Smart watch Samsung Gear S3 frontier (black). Smartwatch Samsung Gear S

Brief overview of technical characteristics

There are 2 versions of Samsung Gear smartwatches: Classic and Sport. Next we will talk about the first option.

Specifications:

• 1-core processor, clock frequency 800 MHz;
• display: touchscreen, 1.63 inches, Super AMOLED, 320×320 pixels, 277 ppi;
• RAM: 512 MB;
• built-in memory: 4 GB;
• 2 microphones, 1 speaker;
• communication: Bluetooth 4.0;
• sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope;
• camera: 1.9 MP;
• battery: lithium-ion, 315 mAh;
• dimensions: 56.5×36.8×11.1 mm;
• weight: 73 g.

The company keeps secret what kind of processor it uses for the watch; it is clear that its power is low. Such a device does not require anything better, because it opens videos, supports games and the use of high-load programs.

The watch cannot work independently, there is no SIM card slot, so connecting to a smartphone is necessary. Moreover, synchronization is only possible with certain models Samsung phones.

Packaging and accessories

The Samsung Galaxy Gear gadget was designed specifically for the Note line of smartphones, which is why the packaging is appropriate. This is a cubic box made to look like light wood.

Inside the box are the watch itself, a charger that includes a cradle and a cable with a Micro-USB connector, and brochures with useful information on management. The gadget holder is gray with a ribbed finish that imitates leather.

Appearance and ergonomics

Let's look at the design now. The case materials are metal and plastic, the screen is covered with protective glass, which prevents scratches and other mechanical damage. On the back side, where the smartwatch comes into contact with the wrist, there is an extruded Samsung inscription, there are 5 contacts connecting to the same ones on the cradle. Also on the case there is a button to turn the device on (off), holes for the built-in speaker and microphone.

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The module gradually turns into a metal rubberized strap; it is not removable. The clasp is also made of metal, there is an adjustment for the volume of the hand, the device can be adjusted to fit a woman’s graceful hand, a rough man’s or a small child’s. There is a camera on the bracelet of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which can be used to capture important moments.

If we talk about the convenience of the device, it has a larger screen than a regular watch, and the thickness of the device is 3 times greater. It is unlikely that they will fit well on a woman's elegant hand. However, they look neat due to the smoothed corners. The design leaves conflicting impressions. Next, let’s look at what this smart watch is capable of. Surely, this thickness is due to the useful functionality and the ability to install additional applications.

Screen Features

The device is controlled by a Super AMOLED touch screen.

Some gestures are supported:

• waving your hand from top to bottom in the first menu will open the camera;
• with a wave of your hand from top to bottom in the second menu, open the main menu of the watch;
• There is a scrolling of photos with gestures to the right and left.

The display diagonal is 1.63 inches with an extension of 320x320 pixels. The picture is bright and saturated, brightness is adjustable, excellent viewing angle. The only thing is that Samsung Gear smart watches do not behave well in the sun: the colors fade, although the text remains readable. To save battery, the backlight is set to 7 seconds, but this parameter can be changed in the settings. The screen lights up when you move your hand, and thanks to the built-in accelerometer, the watch detects the rise and rotation of your wrist.

The touch response speed is good, sometimes it happens that the sensor does not work, but such cases occur infrequently.

Strap

The bracelet of the Samsung galaxy gear sm v700 smart watch deserves special attention. The strap is hypoallergenic, so it is gentle on the skin in the summer. The bracelet is made to be comfortable, but at the same time rigid. This is intended because there is electronic “stuffing” inside that is connected to the camera unit and speaker. The strap fits directly into the body of the device; it is an integral part of it. The camera protrudes above the surface of the bracelet, but it does not spoil the appearance or impression of the watch.

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You don’t have to worry about the electronics, they are reliably protected, but deliberately breaking the smart watch bracelet is not recommended.

Camera and its capabilities

The 1.9 Megapixel Samsung camera has image autofocus. It can’t compete with a photo taken from a phone, but you will get some high-quality shots. Similar ones are used on front cameras smartphones and are intended primarily for video communication. The photo module allows you to shoot videos up to 15 seconds long, and the photo extension is 1280×960 or 1392×1392 pixels.

The camera has some difficulties with accentuating details, white balance, and it will be difficult to photograph something worthwhile on a cloudy day - you don’t even have to try. In sunny conditions, an acceptable photo comes out, and most importantly, very quickly. The watch is always on your hand, you don’t need to take it out of your pocket, so the photo is ready in just a couple of seconds.

The camera is on the bracelet, which makes the process both easier and more difficult. Sometimes you just have to twist your hand to “catch” the object of interest. It is much easier to take a “spy” photo with a watch than with a smartphone, but it is not a fact that the user will go unnoticed.

There is one more problem - pictures are saved in the device’s memory, and if it is full, they are automatically deleted. What saves the situation is the ability to transfer photos via Bluetooth to a smartphone: manually or automatically.

Platform, processor and application installation

The single-core processor of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch has a frequency of 800 MHz. The device now works with a smartphone Galaxy Note 3, but in the future it will support several more devices of the same line. There is no talk about other phone manufacturers yet.

Sensational, but far from perfect smartwatches

2013 was definitely the year of wearables. True, the world never saw an Apple watch (although rumors about it circulated throughout the year), but there were still some high-profile new products in this area. And if smart glasses are associated exclusively with Google and are not yet available on the wider market, smartwatches have been released by a variety of manufacturers. And the most sensational announcement turned out to be samsung watch- Galaxy Gear.

The watch was presented at the IFA 2013 exhibition in September, and went on sale in mid-October. Now, two months later, it's time to evaluate this product, abstracting from the hype that surrounded it in the early days.

Let's take a look at the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Gear.

• CPU @800 MHz (1 core)
• Touch display 1.63″ Super AMOLED, 320×320, 277 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 512 MB, internal memory 4 GB
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Two microphones, 1 speaker
• Gyroscope, accelerometer
• Camera 1.9 MP, BSI sensor with back illumination
• Lithium-ion battery 315 mAh
• Dimensions 56.6×36.8×11.1 mm
• Weight 74 g

Unfortunately, Samsung does not provide details regarding the installed processor. However, it is clear that its power is very small by modern standards. However, no more is required: the watch does not imply the possibility of watching videos on it, using games and other high-load applications.

In addition, the Samsung Galaxy Gear is not a standalone device; the watch only works in conjunction with a smartphone or tablet, and only relatively new flagship devices are supported. At the start of sales, these were Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, later they were joined by Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy S4 and S3, for which the new Android 4.3 firmware was released.

Packaging and accessories

Since Galaxy watch Gear is, first of all, an accessory for the Note line, so it is logical that the packaging for them is made in the same style. This is a cubic box, the color of which is stylized as light wood.

