Gear 2 watches did on paper. There isn't a camera and you can't make phone calls via speakerphone anymore some will regret this. It's more like Android Wear get messages; look at apps; track your fitness; listen to music stored on internal storage 4GB with a paired Bluetooth wireless headset; and respond to messages or trigger voice-activated actions using a built-in microphone. The watch vibrates but there's no speaker. Sarah Tew/CNETThe Gear S2 has a lot of built-in watch faces with about 13 styles, many of which can be customized into several more versions. Soon it begins to feel like their are dozens of options. There are also specialized watch faces you can download that add extra features I'll get to those in a bit, and they all look great on the Gear S2's vivid OLED screen in bright daylight you'd better dial up the brightness.To get to other functions, you rotate the bezel fitness, weather, calendar, music remote, heart-rate tracking, and a news spin into view, ready to help. These act like mini-apps; like Glances on the Apple Watch, you can tap on them and open the app lurking underneath. The wheel of apps. Sarah Tew/CNETThere are full apps, too, and you can reach those with a button-press. Instead of a big grid like on Apple Watch, they're laid out as a can get to most things you need by touching the screen and rotating the outer bezel, but there are also two buttons on the side of the watch one brings up that wheel of app icons, the other acts as a "back" button. It seems like a button too many to keep track of, but it's not too difficult to figure out, which is a first for a Samsung smartwatch. Samsung Gear S2 and its side buttons middle next to the Apple Watch left and Moto 360 right. Sarah Tew/CNETWhen notifications come in which they will, you can tap to respond, scroll through, or swipe away. Android Wear watch owners will recognize the experience. But on the Gear S2, the notifications feel less invasive. Sometimes, too much so messages sometimes didn't appear on-screen at all, and I had to find them by rotating the bezel to my notifications can be responded to the same way you as on Android Wear or Apple Watch with emoji, quick preset text responses, or by voice dictation. You can also type via onscreen keyboard - if you have the clever pull-down quick settings menu from the watch face that lets you adjust brightness or enter do-not-disturb mode, watch is made to live alongside your phone, but it can use Wi-Fi to bridge across and get messages when your phone's not in range. This happens on the Apple Watch and Android Wear watches, too. The Gear S2 loads Wi-Fi network passwords automatically if you have a recent Samsung phone, but makes you enter passwords manually otherwise. Bloomberg's financial watch face. Sarah Tew/CNETClever watch faces, with functionHere's another great idea the Gear S2 has It focuses on watch faces that actually do of opening apps, the S2 has watch faces that are apps ESPN has a watch face that shows scores of teams you follow; a Bloomberg watch face tracks certain stocks; and a Nike+ watch face acts as your fitness tracker display. ESPN's watch face. Sarah Tew/CNETYes, Apple Watch has many watch face complications, which can let you add at-a-glance information from many sources easily. But the advantage of Samsung's brand-built faces is you can hone in on a particular purpose more directly. Am I in sports-watching mode? Or in fitness mode? I can decide. Stopwatch watch face. Sarah Tew/CNETSamsung's other included watch faces also play with clever ideas there's an activity watch face with two dancing bubbles for your active vs sedentary status through the day. Watch one get larger than the other, or try to achieve balance. Two different heart rate apps, Heart Wave and Pixel Heart, take readings are also a few classic-style round watch faces that can have added bits of info added in, like steps taken, weather, battery status and so on. One watch face even works that data into watch-like mini-dials. But these particular watch faces seem to offer too few ways to customize, or too few spots for complications to my taste. The Yelp app on Gear S2 is cleverly round. Sarah Tew/CNETWhere are the apps?If you're looking for a lot of great apps, the Gear S2 has some bad news for you. Much like previous Samsung Gear watches, the S3 runs on its own Samsung Tizen operating system...and it's only compatible with a limited library of Gear apps. These apps can be downloaded some are free, some cost a few dollars via a small app store connected to the Gear Manager app you need to connect the watch to your phone. It's similar to what Pebble does with its smartwatch. The problem is obvious This means the Gear S2 is standing apart from Android Wear's growing app landscape and the Google Play fact, Tizen watches and apps have been around since 2014, and a solid bunch of older Gear apps have been ported over to work on the S2. A few new big-name apps have arrived, too, for example Nike has a watch face. So do Bloomberg and ESPN, as mentioned