Samsung Gear S Revealed
The Samsung Gear range of wearables keeps improving with each new iteration. The latest Gear S has been revealed at the IFA trade show in Germany in the last few days and it brings things much closer to the type of wearable device Samsung smart phone owners would like to have on their wrist.
The Gear S doesn't use the Android OS but actually the Tizen wearable platform from Samsung themselves.
The watch comes with a significantly curved 2.0” Super AMOLED screen with a 360 x 480 pixel resolution in a 39.9 x 58.1 x 12.5mm form factor. The display looks large or mid-sized depending really on how large of a wrist you are sporting and picks up a fair amount of light reflection. Swipe away from left to right and to bring down a tray at the top while moving through the apps and adding up to 5 widget choices. The comfort level with the weight of the Gear S watch will depend on how strong your arm and wrist is.
Swap Out The Wrist Band
The adjustable sliding clasp makes it quite easy to change the fit for people with different size wrists. The bands are also changeable which leaves it open to third parties to develop other straps instead.
Health and GPS
The Gear S takes health information seriously and includes a number of communication features to ensure that you can update information to the cloud like steps taken, kilometers walked, etc.
3G is included via a nano SIM and Wi-Fi connectivity is there also to connect you online to health databases. A-GPS and GLONASS can be enabled in order to track your progress when you're out running errands or going out for exercise. In many ways the Gear S is at its best when counting steps and being used as both a fancy watch and a fitness assistant but it can do more than that...
Messaging Via QUERTY Keyboard or Voice Dictation
It is possible to take and receive calls directly from the Gear S. Check your incoming messages and send some of your own back. There is even a small on-screen QUERTY keyboard to hunt and peck to get your (hopefully short) message across or you can use voice dictation to reply.
Sensors Galore
The list of sensors is impressive. The accelerometer, compass, HRM, gyro, ambient light, barometer and UV sensors provide all the information the Gear S could possibly need.
It is possible to link up to your Samsung smart phone just as long as it's running Android 4.3 or later.
Minimal Spec
Just 512MB of RAM is included with 4GB of internal memory. The 300 mAh battery is small but should be sufficient as long as the screen, 3G and GPS is not kept on that long each day.
This is the sixth wearable device from Samsung in a few months. The difficulty for Samsung smart phone owners is whether to wait to see what comes next or buy the Gear S when it's available to the public and try to avoid buyers' remorse when a newer version comes out.