Inside the box are the watch itself, a cradle into which it must be inserted to recharge, a charger with a Micro-USB connector connected to the cradle, as well as a set of leaflets and booklets with useful information.

Cradle deserves special attention. It has three main elements: a latch that secures the inserted watch, contacts through which charging occurs, and a Micro-USB connector for connecting charger.

With the exception of the contacts, the entire cradle is made of gray plastic. On the top of the cradle (where the Samsung inscription is) the plastic has a small corrugation, stylized as leather.

Design

Now let's move on to the design of the watch itself. The main materials of the case are metal and plastic. The square touch screen is protected by glass, which partially covers the metal frame.

WITH reverse side from the screen (where the device touches the wrist) we see the Samsung inscription pressed onto the plastic and five contacts that connect to the cradle contacts. Also on the case are the power button, holes for the built-in microphone and speaker.

The watch case smoothly transitions into a strap (apparently non-removable), made of rubberized flexible material.

The strap latch is metal. The strap circumference is adjustable: the watch can be adjusted both for the very thin hand of a woman or child, and for a wide man’s hand.

One of the most interesting features is the presence of a camera on the strap. If you put the smartphone on your left hand with the screen facing out and place your hand on the table in front of you parallel to your chest, the camera will look in the same direction as you. Theoretically, this makes it possible to experiment with spy photography, but the problem will be, firstly, in keeping your hand in one position in front of you, and secondly, in the fact that the camera eye is quite large and convex, it is difficult not to notice it .

If we talk about the ergonomics and convenience of watches, comparing them with regular watches, then, of course, we have to note that this is rather an option for men who prefer massive models. They are too big for a woman's hand. The body of a traditional watch is two times thinner, and even the square iPod nano, which many people loved to wear on their hands, also looked significantly sleeker. But, apparently, the thickness of the case is due precisely to the special functionality of the Galaxy Gear.

As for the general appearance, the watch looks quite normal, although I would be careful about calling it very stylish and saying that someone would want to buy it precisely because of its appearance.

In general, the design of the watch gives mixed impressions: it clearly will not become the same fashion accessory as the iPhone or iPad. On the other hand, Samsung designers and engineers succeeded in the task of making something that is not very bulky and not much inferior to a regular watch in terms of ergonomics.

Screen

Samsung Galaxy Gear watches are equipped with a touch screen, with the help of which all control of the device is carried out. The number of supported gestures is small, the main one being swipe from top to bottom. If you do it from the first screen, the “Camera” application will open, if from another screen, you will be taken to home screen. And, of course, scrolling through applications and photos in the gallery is done by swiping left and right.

We also note that the glass protecting the screen is slightly convex.

Screen testing using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, Alexey Kudryavtsev.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, there is a very effective anti-glare filter that is superior to the Google Nexus 7 screen filter in reducing reflection brightness. There is no ghosting of reflected objects, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, but worse than that of the Google Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass.

When displaying a white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 400 cd/m² (outdoor mode), the minimum was 12 cd/m². Given the high efficiency of the anti-glare filter, on a sunny day outdoors, screen readability will remain at a high level, and in complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is no visible flicker. This screen uses an OLED matrix - an active matrix based on organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B) in equal numbers, as confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

We observed a similar “structure” of the screen, for example, in the case of the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini smartphone. The screen has excellent viewing angles. Black is just black from any angle, and so black that the contrast setting simply doesn't apply in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is excellent.

To conclude the conversation about the screen, let's talk about one interesting feature. If you turn the hand on which you are wearing the watch in standby mode towards you (in the same way as we do when we want to see the time), the screen will automatically turn on and display the current time. That is, in order to simply find out the time, you don’t even need to touch the screen, but at the same time, when you are not looking at the clock, the screen does not light up and does not consume the battery.

Connecting to a smartphone

As we have already noted, to work with the watch you need to have one of the top Samsung devices running Android 4.3. If you try to turn on the watch without connecting to a smartphone or tablet, you will see a request to connect on the screen. The further procedure, unfortunately, is not intuitive. We used the watch with a Samsung Galaxy S4 (with Android 4.3 firmware).

We need to start with what to enable in the settings smartphone NFC, Beam and Bluetooth. All this is necessary to connect the watch and work together with a smartphone (although there is also a manual connection option - without NFC, but it takes longer). Then you need to touch the back surface of the Gear cradle to the back surface of the smartphone. At this moment they should immediately “see” each other. True, we were not able to achieve this the first time. We also note that this principle itself - touching the cradle, and not the watch itself, looks rather unobvious.

How to take a screenshot from a Samsung Galaxy Gear watch

Before we talk about the functionality of the watch, we will highlight one issue that has not yet been covered at all in RuNet. This is taking screenshots from Samsung Galaxy Gear. Unfortunately, there is no hardware option to take a screenshot from the watch. Therefore, we have to act in a less obvious way. However, we also don’t need to perform root or any hacking actions. We will carry out the operation on Windows 7 SP1 x86.

Step one: . Unpack the downloaded archive. In our case, the folder name turned out to be: adt-bundle-windows-x86-20131030. In it we see the SDK Manager file.

It needs to be installed, but if double-clicking nothing happens, then you need to. After this, SDK Manager should launch successfully. After installing it, you will see this window.

However, not all items in it will be marked with the word Installed. To succeed, you will need to mark those packages that are not yet installed and install them. Packages for versions earlier than Android 4.3 do not need to be installed - we do not need them.

After the process with Android SDK Manager will complete, we return to the folder from which we installed Android SDK Manager, follow the sdk ools path and run the ddms.bat file. The command line window should appear for a few seconds, after which the Dalvik Debug Monitor window will automatically appear (no need to enter anything on the command line!).

So, we are almost at the finish line. Now all that remains is to connect the watch to the computer via USB, inserting the watch into the cradle, then go to Settings / Information, where we put a checkmark next to the Debug.USB item. The clock should then appear in the Name window in Dalvik Debug Monitor.

Click on the clock line that appears in Dalvik Debug Monitor, then on the Device button in the panel at the top of the window. The top item is Screen capture, which is what we need. What happens next is obvious.

So, what can the watch do?

Samsung Galaxy Gear functionality

As mentioned above, the watch acts as a Bluetooth accessory for a smartphone or tablet, allowing you to see important information or answer a call without taking out the main device. In addition, of course, the watch can fulfill its intended purpose: show the time, date, as well as weather and location information.

The appearance of the watch screen, as well as the background, can be customized.

Let's see what apps are available here. First, let's go over all the applications, and then say a little more detail about some of them.

Firstly, these are notifications (perhaps the most important element smart watches). Secondly, the voice assistant S Voice, analogue of Siri and voice control.