before, and there's a CNN app. Samsung has promised a dozen or more big-name app partners for the Gear S2, including Twitter and Uber, but they're not all here yet. Browsing news headlines. Sarah Tew/CNETThat's the biggest problem here is that apps will be hard to come by. Those that are here work pretty well, and fast; mini games load very fast on the watch, and other apps are zippy. At times it feels like a speedier, more dynamic experience than either Android Wear or Apple Watch. But those moments are has included its own collection of pre-installed apps, too a stopwatch, alarm clock, timer, maps with navigation, email, messages, and voice memo. I downloaded a Milk Music remote app, a Flipboard-based news app, Yelp, Lifesum, and a few weird games a coin-flipping app, and a Flappy Bird clone. All the basic things you'd need on a smartwatch are here, and I don't know if I really need that many "killer apps" on my watch. But I do worry about the Gear S2 not having enough - and about being the odd watch out down the road, as Apple Watch and Android Wear carve up the wearable/connected with a non-Samsung phone Hit and missGood news The Gear S2 now works not just with Samsung Galaxy phones a limitation of all past Samsung smartwatches, but with nearly any smartphone running Android or higher with of free RAM. I tested the Gear S2 on a Galaxy Note 5 , then re-paired it with a Nexus 6 phone. On non-Samsung Android phones, the experience is pretty close to identical, at least on the Nexus 6 I tried it with. You can install the Gear Manager app that the watch pairs with, you can manage nearly the same watch settings and change watch faces. And you can still access the Gear app store, downloading apps and installing news The differences, while subtle, do show up. The email app disappears instead, you can respond to emails as incoming notifications, using emoji, quick responses or voice commands, like with messages. But Wi-Fi connections don't happen automatically and some functions, like S Health and Maps, still require their own app downloads on the phone itself. Sometimes the watch triggers these downloads, sometimes it doesn't. Samsung admits that supported devices "may vary depending on region, device model and carrier." Basically, if you don't have a Samsung phone, it's a bit of a used the Gear S2 to navigate while driving, using turn-by-turn directions provided by Nokia's Here Maps. It worked and I was able to use my voice to start navigation, but the experience wasn't quite as intuitive or as good as what I've experienced on Android Wear and Apple Watch. Samsung S Health Not a bad fitness experience for a watch. Sarah Tew/CNETFitness, improvedThis is actually a pretty good fitness watch. Samsung S Health has its own baked-in app that runs all the time if you want it to, tracking steps and activity. The pedometer was accurate enough compared to other fitness trackers I wore simultaneously, including the Apple Watch. Heart-rate tracking worked well, too better than previous Gears. You can track your heart rate continuously, but otherwise it's used for spot-checking and occasional automatic measurements during the day Moto 360 and Apple Watch do this too. Heart rate seemed similar to Apple Watch, when resting. Sarah Tew/CNETIf you start walking a brisk pace, the watch pulses a green activity tracker to keep you going; it's automatically always working, a rarity in watches. Again, you can dial that down to not have it interrupt you, but I found its coaching motivating yes, it bugs you stand up once in awhile, too. A daily activity clock. Sarah Tew/CNETThe S Health app does a decent job as a basic fitness hub, syncing activity progress, setting goals, tracking water and coffee intake, and working with a number of third-party apps including Nike+. It's not particularly pretty or as helpfully designed as what Fitbit and Jawbone offer, but it works well enough to stand in as a good daily fitness commands "Hello, Gear"Apple Watch and Android Wear have pretty stellar voice-activated controls with deep hooks into core phone and watch functions Siri and Google Now can do a lot. Samsung's S-Voice probably won't ever be as good as those, but I found voice-activated controls responsive and ready to work. You can set your voice cue, too I used "Hello, Gear," and asked about the weather, driving directions, US presidents, and basic math problems. It can search and give answers pretty reasonably. For navigation, however, I had to install a separate app based on Nokia's Here navigation and maps. It even worked in a loud, crowded bar while watching a Mets game. Compared to previous Samsung Gear watches, it's a quantum leap payments via Samsung Pay coming later onExpect mobile payments, too. A future feature that will set this watch apart for Samsung phone owners is Samsung Pay, which should become available via a firmware update. The Gear S2 has near-field communication NFC, which can allow for mobile payments like the Apple Watch, or other types of smart functions acting as a