Then there are voice notes (you can record some of your own thoughts or use the watch as a voice recorder) and galleries. The problem with the Gallery application is that you cannot display photos from the gallery on your smartphone on the watch screen; only those pictures that were taken with the watch camera are available.

The Music app allows you to control music playback on your smartphone. This is quite convenient - especially in winter: your smartphone is in your pocket, and if you need to change the track or stop the music, you can do it using the watch without taking out your smartphone. As for the pedometer, no comments are needed here; this is a typical fitness application, well known from the same iPod.

The last two items - “Settings” and “Applications” - allow you, respectively, to change the watch settings and see full list installed applications (in addition to the above, they include “Archive”, “Journals”, “Camera”, “Contacts”, “Dialling”, “Stopwatch”, “Schedule for today”, “Weather” and “Timer”).

Now let's take a closer look at some of the features of the Samsung Galaxy Gear. First of all, of course, you need to look at how notifications work. When a call, SMS or letter arrives on your smartphone, the watch also responds with a delay of a couple of seconds. If this is a letter, then the screen shows who it was from and what time it arrived.

You can also delete a letter (or all letters), but they will still remain on your smartphone.

Now let's look at the set of settings. In principle, it is quite wide; a variety of parameters can be adjusted (volume and sound of notifications, type of clock, etc.). In particular, it makes sense to configure things like automatic switching on screen when moving your hand towards you. That is, while you are just walking, the screen is off, but if you raise your hand and look at your watch, the screen will turn on.

As already described above, to take screenshots and any full-fledged work with the computer, you need to enable USB debugging. This item is located in a very unobvious place - in the Information. As for Reset, then full reset settings will automatically delete all content from the watch, and then you will need to reconnect it to your smartphone. Note that it is unclear why the watch needed a complete reset after trying to connect it via Bluetooth to the laptop. It seems like the watch needed to update some settings. But why this could not be done without a reset is unclear.

As for the Music application, it provides minimal capabilities: switching tracks, play/pause, volume control. We couldn't find how to display the album cover. Perhaps such an option is not offered in principle.

In terms of fitness, the functionality is traditional, but what’s especially pleasing is that there is not only a “Pedometer”, but also a “Stopwatch” and a “Timer”.

Let's return to the telephone functionality of the watch. WITH using Samsung Galaxy Gear can make and receive calls, however, if you do not have a headset connected to your smartphone, then you need to be prepared for the answers of your interlocutor to be heard by others. As for SMS, you can receive them, but you can’t reply directly from the watch, although you can dictate a response via S Voice (but here you need to be prepared for all sorts of problems with voice recognition, which still hinders the spread of voice control technologies).

Overall, the watch software interface seems boring and lacking in imagination. It is clear that a small screen leaves its mark, but since this is not just a tool for solving practical problems, but a device with the potential of a fashion accessory, I would like a little more polish in the appearance of icons, fonts and other visual elements. Let's hope that Samsung will release not only small cosmetic updates, but also large ones that greatly affect the appearance of the software.

The functionality of the Samsung Galaxy Gear can be significantly expanded if you gain root access. The main thing is that this will allow you to use the watch as a partially independent device. That is, you will have access to files on the watch, as well as the ability to install third-party Android applications that are not hosted in Samsung Apps. There are instructions for obtaining root access. We will return to this topic in future materials.

Setup via smartphone: Samsung Galaxy Gear Manager

To work with the watch, you need the Galaxy Gear Manager application, which is installed on your smartphone or tablet. This application allows you to change some watch settings and also set additional applications to your watch from the Samsung Apps store. Among the possible settings are the types of notifications you want to receive on your watch. For example, if you don’t want your watch to notify you of every new email, you can uncheck the E-mail box. Or, conversely, mark those items for which you are ready to receive notifications.

Additional watch apps can be selected from the following categories: Finance, Entertainment, Health/Fitness, Lifestyle, Social Media, Utilities, Watch. At the time of writing, the total number of available applications was 89, which, frankly, is not much. But among them there were such hits as Evernote, Line, Snapchat, eBay.

But so far, as you can understand, the developers have not really appreciated the prospects of the Samsung Galaxy Gear. And, probably, it will not be an exaggeration to say that the future of smartwatches as a platform largely depends on whether Samsung can convince them and encourage them to write more applications (at least until the release of more high-profile new products of this plan).

Camera

The presence of a camera is one of the most interesting features of the watch, making you remember the spy gadgets from the films about Agent 007. The quality of the camera was checked by the author of the “Digital Photo” section, Anton Soloviev. Below are his pictures and conclusions

For its 2 megapixel resolution, the camera takes pictures quite well. The noise reduction works well, but the result of its work is large grain, which somewhat blurs the images. The camera is good at shooting text, both from paper and from the monitor. But the camera will cope much worse with handwritten text. Although, of course, it all depends on the lighting. It is worth noting that for shutter speeds longer than 1/25 second the results are decent.

Of course, the strong side of the camera (compared to others) is macro photography and text photography. With some skill, you can quite well remove the desired part, but this task is somewhat complicated by the small size of the display and its location relative to the lens. You will have to bend a little unnaturally in order, for example, to take a picture of the text with a watch on your hand. The camera position is more suitable for shooting objects in front of you. Of course, can be used as remote display smartphone, but this is quite pointless, since the task becomes more complicated, and the camera of the smartphone itself clearly takes better pictures.

Still, the camera in a watch is not such a convenient tool. To take a good photo, you need to try. You won't get a decent result just by clicking the shutter all around. Perhaps even James Bond in the sixties of the last century had more advanced equipment. With this camera you can only carefully remove text or quickly take a screenshot from necessary information. But all this loses its meaning if you have a smartphone.

Please note that photos and videos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Gear camera are automatically transferred to the connected smartphone/tablet. Moreover, it is impossible to transfer them from the watch somewhere directly, bypassing the smartphone/tablet (we are talking about a device without root access).

Autonomous operation

Unfortunately, measure the duration battery life Samsung Galaxy Gear watches are in any way objectively impossible, since high-load tests cannot be carried out on them, and the duration of everyday use will directly depend on how actively the user uses them. Relatively speaking, the more events you want to receive notifications for on your watch, you mark in the Galaxy Gear Manager, and the more often you access the watch screen, the faster the battery will drain.

We can say unequivocally that the maximum for everyday use is three to four days, the minimum is one day (you are unlikely to be able to discharge the clock faster, unless you set such a goal for yourself).

It’s difficult to give any assessment of battery life because it’s not clear what to compare it to. If with a regular watch, then Gear, of course, cannot compete here. If with a smartphone, then the Gear will live longer. But just having to think about remembering to charge another gadget can be quite annoying. Today, when leaving home, the average gadget lover thinks about whether his smartphone, laptop and/or tablet are charged. If they also add hours...

Conclusions

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is the most high-profile attempt to release a smartwatch to date. The attempt was not entirely successful. One might even say that in many ways the first pancake turned out to be lumpy. First of all, the very limited functionality, strict binding to several devices from the same manufacturer, the unintuitiveness of the process of connecting the watch to a smartphone, and shortcomings in the software interface are disappointing. We were also disappointed by the camera, although it could be one of the main features of smartwatches.

The appearance of the watch is not bad, but the wow factor is completely missing here. It is difficult to imagine a person who will see this product on a store counter and, not yet knowing what the device is capable of, will want to own it. Completely different psychological mechanisms are at work here. “Smart watches - what is it? Everyone is talking about it. Where can I buy it? Samsung Galaxy Gear is today the lot of tech geeks and people who want to always be at the peak of progress. And high sales show that there are many such buyers. However, there is also information that the percentage of returns is very high. That is, when buying, people are driven primarily by curiosity. And it’s not always that the user then really wants to work with this device.

On the other hand, even despite the above features of the Samsung Galaxy Gear, we want to praise Samsung for its willingness to experiment and move forward, mastering completely new classes of devices and offering its original solutions. After all, this is important for reputation, especially against the backdrop of constant accusations of plagiarism from its largest competitor.

Generally speaking, the Samsung Galaxy Gear watch is not so bad as to cause widespread disappointment in the very idea of ​​​​smart watches, but not so good as to make people run to stores in the same way en masse for a new product, as was the case when, say, the first iPad appeared. However, Samsung managed to attract maximum market attention to its product, and therefore to the idea of ​​smartwatches in general. Therefore, today everyone is looking forward to new announcements in this area. Including from Samsung. And there is no doubt that in 2014 a real battle of giants will unfold here, in which Samsung will have very good chances, provided that the company takes into account the shortcomings of this model and releases a new version of its product.

We thank the online store and personally Roman Fazlov
for providing Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatches for testing

The background to the emergence of smartwatches from Samsung is even much more interesting than their future fate, since this product reflects the company's policy, its ambitions and desire to lead in the market, where Apple is currently the main competitor. It is no secret that at the beginning of 2013, Apple began to patent the word iWatch, the corresponding applications were received by the patent offices of most countries of the world, and the information quickly became publicly available. The appearance of such a product from Apple seemed expected, and a wave of discussion swept technology resources - especially since the 6th generation iPod Nano easily turned into a watch using straps, which usually cost about $50 and were sold in all Apple Stores around the world.

Lunatik Strap for iPod Nano 6g

Samsung has long been able to play ahead, and in the situation with smart watches, the potential appearance of a product from Apple played the role of a trigger; the company hastily began to create its answer to a mythical product that did not even exist at that time. Let me remind you that in the 2000s, when the competition between Samsung and LG was the most intense, and the companies were at approximately the same technological level, very often they tried to release their products before their competitor. And the devices themselves were functionally similar, similar in cost, similar in positioning - the companies clearly learned at the development stage what their competitors were preparing. In the case of smart watches, there are no clues except existing models there were none from other companies (Sony SmartWatch, Pebble and others). But the most amazing part of this story is something else - the Gear watch was created inside Samsung five years ago, this concept was shown at an endless series of exhibitions to partners as something that could become a separate market segment in the future. But Samsung never planned to release this kind of watch for commercial sale, since they did not see a large, significant market for such a product. You need to understand that Samsung has long been a large-scale company; it is not profitable for it to produce niche solutions; significant volumes are needed, even if we are talking about a small accessory.

With my own eyes I observed various wrist watch with or without built-in phone functionality, in Samsung restricted areas. It was one of these projects that transformed within a few months into the commercial production of Gear. Putting aside the quality of watches and their applicability in life, we must pay tribute to the fact that there are several companies in the world who can, in a few months, bring half-living prototypes to commercial production and launch them into series, as well as sales throughout the world. Let me remind you that these prototypes were never given enough attention, they were side projects, without special funding - sort of enticements for exhibitions that were shown to partners. Roughly akin to those devices with flexible screens that have been shown in exactly the same rooms for the last couple of years.

The political background of the Gear project can also be seen in the fact that at the same time Galaxy announcement S4 Samsung announced the release of the S Band, which could count your steps. They planned to start selling it in the summer, they even issued a corresponding press release. But the bracelet never went on sale, and the reason was that the partners did not see a mass market for such an accessory.

For obvious reasons, they did not see such a market for Gear, especially considering the cost of 300 euros (in Russia 15,000 rubles). But like any political project, it was launched without regard to real indicators. A number of Samsung top managers wanted to be the first on the market with such a product and overtake Apple - they succeeded, but at a high price.

As a little background, let me remind you that Samsung has already explored the topic of a wristwatch-phone, and quite successfully. So, in the summer of 2009, the S9110 model was released, which is very similar in style to Gear.

Exactly 10 years earlier, the company released its first watch-phone - SPH-W10, which can be considered a pure experiment, and nothing more.

Subsequent models were generally released in response to LG's research in this area. Since 2011, when models from different manufacturers appeared here, the company took a wait-and-see approach and did not strive to release its product. But the rumor about the appearance of Apple watches changed everything, and new priorities emerged within the company.

The first device from the Gear line: more to come

What I like about Samsung is that they don’t know how to stop halfway or do something insignificant - if you create a device, then let’s make a whole family, if you try to play wearable electronics, then let’s start creating different versions of gadgets.

The name Gear is not just a definition of watches, it is a whole family of products, the first of which was watches. Next year there will be Gear Glass, a clear answer to Google glasses, various bracelets and something else. The company itself has no idea what will be included in this family, what products it will be. There is only confidence that something like this will appear.

The official marking of the watch is SM-V700, where the numbers come from and what they mean is a different story, they say that this is the 7th generation of those prototypes that went to exhibitions and finally turned into some kind of commercial product.

Before moving on to technical description watches and their capabilities, we need to dwell a little on positioning, as well as what devices this watch works with. Initially, the watch was created only for a smartphone such as the Galaxy Note 3; there is also support for the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition tablet, which enters the market later than the watch itself. During November-December, watch support will appear in software updates for the Galaxy Note 2, S3/S4, and possibly some other phones, but the company has not officially announced them.

In such a small number of devices supported by the watch lies the first difference between the product and Samsung. For example, Sony Smart Watch can work with any Android smartphone. It is important for all smartwatch manufacturers that they can potentially work with different devices from different manufacturers - the market capacity is too small, and by releasing such watches only for one model or one company, they risk being left with nothing. Samsung does not pay attention to this, since the project is not de facto commercial; I repeat, it has clear political overtones.