door key, for example. Right now, NFC isn't being used. But having Samsung Pay on this will be a big plus. The Gear S2 won't work everywhere like recent Galaxy phones can that's due to LoopPay technology that mimics a magnetic card swipe, which is absent from this watch, but it should work at most of the same places that Apple Pay and Google's Android Pay do. Once this watch gets Samsung Pay no confirmation yet on when that's going to happen, I'll update this review. The magnetic charge dock is compact. Sarah Tew/CNETA solid weekend's worth of batteryGuess what? You can forget to charge this watch and be okay! High-end smartwatches are notorious for needing daily recharging the Apple Watch and Android Wear watches, while they can both last into a second day of use, won't make it all the way through day two unless you top them off with a recharge. Daily recharging, for a watch, is a terrible way to Samsung Gear S2 doesn't blow the doors off any of its competition, but it does last about a day longer. I found myself getting to a third day of use with the screen set to middle brightness - not bad at all. I'd still want to charge every day, but I wasn't screwed if I didn' Gear S2 keeps the watch face dark when it's not in use after a few seconds unless you lift the watch to look at it, tap a side button, or turn the dial. You can have the screen set to always on, like Android Wear watches dimming down to a lower-brightness ambient watch face when resting, but that'll cost you on battery life it only lasts a day in that another weird quirk of the Gear S2's build. You can't tap the screen to turn the display on if it's completely dark unlike on the Apple Watch. It's a small detail. Sarah Tew/CNETThe best attempt yet at redesigning the Android smartwatchHere's an idea Google, hire Samsung to rebuild Android Wear...or at least the way Android Wear watches look and feel. Samsung's aggressive design decisions, inside and out, have made the Gear S2 a better watch, and a more attractive watch, than nearly any Android Wear watch I've ever used. And even Apple Watch owners may find themselves there's a lot of work under the hood that I feel still needs to be done before the Gear S2 can really be a killer watch for all your needs. Or maybe not, maybe it does already work for all your needs. At the moment, it's really fun to use, even without every killer app I'd like. Plus it does most of what I'd is the kick in the pants that Android watches needed. All I want next is for the Gear S2 to work with Android Wear apps and iPhones. But I also want the Gear S2 to work even better under the hood, with Google Now and all the connected functions it offers. I guess I can dream for next year. Verdict Pros Bright, sharp display Rotating bezel is the best wearable feature yet Not limited to Samsung handsets Cons Tizen is limiting Expensive for what you get Poor, slow voice search Key Specifications Review Price £ Circular watch face Rotating bezel thick 360 x 360 AMOLED touchscreen 3G option with e-SIM technology NFC for mobile payments 2-3 days battery life Tizen OS dual-core processor 4GB internal storage 512MB RAM S Health support IP68 certified dust- and water-resistant Wi-Fi Bluetooth Optical heart-rate sensor Wireless charging 250mAh Li-ion battery What is the Samsung Gear S2? Samsung’s back catalogue of smartwatches has been, to put it mildly, poor. The vast array of Gear-branded wearables have been bulky, ugly and running an operating system devoid of killer features and decent apps. The Gear S2 hopes to change this. I’m happy to report that in pretty much every area it achieves this. The Gear S2, with its circular display, is the first in the series that actually looks good. Instead of simply following the crowd, Samsung’s headline rotating bezel results in a smartwatch that’s the easiest to navigate yet. However, by failing to opt for the constantly improving Android Wear OS, and instead choosing to stick with Tizen, Samsung’s Gear S2 feels hamstrung in many areas. Samsung Gear S2 – Design and rotating bezel Smartwatch manufacturers are no longer happy to make only a single model, instead churning out multiple varieties at varying prices. Apple started the trend, and Samsung has continued it. Related Best fitness trackers The Gear S2 is available in three versions the standard, more sporty model that I’m using, and a slightly classier one called the Gear S2 Classic; a 3G enabled smartwatch will arrive later. I can’t comment on the pricier Classic £299, but the standard model £249 looks and feels superb. It isn’t in the same league as Huawei’s Watch, but it’s one of the better smartwatches on the market. The circular display is surrounded by a metal bezel, with two clicky buttons. There’s one for jumping back a step and another for heading to the homescreen. Both buttons sit on either side of a microphone on one side of the smartwatch. The Gear 2 isn’t overly thick either, sitting only off my wrist. While the Classic model has a standard 22mm watch strap, this version uses a