The limited compatibility can be explained in terms of technology; the watch uses S Voice, a technology that comes pre-installed on most top-end Samsung devices. Without this technology, some of the watch’s functions will be unavailable, but, by and large, it is not needed; we’ll talk about this below.

The price positioning of watches is standard for the company - realizing that this is a niche product that will not be sold in large volumes, the company sets the maximum price, and all subsequent generations will cost less, while becoming more functional. This is a familiar strategy for Samsung, and the company does not deviate from it one iota. So there is nothing to be surprised here - for technology enthusiasts the price will not be an obstacle, as well as for those who simply for some reason want to buy the “complete package” for Note 3. But no one, including Samsung, is positioning this device as a mass or as a model that can achieve notable sales. It truly amazes me that Samsung can afford such expensive experiments and launch a model that has no plans to be widespread or noticeable worldwide. On the other hand, this is testing technologies on real users, which will provide invaluable feedback.

Gear Specifications – Memory, Processor, Screen

Of course, a watch is an accessory that says a lot about its owner. As you know, there is no arguing about tastes; some people love youthful Swatches, others prefer affordable Tissots, and others wear Corum. As a rule, these are people from different social groups, but they have one thing in common - they choose watches based on design, cost, and how they emphasize a person’s individuality. For electronics manufacturers, this point has always been controversial, since companies focused more on device specifications rather than their design. And if for home devices over the last decade they have somehow adapted to create an acceptable design, then for wearable devices everything is not so rosy. Especially for a watch that is always on your wrist and should, in theory, express your individuality. Samsung has exactly the same problems here as other companies - I don’t see smartwatches that would be interesting and relatively popular from a design point of view. I repeat that this is a matter of taste, but until electronics manufacturers come to an agreement with the companies that create watches, nothing meaningful can be expected.

The Gear watches are available in a variety of colors - the main colors include a metallic white border around the screen and different colors for the case and strap, there is one "fashionable" option, which is rose gold. This is exactly the model in the review (they look strange on a man’s hand, after all, these are for girls - however, the color is not very suitable for them either).

The strap is non-removable, it can be adjusted to fit your hand, it is soft and made of rubber. The difference from other watches is that one of the parts of the strap contains the camera lens, as well as a loudspeaker, it is built into the clasp. The solution is unusual and striking.

The strap latch is made in a classic manner, such are often found on watches, and the main problem is known - it can come unfastened if you squeeze your wrist too much and the strap is fastened tightly. Another problem is that the metal tongue wears out the turning screw, you can see this in the photo - I’m sure that over time this can turn into a disadvantage, and then you will have to change the fastener. Because of the electronics in the strap, this will not be a cheap pleasure at all, half the cost of the watch!

On inside The case contains five contacts, but it is impossible to charge the watch directly - you need to wear the case that is included in the kit. The microUSB connector on it is located in such a way that it is impossible to charge the watch on your hand even if you wanted to. This is clearly a deliberate technical trick, as is the creation of a covering body. I have suspicions why it was done this way, but I think it’s premature to voice them. I think we’ll hear about it (or not) in six months, when the first people appear who use the watch for a long time and in different conditions.

The capacity of the built-in Li-Pol battery is 315 mAh; according to the manufacturer, it can provide up to 25 hours of operation. Waiting time - up to 150 hours. This is very little, and you will have to recharge the watch at least once a day. The usual scenario looks like this: charge the watch before going to bed every day.

The downside is that you will get 365 charge-discharge cycles in just one year of using the device, which means the battery capacity will drop by at least 15-20 percent, and this does not take into account weather conditions, for example, a cold winter with sub-zero temperatures.

For me, having to constantly charge the watch was a huge drawback. Moreover, you need to take with you a branded watch charger or a separate USB cable for your computer plus a charging case, that is, these are unnecessary movements and the need to keep it all in your head. Trying to charge the watch using the Note 3 charger, which is 2A, does not best idea– you will also negatively affect the battery (standard charging 0.55A, 4.75V). The full charging time is about an hour, while in the watch menu you can set the charge level to be displayed as a percentage, but this is not visible almost anywhere except the menu inside the device.

Now a few words about the stuffing of the watch, this is de facto a regular smartphone with an 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory, it is used to save photos, videos and voice notes, as well as an archive of your messages received from phone. Inside the watch, a greatly reduced version of Android 4.2.2 is used - but you won’t be able to launch your applications directly; this can only be done from a computer by transferring the APK from the watch to the watch. using Android SDK. At the same time regular applications work, for example, you can install your player, download music or video ( using standard methods don't do this). But limitations in screen size and lack of hardware keys make these experiments useless. On the other hand, creating apps for the Gear is quite easy, especially considering the device's limitations.

The display in the watch is SuperAMOLED, its diagonal is 1.63 inches, and the resolution is 320x320 pixels. Due to the fact that the interface was created specifically for this resolution, all symbols are visible in the light, the protective glass glares, but the information is readable.

Protective glass Gorilla Glass, scratches on it are almost invisible, but over time they may appear. Another thing is that the likelihood of this is less than with smartphones; after all, the watch is usually only on the hand and does not come into contact with other objects.

There is exactly one hardware key in the device, this is the on/off button, it is located on the right side. You can also call up various functions by double-clicking, the default is S Voice. But you can reassign it to your application.

Perhaps it is necessary to say that the watch has a vibration alert and it feels great; I prefer to set it, since vibrating the watch on my hand is the best reminder. The signal may not be heard on the street, while the vibration is always felt.

The watch has a gyroscope and an acceleration sensor, so it activates the moment you raise your hand to check the time. In our video you can see that this does not happen instantly, but with a slight delay. You cannot activate the watch by tapping the screen - this is done in a number of competing models.

The connection with the phone occurs via Bluetooth (version 4.0), and the watch can only work with one phone. In order to link them somewhere else, you need to reset all data.

Gear Manager on your phone - apps and settings

When you turn it on for the first time, the watch indicates that you need to bring it to your phone and it will communicate with it via NFC; subsequently, all data is transferred via Bluetooth. You will immediately be prompted to download Gear Manager from Samsung Apps, but there is a problem - in the first batches of watches, the link to the application is hardcoded and it is incorrect, the watch goes to the wrong address! Therefore, if you have a problem, don’t be upset - go to the store, look for the program by name, install it.

Already in the program itself you can link the watch to the phone, this does not cause any problems. Sometimes, however, Gear Manager writes that it cannot connect to the watch, but it works fine, receives calls, and so on - all the settings do not work. This issue is resolved by rebooting the watch and/or phone. It was not possible to identify a pattern; on some watches this happened often, on others - extremely rarely (the same phone).

In Gear Manager you can customize your preferences and select additional programs that are installed on your watch. User-friendly interface for settings, since this is not so simple and easy to do on a watch due to the small size of the screen.

One of the pleasant surprises is the archiving of all your settings, that is, by resetting the clock, you will automatically get all the settings again, you will not need to do this work a second time.

The first thing to do is to sort out the order of functions and their order in the menu, this will make it easier and faster to manage the watch. I won’t describe all the manager’s capabilities, I’ll just note that for now additional programs almost none, and their functionality is quite limited. But more on this in the part about the interface and management.

Clock interface - management and work with them

You raise your hand, and the watch turns on the screen for 7 seconds, which displays the time, date and weather by default. The backlight time can be changed to longer, and then the battery consumption will be greater. You can also choose different watch faces or clocks with application icons or a pedometer.

On the main screen, just swipe from top to bottom to display the camera, but swiping from bottom to top launches the dialer. Scrolling horizontally, you will see menu items that you can sort as you wish. I will describe the main features of the watch.

In contacts you can see your address book, and it is sorted alphabetically of the language selected in the menu. Sometimes, if the Bluetooth connection is lost, the recordings are not shown; the watch requires connection to the phone. In the list of calls and SMS you can see who you spoke with, dial these numbers and talk directly from the watch, using it as a headset (there is no headphone output) - you listen to the sound from the clasp, and speak into the case. If you move your watch far away, the sound for your interlocutor deteriorates.

Returning to the previous menu is carried out by moving from top to bottom, while the watch does not always respond to this movement, due to the slowness of the processor - the gesture is not picked up.

S Voice – In theory, this is a great feature for voice dialing numbers, adding things to the calendar, sending SMS - in practice, it works well on the phone itself, but practically does not work on the watch. To begin with, communication with the phone is carried out via Bluetooth, which is quite slow, and the function works slowly. Apparently, in order to speed up the process, they tried to make the recording as small as possible, and as a result, the quality of recognition suffers. Even in a quiet room, S Voice is practically unusable - it doesn't work. On the street you can safely forget about its use. With a Russian interface, he, moreover, does not know how to search for English names in a notebook, he simply ignores them.

Pebble watches are open when it comes to software and settings. Galaxy Gear, in turn, is not.

You can look at different variations of Pebble watches here:

The branded bracelet in which the camera is mounted cannot be replaced. To make matters worse, this watch is only compatible with a handful of original Samsung devices. In other words, not everyone will be able to get on board the Galaxy Gear. And that's totally fine, because there are plenty of devices on the market for everyone else who isn't interested in buying a compatible device and a Galaxy Gear unless they own the latter.

Our review will help identify positive and negative characteristics Samsung devices Galaxy Gear.

Review

The Galaxy Gear watch has a pretty nice design. I can honestly say that the images, even in high resolution, cannot compensate for the shortcomings of this device. The square-shaped metal dial and strap look attractive, to say the least.

The watch fits quite nicely and firmly, but we'll get to that a little later in the Assembly section. Samsung has the upper hand when it comes to displays. They make good TV screens, outstanding smartphone displays, and if the Galaxy Gear is any indication, the company will be heading toward Smart Watch models of the present and future.

The Galaxy Gear is showcased with a 1.63-inch (41.4 mm) AMOLED display with a resolution of 320*320, which is fantastic for a Smart Watch. Another plus, besides the display, is that the watch sits comfortably on the wrist. Already in the introduction it became clear that the biggest problem with watch Gear are their limitations. For most people, including Galaxy fans, this won't be a problem. If the Galaxy Gear was compatible with a large number devices, I would note this above.

Bottom Line: 3 out of 5 – The Galaxy Gear is an excellent Smartwatch and is exactly what you'd expect, but there are a few serious issues that keep it from being truly great.

Assembly

The device feels great sitting on your hand. The stainless steel frame means it can withstand heavy use, but while the body is indestructible, it may show some scuffs and scratches. The display was made of Corning Gorilla Glass, so there is no need to worry here.

You can take a look at this smartwatch here:

This last feature is very important because you would be surprised if you accidentally hit the watch while twisting your wrist. There is no need to worry about the durability of the rubberized wristband of this device because it can withstand heavy loads. It has built-in things like a conversation device and a camera sensor, so, as practice shows, the device is unlikely to work properly without a bracelet.

It is clear that Samsung designed and manufactured the Gear watch as a single unit, from the dial to the strap, to the clasp. It is not as durable as the steel bracelet on Pebble watches, but, of course, much better than the plastic bracelet from the same company.

You can see different variations of Pebble watches here:

The Galaxy Gear is much more attractive than original watch Pebble, and at least more durable when it comes to the stainless steel dial.

The Gear is waterproof, which means you can't take it in the shower, but if you spill a little water, spill beer, or drool on it, no harm will happen—it will work great. This is also good because the device will be much easier to clean, especially the screen and the parts that are most prone to getting dirty.

If you want a virtually indestructible device, then you'll certainly have to look elsewhere.

Build: 4 out of 5 – Overall build quality is fantastic, but there are some questionable elements, such as the rubberized (and branded) bracelet.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Gear device has hit the market to be one of the most stylish Smartwatch options, at least until a new Android Wear device comes out. The dial and watch case are made of stainless steel. From the contoured shape of the device, you can tell that it fits comfortably on the wrist, and the bracelet is appropriate. Touch screen Protected by Corning Garilla Glass, which means fewer scratches and visible damage.

Samsung Galaxy Gear review. Gadgetarium (video):

This is especially great because the 1.63-inch (41.4 millimeter) screen with a resolution of 320*320 looks quite beautiful, although without HD. What's really important about this screen is that you can see a clear picture in sunny weather, which is important for the time you use the device. On the sides of the frame you will find a lock button and a microphone, and at the bottom there is a charging socket. There is a camera on the top of the bracelet.

In addition, on the bracelet, next to the clasp, you will find a speaker. These positional features indicate that the bracelet is an indivisible part of the device and cannot be detached or modified. This is such a nuisance, because the device would actually look good with a replaced leather strap. The biggest problem is the camera, but it's not that it doesn't work properly, it's that it's simply not needed.

To measure the shooting angle on the Smart Watch, Samsung placed a sensor on the bracelet. If the watch face is located on the top of your wrist and you are looking at it, then the camera is “facing” forward. In fact, taking photos with the camera will not be difficult. And it's more convenient than many might think.

The real problem is that the bulge detracts from the stylish design of the device. As for the dial, what catches your eye is the unsightly arrangement of four bolts. I wouldn't say that this is the thing that makes the device look ugly, but it is nonetheless an aesthetic element that could have been avoided or implemented better.