proprietary connection, so it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to swap out the rubber strap for one your own. I like the strap, and it fits in with the more sporty look of the watch. It doesn’t become overly hot and sweaty during extended workouts and it’s comfortable enough to wear for extended periods. Unfortunately, it isn’t particularly durable mine has already picked up a small tear. The overall look of the Gear 2 is certainly more fitness watch than one you’d match with a suit, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Related Apple Watch review The most notable design feature on the Samsung Gear 2, however, is the rotating bezel. This is the main method by which you navigate the Tizen OS, and in my opinion it’s truly fantastic – it’s easily the best way I’ve found so far to jump around menus on a wearable. It turns smoothly as you twist it around, providing a satisfying click instead of just spinning endlessly. Both Apple with its Digital Crown and Android Wear makers with their touchscreen-lead approach should take note. It isn’t perfect, though. You can’t press down on the bezel to select an item – even though naturally it really feels like you should be able too – so you still have to use the touchscreen for that. Buy Now Samsung Gear S2 at from £190 Samsung Gear S2 – Display Samsung’s smartphone panels are the best in the business, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise to find that the AMOLED display used here is probably the best on a smartwatch to date. It’s in size, with a 360 x 360 resolution that makes it hard to pick out individual pixels unless you get up really close. Colours are rich and vivid, while the black backgrounds are inky and blend nicely into the bezel. Viewing angles are great too, but outdoor visibility could be better. Being an AMOLED panel, it can be put into an ambient mode. This means it will continue to display the time and only burst into life when you flip your wrist and look directly at it. An always-on clock is a vital feature that ensures smartwatches don’t resemble a computer on your wrist; it’s something Apple Watch severely lacks. Brightness isn’t an issue either, but the lack of an auto-brightness setting means you’ll be constantly altering it manually. This isn’t ideal, and certainly noticeable when it’s dark and the whole watch lights up. Thanks to the rotating bezel, you interact with the watch much less through the small touchscreen, but it’s still responsive to the touch. A couple of features short of perfect, then. Samsung Gear S2 – Performance and Battery Life Referring to the performance of a watch can still seem slightly odd, but as proved by the first-gen Moto 360, it can be a real problem. I can safely say it isn’t an issue on the Gear S2. The dual-core Exynos 3450 processor paired with half a gig of RAM is pretty standard on a smartwatch, and it provides plenty of oomph to keep the watch feeling smooth and fast. Battery life, like performance, is also on a par with the majority of 2015 Android Wear devices – and slightly better than the Apple Watch. With the always-on mode turned on, the 250mAh cell can easily make it through the day and on until lunchtime the following day. Switch that off and the Gear 2 will keep going for about two full days. Personally, I’d rather have slightly shorter battery life and always have the clock visible, but the option to turn it off is there if you want it. If you’re all about battery, I’d still recommend the Pebble Time Steel. Charging is via the supplied wireless dock – it’s the spitting image of Motorola’s Qi cradle – and my Gear S2 can go from 0% to full in less than hour. Slightly annoying is the fact that there isn’t a way to power up the watch without the dock, but at least it’s a sleeker solution than those pesky charging adapters supplied with previous Gear watches. Samsung Gear S2 – Software and fitness features So far, things are looking pretty rosy for the Gear S2. It has a comfortable, sporty build, impressive display and performance and battery that are good – if not anything to worry the competition. It’s a shame then that Samsung chose not to complete the package by opting for a more capable OS. Instead, the Gear S2 is severely limited by the Tizen operating system. I’ll start with the bits I do like. For once, Samsung has made something that doesn’t disappoint in the looks department. The selection of watchfaces – which range from digital ones to those built for apps such as ESPN and Bloomberg – are attractive and customisable, and the general UI is slick. As you scroll through your homescreens, widgets display handy information such as the current weather, your step count and current heart rate. They’re a little slow to update – the music one takes an age to show the current song I’m listening to, for example – but on the whole they’re easily accessible and handy tidbits of information that work well on a smartwatch. There’s also a good selection of fitness features, all tied together by Samsung’s S Health