Check out our other articles:

Design: 4 out of 5 – only minor nuances in Gear This is actually one of the best Smartwatches on the market, but it also depends on what color you choose (some of the bracelet styles are just terrible).

Settings

The Galaxy Gear runs on a special version of the Android platform with Samsung TouchWiz. In the tech world, it is called a forked version of the Android platform because it has essentially been counterfeited by the manufacturer. In this case it is justified because Android platform Not intended for devices with small screens, such as Gear.

Strictly speaking, the Samsung device also became more difficult to set up than something simpler like the Pebble. So what can you configure? You can install apps, personalize gestures and control functions, change font size, and even create custom watch faces through third-party apps.

For the most part, however, what you see when you turn on the machine for the first time is what you get.

You can purchase the Gear watch in several color options, which means that you will actually receive a different color bracelet. Unfortunately, the band itself cannot be detached or modified because it is an integral part of the device and has things like a speaker and camera built into it.

When everything comes together, there's little you can do to personalize the device and make it yours. It's not necessarily a big deal for most people, but it's what you need to get the hang of it.

Customization: 3 out of 5 – Most personal data changes are software based, but you have the ability to see one third of the apps to create custom watch faces, what you see is what you get.

Functionality

As for additional equipment, the Gear comes with micro USB cable, which is the only way to recharge the device. Specifications include an 800 MHz processor coupled with 512 MB of RAM. The device has 4 GB of memory, Bluetooth and several other components, such as an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

Take a look at other fitness watch models:

Using the NFC (non-contact communication) function, you can easily and quickly connect your device to a compatible Samsung smartphone. It is worth noting that a meager 315 mAh will last for less than a day. So you will be charging the device quite often. After the device has been connected to compatible device You will need to do everything necessary through an application called Gear Manager.

This is the Holy Grail of the Gear - the ability to customize settings, install and uninstall apps, and more.

When it comes to the user experience, the device may seem confusing at first, but after a while you will get used to it. In fact, the watch interface is quite large and this is one of the main points.

Of course, the device is not perfect and there are some shortcomings, but the reality is that the device is quite affordable. If a clock appears on the home screen while you have an app open, then the inactivity timeout has expired.

On the home screen, you can swipe to access a module or make a call, swipe down to access the camera, left and right to access apps. Tapping and holding the screen with two fingers will open the full app list while double tap two fingers will show the battery percentage and simple settings. In short, the device seems easy to use, which is important.

When it comes to added functionality, the Gear pairs with your compatible Samsung device so you can receive notifications and make calls from it. There is no other way to say it than “this is exactly what you expected from a Smart Watch.”

Functionality: 4.5 out of 5 – the device functions as you would expect, no more, but no less.

Compatibility

The device is not compatible with a large number of devices, to be precise, only with Samsung devices. Moreover, it is not compatible with a wide range of Samsung mobile phones, only a few of them.

By all rights, the Galaxy Gear watch should be considered one of the most exclusive devices of the year - VIP members only. As they say, Samsung has the majority of the market share when it comes to mobile device owners. If you own a Samsung watch-compatible device, the Gear will work great, otherwise you're just out of luck. You can check the device compatibility with the official and current list by clicking here.

Compatibility: 2 out of 5 – The Samsung Galaxy Gear is only compatible with select Samsung devices and that's the problem.

Conclusion

While the Galaxy Gear is one of the best Smart Watches on the market, there is one glaring problem - it's only compatible with a small number of Samsung phones. This means that if you're shopping for one of Samsung's latest and greatest devices, you'll have to look elsewhere.

The design is attractive, the build quality is excellent, and all the potential is there. There are even some fairly standard options for entering personal information if you want to make the Gear truly yours. Of course, there are some shortcomings, but overall, if you can actually use it, then this is a great device.

You will need a couple of hours Gear smartphone to get over them full advantage, so don't choose the Samsung Galaxy Gear if you think you can use this device without a smartphone. The device costs about $249, I think good way spend money. We hope you enjoy our review of the Galaxy Gear and find it useful in your search for the right Smart Watch. Stay tuned for Galaxy Gear 2 coverage!

Want to know more? Read:

• Samsung announced that the number of applications for...

Date: 12/27/2017 Time: 21:45 75324

Samsung smartwatch users at the beginning of 2017 strongly assumed that the release date of the Samsung Gear S4, or as the new name became known, would fall at the event dedicated to the annual IFA consumer electronics show on August 31 in Berlin, Germany.

However, the Korean manufacturer has announced various wearables that include the Fit 2 Pro and Sport, and has retained the S3 as its flagship model. And while these wearables are top-notch and attractive, many are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Gear S.

When will the Samsung Gear S4 smartwatch be released in Russia? What is the presentation date of the device and what will be its price? We offer you an overview of all the information regarding the long-awaited new smart watches from Samsung.

News and rumors

At the beginning of 2017, the company announced its readiness to begin mass production of the Exynos 7 Dual 7270 processor, which will be the most likely candidate to power the next generation of smartwatches. This processor is faster than its predecessor and includes a smaller 4G LTE modem. This shows that the Korean giant still cares about keeping the S line alive and ready for a new batch in 2018.

Peculiarities

It is hoped that, within its Samsung updates will continue to improve software, working in smart watches. Many agree with the fact that although current smartwatches are quite bulky, they are still stylish and feature-rich. But future software improvements should eliminate some problems, such as inaccurate GPS tracking or questionable heart rate monitor readings. In parallel with the changes in the new version of the watch, the company should also bring improvements to the Gear S3 software.

Charging from a smartphone?

On December 7, 2016, Samsung filed a patent application for a “Wireless Accessory Charger”, which states that “a mobile or wearable device can be charged via an adapter or wireless charging station at low or insufficient power batteries."

The illustrations offered in the document showed the company's smartwatch positioned above a Galaxy smartphone, which is encased in a special case that serves as a docking station.

According to the patent description, the accessory case includes a magnetic coil that allows you to charge the device wirelessly. As we already know, a patent application does not necessarily lead to actual implementation, but it does confirm that companies are looking to solve serious problems such as electromagnetic waves and heat.

Voice assistant?

There are indications that the fourth generation S watch may use a digital voice assistant Samsung Bixby, which is in Galaxy smartphones S8 and S8 Plus.

It's likely that Bixby will take the place of S Voice, as a company spokesperson said that the assistant has been implemented in both the TV and the refrigerator; so why not build it into the watch?

Android Wear?

There are doubts that the South Korean manufacturer will switch to operating Android system Wear from Google, but somehow the upcoming new Gear Watch requires a much larger selection of apps.

And it looks like the company is set to use its own Tizen OS, which recently overtook Android Wear in popularity for the first time, according to a report from Strategy Analytics. During the first quarter of 2017, Tizen had 19% of the overall smartwatch market, compared to Google's platform's 18% (Apple's watchOS held 57% of the market).

So it is obvious that the newcomer to the S series will be equipped with the latest Tizen 3.0 operating system. Let's remember that Tizen 3.0 provided 64-bit compatibility, as well as support for 4K Ultra HD graphics and image and speech recognition, which is great for smartwatches.

What users expect from the new product

The most common question was what the new wearable device would look like. Images of fourth-generation smartwatches appeared on the Internet every now and then. But these were just guesses and assumptions. Let's look at some of them.

Curved Edge screen?

One of the company's patents, provided to Patently Mobile, hints that the watch may have a curved display similar to the Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone. The patent shows a smartwatch with a touch-sensitive strip along the edge of the case. The Gear S3 is known to have a rotating bezel around the watch face, and a patented touch bezel could also become a reality someday.

Flexible display?

The 3Dnews resource published information about a patent that talks about a smartwatch with an optical zoom built into the middle of the dial. The document also highlights the presence of a strap with a screen that holds app shortcuts. This will allow users to use them on the bracelet without having to search through the tiny watch screen.

Korean giant for a long time is working on flexible and curved screens, so it wouldn't be surprising to see the company extend the idea to a watch band. However, let's not forget that a patent often does not go beyond the scope of the idea.

Slim form factor?

Currently, many believe that the watch will have a lot in common with its predecessor S3, but in a thinner body thanks to the new processor. Like the S3, you can expect multiple versions with different bands to suit users' needs in both style and function.

Buyers want the S4 on their wrist to be smaller and slimmer, lighter and sleeker. Even if such an opportunity is available in at least one of the models in this line.

Functions

The S4 is expected to come with a 1.5-inch variant for people with large size wrists. Users are also looking forward to an updated sleep monitoring system that will automatically calculate and recommend rest hours based on the number of calories burned and health data.

Health and fitness

It is known that the manufacturer has focused on fitness and sports with its Gear Sport watches and, most likely, this emphasis will be present in the Samsung Gear S4 2018 generation.

In an interview with the American satellite business news channel CNBC at the beginning of 2017, Samsung Mobile CEO DJ Koh said that “if the company can properly develop smartwatches to monitor health and provide the necessary information, then the market will grow.”

These words should correspond with the rebranding of S Health and even the release of new sensors or additional accessories for the wearable device. For example, the S-Patch 3 health patch, which was presented as a concept in January 2016 at CES, and recently appeared on the FCC list, indicating the company's readiness to launch S-Patch 3 to the masses.

Accurate activity tracking

We're already familiar with the Gear S3, which is packed with fitness tracking features including:

• heart rate monitor
• automatic workout recognition

However, according to user reviews, the device suffers from inaccurate data when tracking exercises. Likewise, the GPS function has become unreliable and disappointingly inaccurate. The same goes for the heart rate monitor.

Fans expect to see improvements to all of these features in the next model.

Other applications

One of the disadvantages of using Tizen's own operating system is the lack of available applications, so users are waiting for a counter-step from the company to be able to use more applications that work with the watch.

Lower price

The third-generation watch has become one of the most attractive watches, offering a reasonable price, rivaling the Apple Watch 2. There is concern that the successor will be an expensive proposition.

While demanding new additional features along with improvements and bug fixes from previous models, users still want the product to be affordable. And if Samsung wants the watch to fly off the shelves in serious numbers, then a lower price would really help with that.

Battery

The Gear S3's battery life is generally quite impressive, but not when using the Always On Display. This is a feature that allows the screen to remain illuminated at all times so you can see the time.

It is very important for users to have a device that is optimized for long-term operation. They hope that the new S4 smartwatch will not only be thinner and lighter, but also offer excellent battery life.

Characteristics

Let's list the possible features, functions and specifications in the upcoming smartwatch.

Release date in Russia and price

So far, there is no clear answer to the question of when the wearable device will be released. Following the company's chronology, the last two watches were announced at the end of August before going on sale in November 2017. Most likely, the new product can be expected at the opening of IFA 2018 in late August - early September. It can also be assumed that the presentation of the next flagship will be along with the announcement of the next flagship Samsung smartphone in February 2018.

The approximate price of the Samsung Gear S4 will be around $600.

Update - 2018.06.27

The upcoming announcement of the Gear S4 may be evidenced by the appearance of a Samsung device on the EEC (Eurasian Economic Commission) website in the Regulatory and Reference Information database in the “Unified Register of Notifications on the characteristics of encryption (cryptographic) means and goods containing them.” And this means that the company is preparing its new device for release.

However, there is no detailed information about the gadget, only the name of the product in the form of 4 model brand names: SM-R800, SM-R805, SM-R810 and SM-R815. Probably, all these models in the line will differ in the presence or absence of some components, such as NFC, LTE, or other characteristics: sizes, materials, straps, color, etc.

Interestingly, the code name SM-R800 has previously appeared in a number of rumors from some news publications.

Update - 2018.07.10

New name for Galaxy Watch (Update 07/10/2018)

A reputable blogger under the nickname Ice Universe posted on his Twitter page the latest information about the upcoming Samsung Gear S4 smartwatch. The leaker noted that there is a possibility that the device will be called Galaxy Watch.

The tweet lists a number of characteristics of the new product, including a 470 mAh battery, the device’s ability to measure blood pressure and interact with the user in a new way. It is also noted that the watch will run on Android Wear, when, like all the company’s current wearable gadgets, they use Tizen OS.

Whether the information from Ice Universe will be confirmed remains to be seen.

Another confirmation that the next watch will have this name is the fact that the company registered the “Samsung Galaxy Watch” logo with the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Korea (KIPO) on June 20 this year.

But the document has the status “Pending examination”, that is, the trademark application was accepted by the Office (corresponds to minimum requirements for submission of applications) and has not yet been transmitted to the experts.

Bixby virtual assistant

According to Sammobile's website, the Gear S4 (Galaxy Watch) will come with Bixby support. This digital assistant has already been used in all flagship Galaxy smartphones, starting with the S8, but it has not yet come to wearable devices. Owners who were lucky enough to interact with voice control, I was impressed by Bixby's ability to do almost everything with just one touch. It is worth noting that the functions voice assistant Currently not available in Russia.

The source claims that Bixby will indeed be present on Samsung's upcoming smartwatch. However, innovation should not add additional button in the device, unlike flagship phones companies. Essentially, Bixby will replace S Voice as your primary virtual assistant on the Gear S4, so it's likely that the watch's home button will be used to access Bixby. And, of course, you can activate the assistant using voice command"Hi, Bixby."

Bixby 2.0 will offer faster response times and will be aimed at "expanding the industry's own ecosystem," Samsung Mobile Division chief DJ Koh said last year.

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