app. An accelerometer tracks your movements throughout the day, while the heart-rate sensor takes constant readings. The lack of GPS will put off those looking to ditch their dedicated running watch, though. An IP68 rating means you’ll be able to submerge it in of water for 30 minutes, and I’ve used it in shower without any issues. I find the heart-rate monitor here to give much more accurate readings than Android Wear watches, which often fluctuate massively between readings, and the step-tracking is as good as a dedicated wearable such as the Misfit Shine. The real problem with Tizen is the utter lack of apps. Now, while I don’t want apps on my smartwatch that I have to open, I do want them throwing up handy information – and to be there when it’s more convenient than whipping out my phone. Apps such as Citymapper, Uber, Google Maps and so on make sense on a wearable, but the Gear S2 app store is a barren wasteland. Aside from an overly US-centric ESPN app, I haven’t really been able to find something that I want to download and install. Not good. With the Gear S2 costing a pretty pricey £249, I’m not sure why developers would bother building apps for this platform rather than focusing on Watch OS and Android Wear. This could be a serious problem for the longevity of the Gear S2. Notifications – the bread and butter of any decent smartwatch – are also hit and miss. Connected to a Nexus 6P, HTC One A9 and Moto X Style – all at different times, obviously – buzzes of new alerts were constantly a good second or so behind the phone. And when they did come in, they were too quick to disappear from the watch. I was left wondering what that last buzz was about until I headed into the notifications section. S-Voice, Samsung’s alternative to Google voice search and Siri, is another disappointment. It’s limited in what it can do – it won’t even let me quickly create a note. When it does work – calling a contact, for instance – it’s slow. The Tizen experience is frustrating. It looks good, but limited app support is a bleak sign for the future and the poor voice integration is a shame. If Samsung really is so against using Android Wear, it needs to find a way for developers to choose its platform instead. Should you buy the Samsung Gear S2? The Gear S2 is a good smartwatch, but the limited Tizen operating system stops it from being a great one. At least Samsung didn’t make it exclusive to Galaxy handsets; the Gear 2 will work with any Android device with of RAM or above. The build, display and the fantastic rotating bezel – the cleverest input method on a watch yet – are all impressive and it’s Samsung’s best wearable, but it’s not better than anything running Android Wear. That could change if Tizen takes off, but judging by previous devices running the OS, this is unlikely to happen. Poor voice search, the on-occasion dodgy notifications and lack of customisation on the cheaper model also make the Gear 2 more difficult to recommend. Samsung has improved plenty with the Gear S2, but it just isn’t quite enough. Buy Now Samsung Gear S2 at from £190 Verdict A well-built smartwatch with a great screen, but it’s let down by a lack of support and the half-baked Tizen operating system. Trusted Score TechRadar Verdict Despite still looking and feeling more like a tech lover's device, and the lack of a strong developer community, at launch the Gear S2 was by far Samsung's best smartwatch. It's still a solid option for Android users but the Samsung Gear S3 definitely offers more. Pros +Smart round design+Innovative rotating bezel+Tizen OS is polished Cons -Slow voice control-Too few high quality apps-Lacks customisation options Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test. Update The Samsung Gear S2 is still a fine choice if you're an Android user, but there are a few reasons that you may want to consider the Samsung Gear S3. The Gear S3 features a larger battery, has GPS built-in and offers a bit more RAM than the Gear S2. If those features are crucial to you, you may want to redirect your attention to Samsung's newer wearable almost three years since its initial release, Samsung has released a large software update the overhauls its general user interface. You'll also find improvements to how it handles workouts on the screen, making information like heart rate and pace easier to parse at-a-glace while you're getting review In the past Samsung had a scattergun approach to wearable design, releasing numerous devices with varying form and functionality. It was great if you were looking for something different to the all-too-similar Android Wear devices, but with hindsight, Samsung's first attempts weren't very the Gear S2, Samsung offered up a much more cohesive, well thought out approach. It's clear without even touching the second of three generations of the Gear watch, that the company practically went back to the drawing board to craft a wearable truly worth your looking at the Gear S2, it's obvious that Samsung has learnt from its past successes and failures. It's much more wearable than their previous attempts, it looks good and it's comfortable. More importantly the updated Tizen OS has been perfectly tailored to a smartwatch screen, with perhaps the best user interface I've seen on a smartwatch, making excellent use of the tactile rotating also, however, leads to one of the devices biggest downfalls - it remains an immature developer platform, and it still lacks apps. But for now, let's look at the previous Samsung wearables, you don't need to be a Samsung phone user to use the Gear S2. The Gear S2 is compatible with most Android phones and iPhones too. You'll find exact device compatibility information further on in this Gear S2 price and release dateThe launch price was set at £ $ around AU$428, and it was competitively priced against the Apple Watch and Moto 360 when it first came you can buy the Gear S2 for around £219 $150, AU$ which is more than £100 cheaper than the Gear S3, Gear Sport and Apple Watch Samsung Gear S2 features a fully circular Super AMOLED touchscreen measuring in diameter. That makes it smaller than the displays on the Gear S3, Huawei Watch and Moto 360. Despite having a smaller screen than its rivals, it doesn't impact usability, at no point during my testing did I feel limited by the device really impresses with a really high resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. Thanks to the relatively small screen, this gives a pixel density of 302ppi, matching the 42mm Apple Watch's retina pixel density really stands out when putting the Samsung Gear S2 next to other circular smartwatches of this generation including the new Moto 360 and LG Watch Urbane. It's visibly much sharper, and clearer as a my opinion - and that of the TechRadar team in general - that circular displays are more aesthetically appealing than the square displays of the Apple Watch and Sony Smartwatch 3. It just looks more like a traditional, analogue watch. In terms of functionality, it's hard to make a case for it being better or claims the sAMOLED that's not a typo, the S stands for Super reflects one-fifth as much sunlight as regular AMOLED displays. I didn't have any problems viewing the watch in direct sunlight, usually keeping to the eighth brightness level out of ten. As it's AMOLED, the colours look lovely and a noticeable gap between the display and the top layer of glass on the screen. You'd think this has a negative effect on viewing angles, particular in sunlight, but that is not the case. It does make the watch appear a little more retro like ambient mode on Android Wear, the Gear S2 has an 'always on' screen option. In this mode the screen will dim after several seconds of inactivity, however, the time will still be displayed with a reduced interface. It's a useful feature that allows you to view the time without needing to raise your arm and flick your wrist to wake the screen, as with the Apple Watch, though it does reduce battery and comfortThe Samsung Gear S2 continued the trend for attractive smartwatch design following the lead of the Apple Watch, Moto 360 and Pebble Round. A mantle that's been carried on by the multitude of smartwatches launched since the S2 arrived circular Gear S2 comes in two models, the standard model, reviewed here, and a 'Classic' one. The standard Gear S2 features a rubber strap, and a sporty aesthetic, while the Classic has a design which pays homage to more traditional timepieces, with a leather two models also have different dimensions, with the sporty model measuring x x mm, and the Classic a slightly smaller x x mm. I'd say they're an optimum size, and although some of the dimensions are larger than that of some rivals, the Gear is less bulky overall, and feels smaller as a result. If you're already a regular watch wearer, male or female, the size of the Samsung Gear S shouldn't be an watch weighs 47g, so is comfortable to wear for long periods of time, and doesn't feel like a dead weight on your wrist. If you prefer your watch big and chunky however, you may wish to look lack of customisation options costs the Gear S2 some design marks. The Apple Watch, and Moto 360 via Moto Maker allow a huge range of design choices to make a watch personal to the wearer. In comparison, Samsung only offers the Gear S2 in white or Classic is only available with a black leather strap, too, but it accepts any 22mm watch strap, allowing you to customise it with any third party the more sporty S2 features a proprietary locking mechanism, which very few accessory manufacturers have decided to adopt, so not the end of the world that Samsung has included so few personalisation options, but it does seem like a decision that's counter to the more personalised way wearables are Samsung Gear S2 isn't a particularly premium feeling device, it's certainly no match for the Huawei Watch or Apple Watch, but the rubber strap and metal casing feels durable and well design doesn't look cheap, it's understated and looks good, just in a slightly utilitarian kind of in the office think the Gear S2 looks more like a tech product than a watch. Personally, I like the fact it doesn't try to copy a traditional watch design, it looks futuristic, but not overly Samsung Gear S2 features two buttons on the right-hand side of the device. These act as a home button, and a back button. They're well positioned, making them easy to press, although, as they're identical, learning which button does what might take a main control of the Gear S2 is hidden in plain sight - the rotating metal bezel. It's not an exaggeration when I say this bezel is one of the best things that has happened to smartwatch user experience. It's better than Apple's Digital Crown, for a start. It works in a similar way to Apple's controller, scrolling through various menus and information pages, but the bezel feels much more intuitive, and very tactile, with a pleasing click the rear of the watch you'll find a centralised optical heart rate monitor, and two mechanisms for releasing the straps. Despite these clips being on the rear of the device, there's no chance of accidentally unlocking the straps. They're in place very Samsung Gear S2 is rated IP68, which means it's dust and water resistant. You could happily wear it in the shower or during torrential rain. Current page Introduction, price and design Next Page Interface, specs and performance Most Popular Find products and servicesBest Smart Watches / Fitness TrackersBest Smart Watches / Fitness TrackersSamsung Gear S27Classic, Sport See AllListing monitoredReviews 56Q&A 0DetailsCompareReviewsNice quality watch. I use it mostly for work. It's great to have all your notifications show on your watch so you don't have to dig your phone out on the job. Also it's a good pedometer and heart rate meter as well. Love it.. I use it mostly for work. It's great to have all your notifications show on your watch so you don't have to dig your phone out on the job. Also it's a good pedometer and heart rate meter as well. Love QualityCostas S Greater Melbourne Metropolitan, VIC 12 posts4y ago VerifiedHave had this watch for 2 years and not had any issues. It still works like it did on day 1. No issues with the band like other reviewers and I even wear it during volleyball games. Pretty good at tracking walks, runs, elliptical and general exercise. If the heart rate sensors and voice assistant were better/smarter it would get 5 stars. Notifications work well and I use smart lock to keep the phone unlocked while in the proximity of the watch which is handy. Maybe in a year or so I may upgrade, but this device is pretty reliable and other than potentially longer battery life I can't see I would get much more value out of a new Launceston 6 posts5y agoSo convenient and handy for recieving notifications when you dont have your phone on you or if your phone is on silent. Comfortable bands and dont look bulky or heavy on your wrist. Easy to use and setup. Easy charging. Heaps of apps you can add on it to go with your Purchased Dec 2015Find out how Samsung Gear S2 compares to other Smart Watches / Fitness TrackersKnow better, choose allI've had this watch for just under 2 years and have had a few niggly problems such as the bands constantly breaking and having to reboot a few times but never really considered them a major issue. I normally always take it off when washing dishes and showering etc but yesterday I forgot and washed my kids hair with it still on. It didn't even get directly wet under the shower but afterwards it started flickering like mad then had a line of dead pixels in the centre. Now this morning the screen has gone off completely and won't come back on. It'... Read mores out of warranty but from what I've read Samsung wouldn't honour it anyway. My advice would be if you think it may get wet buy an apple watch or a G-shock for those occasions and keep the gear for dry times Purchased Sept 2016Samsung says that the Gear S2 and newer Gear S3 works with the iPhone. Sure, it does; but there are some very serious compromises. Firstly, connection will regularly drop randomly. Secondly, there are hardly any apps available to iPhone users in the Gear S app. And finally, many features which work if you have a Samsung phone do not work if the Gear S2 is paired with an iPhone, such as Samsung Pay and the S Health features. Overall, if you have an iPhone, it's hard to recommend this- get an Apple Watch Purchased June 2018Karen Sydney 5 posts5y agoI have had my gear for 1 year now and my oy issue has been the bands keep breaking. Have had 4 replacement bands in a features are good and complete all the health tracking quite accurately with a sufficient amount of information recorded, especially sleep recording. I cracked the screen but it still works. Durable little device if the bands were more Purchased June 2017I was all over this when I first got it, but recently dont really wear it. I guess the novelty has worn off to some extent. Part of it is having yet another tech item to charge. The S2 is a good device and it delivers as promised. I used the fitness tracker the most and I set it up for Google pay but only used it twice. Nice design, just too much tech these days!Date Purchased Mar 2017Average battery life, but nicely handles notifications, fitness tracking and somewhat intuitive UIGear S2 SportThe Gear S2 Sport might be an obsolete watch, but still keeps pace with most user's needs. The UI is fairly intuitive - spin the bezel of the watch to switch between applications, swipes to access various settings of the app you're in and the two physical buttons on the side lets you either back out of an app or to quick-launch Samsung Pay or switch to a last-used the bezel to the left and you'll get dismissable notifications, from which you can also either take action if it's an email you can Delete / Archive, or i... Read moref it's a SMS or message from a messenger-like application like Hangouts, you can even reply with canned messages or an emoji. The watch also supports NFC, allowing you to use Samsung Pay if your bank supports it. Few banks in Australia do and I haven't tested the feature. The fitness tracking is pretty accurate - it comes with a built in GPS and heart rate sensor, both of which used in tandem for recording running or biking. The step counter however is simply based on motion sensor data and this usually results in a fairly inaccurate reading - simply waving your wrist about counts as a step so you should take the information given with a big spoonful of salt. Battery life - lasts 2 and a half days at most with light usage, so you'll have to get used to charging the watch at least once every 2 days, and if you're traveling don't forget to pack the charging cradle with Purchased June 2017Find out how Samsung Gear S2 compares to other Smart Watches / Fitness TrackersKnow better, choose alltruth Brisbane 7 posts5y agoI bought two of these watches, one for myself and one for my liked that they suit both male/female, they are minimilstic and the UI looks Life You need to charge this thing at least every second day. I like keeping my watches on at all times. If it was once a week I would be fine with it but I can't stand having to charge it so is the big flaw with most smart watches of today. The technology is amazing but the battery technology can't keep far as smart watch goes, it's amazing, one of the Purchased Aug 2017Hakan T Melbourne 4 posts5y ago VerifiedGreat watch, with wonderful features. Definitely handy to have, especially if you work somewhere quite busy and need to see your notifications at a glance. The only downside is the battery life, which lasts about a day or two. If that is an issue, I would probably recommend the Gear S3. Otherwise a great first step into the smartwatch worldDate Purchased May 2016Ron Adelaide 10 posts5y agoI have this watch from 2 years and working awesome with my old having issue with new non Samsung centre is also superb and replace belt even just couple of days before 2 years warranty happy with this watch and battary also last for at least 3 Purchased Jan 2016Find out how Samsung Gear S2 compares to other Smart Watches / Fitness TrackersKnow better, choose allLoved the watch until it stopped working after18months. Samsung said it had liquid damage. It was well looked after, with only the occasional splash of water from hand or dishwashing, which was quickly dried off. It was never submerged in water. Samsung will not honour their 24 month warranty if they consider it liquid damaged. It's clear the seal on this watch must be inadequate. Consider how you will use it before purchasing, alternatively treat it like a dress Purchased June 2016Compared to the standards on Android based wearables such as the Google voice recognition, the Gear S2 is significantly behind. Not functional for much, I often use it to receive and read notifications, send calls and quick replies to messages and texts as I am hooked up to my wireless is smaller and more stylish than many other smart watches out there, and great light weight stick to it if you happened to be with a Samsung phone, and its lasted me nearly a year now no worries. If you had another phone though, I'd consider a more functional other non Tizen based operating system Purchased Nov 2016Bought this watch because it looked more like a normal watch. The watch is great. Screen is clear and easy to read. Functions are fantastic, even when connected to my iPhone I am still able to access most of the functions of the watch. Battery life is better then expected, you get a good day and a half with normal use. Fitness tracker is accurate and measures heart rate regularly. Highly recommended!Date Purchased May 2017Read more reviews - page 2Questions & AnswersSorry, there are no questions an answer from our members and Samsung representativesSelect a listing for your questionSamsung Gear S2Ask your questionDetailsCompare all Samsung Gear S2 listingsCompare all Samsung Gear S2 listingsMPN SM-R7320ZKAXSAExtra InformationListing monitored by Samsung has affiliate partnerships. 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