Smartwatch Samsung Gear S3 Frontier SM-R760NDAASER Dark Grey. Samsung Gear S3 Frontier smartwatch review

If smartwatches were a popular product and were purchased out of necessity rather than just curiosity, the Gear S3 Frontier might be recommended. While Apple and Google have grabbed most of the attention in the smartwatch market, Samsung has emerged as a quiet leader, bringing innovative functionality and unique elements to wrist-worn devices. Of course, it also had its mistakes, like the camera in the Galaxy Gear watch strap. However, with each new model, Samsung improves the quality of its watches, becoming a benchmark for other manufacturers.

The culmination of this strategy is . They're not perfect, but after years of experimenting with different concepts and features, the South Korean manufacturer has finally come up with a strong device. If Apple and Google don't pay attention to it, they could lose market share.

Large size

The watch cannot be called the most stylish, but it cannot be called unattractive either. Despite their massive size, they are not uncomfortable. The classic round shape adds appeal, and the traditional silicone band doesn't pinch or scratch the skin like Apple watch bands. However, last year's S2 looks sleeker and it's surprising that Samsung hasn't offered a smaller version for slimmer wrists.

We tested the Frontier version of the watch, which has a bright large screen that stands out against the background of a dark metal case. The large, knurled buttons on the edges of the frame give the watch a rugged appearance, making it reminiscent of the top-of-the-line Casio G-Shock model. Many of the skins here are skeomorphic, showing Samsung's main strategy with the S3: it looks like a watch because it is a watch. Samsung also offers a slightly less robust Gear S3 Classic model.

Good appearance

It's not as easy to install regular watch straps, requiring a special tool or something long and sharp and a fair amount of patience, but Samsung sells enough official straps that you won't have any problems installing. Additionally, the Frontier's silicone strap has a nice pattern and looks like it's made from carbon fiber.

Samsung is once again relying on its patented rotating bezel around the edges of the screen, which is designed to enhance visual appeal while also providing functionality. This watch has a beveled bezel that makes it look like a dive watch, although the IP68 water resistance rating will keep you from going too deep. The frame also protects the screen.

Face to face

As with the S2, there's an Always-on screen option hidden in Settings under Style, and when activated, it makes the smartwatch look like a regular watch. Unfortunately, even with automatic brightness turned on, the screen has a significant impact on battery drain. It lasts all day, but at night you need to charge the watch, otherwise on the second day the 380 mAh battery will not be enough (the S2 has a capacity of 250 mAh). If you were expecting the watch to last for several days without recharging, you will be disappointed.

If you don’t keep the screen constantly on, the watch will work for two days, but even then it’s better to lower the brightness and turn off automatic heartbeat monitoring. However, even after this the clock will not last three days. Samsung uses wireless charging here.

Changes for the better

The rotating frame helps with this, eliminating the need to touch the screen again. It's more precise and natural than the Digital Crown on the Apple Watch, giving you quick access to apps and different screens. Scrolling through menus and text is especially easy when you rotate the frame, as it's easier than clicking on small items on the screen. Even games allow you to use the frame as a control, so this watch is more suitable for gaming than others.

Samsung has built other functionality into the frame, allowing you to rotate it to answer calls or silence notifications, so you can be sure that this element will remain a key element in the company's future watches. The same can be said about other distinctive features of this watch, built-in GPS support and 4G LTE communication standard.

What else

If you forget or deliberately leave your smartphone at home, you will still be in touch. Almost the only thing the watch can't do is take pictures. You'll be able to make and receive calls, receive notifications, send text messages, check sports scores, and everything else you can do on your smartphone if there's an app for it. Of course, the Gear S3 isn't the first watch to support LTE, but it does more than just read emails, messages, and make calls. Samsung gives you the opportunity to explore the world around you with your watch.

To do this, the developers have expanded the capabilities of the watch and turned it into a companion for outdoor activities, offering sensors and applications for tracking movements. The altimeter and barometer measure elevation and sudden changes in atmospheric pressure, the speedometer shows the maximum speed and distance traveled on the bike. As a result, even non-fitness and sports enthusiasts can feel motivated to improve their results.

Pay while playing

Payments worked without problems during testing, but naturally they cannot be used in those terminals where the card must be inserted inside. Note that the Samsung Pay payment system is already supported in Russia. To work with it you do not need to be the owner of the latest Samsung smartphones. The Google Play Store has a Gear app that simulates the experience on a Galaxy S7 smartphone, allowing you to save and use credit cards. In addition to the Galaxy S7, the Frontier watch was tested with a Google Pixel smartphone, the result was almost the same, apart from a few problems with determining the location and receiving notifications.

Non-standard App-titude

To force developers to support the S3, Samsung has made the frame interface available, but the store is not yet full. There are apps from some big brands like ESPN, Uber, and Spotify, but not the much sought after apps like Facebook, Twitter, Nike, or Strava. There are a number of interesting exclusives and excellent watch shells, but many users will find the selection in the store meager.

Samsung says there are approximately 10 thousand apps in the store, but their quality is mostly poor. And there is doubt that it will ever grow.

Should you buy the Samsung Gear S3?

It's hard not to recommend the Samsung Gear S3, but its weak point is its size. For people with thin wrists, mainly women, the watch will be too big. Samsung still sells a smaller S2 model, but the $249 price tag seems steep for last year's technology.

However, the uncertainty of the future of the Android Wear platform makes the S3 an even more attractive choice among smartwatch lovers. It's been over a year since the last significant Android Wear watch came out, and there's no telling when the next one will arrive. Android Wear 2.0 has been delayed for several months and major manufacturers are in no hurry to release new models. Samsung offers a lot of functionality and it's hard to imagine the company like or being able to top these offerings.

Samsung was the first to promise to bring full smartphone functionality to the wrist and delivered on the promise with the Gear S3. Even with the lack of apps, the Frontier watch is a full-fledged product with extensive capabilities that works independently of smartphones, as well as an excellent, optimized operating system. Someday, all watches will be as independent, from luxury ones with diamonds and gold to the cheapest options.

Until those days come, the Gear S3 is the best option.

Pros of the Gear S3

1. The bezel around the edges of the screen looks great and works great
2. Built-in LTE communication standard makes the watch independent
3. Samsung Pay payment system works with MST terminals

Cons of the Gear S3

1. Large size
2. Lack of apps
3. Short battery life

The Gear S2 generation of smartwatches was already sufficiently balanced and functional to speak of their versatility. Three variations gave a choice to girls and boys, housewives and businessmen. Not forgetting, of course, about the group of technology geeks, for whom the main criterion is the need to flash screens and diodes from different places - from pockets to wrists.

Probably based on the sales of these three variations of the Gear S2, the decision was made to update only the Classic and Frontier models. At the same time, the sporty Gear S2 remained available for sale to its audience.

We tested the Gear S3 Classic version, which differs from Frontier in the design of the case and strap, as well as its resistance to high temperatures, shocks and vibrations.

Appearance

As for the design, at the presentation we noted the skillfully made case in the style of premium versions of the classics. The set includes a 22 mm leather strap, which can be replaced if desired. The watch case itself is made of 316L stainless steel and is protected according to the IP68 standard. It is more massive than the second generation.

At one end there are two buttons for navigating the menu. There is a microphone hole under them. At the opposite end there are three speaker holes. Thus, you can use the watch as a hands-free headset.

Very convenient while driving - and absolutely inappropriate when used on the street. Imagine a more or less familiar picture when a passerby speaks in front of him or shouts at his wrist. Now add to that the clock screaming back at him.

The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass SR+, specially released for wearable devices. The display is round in shape, with excellent color reproduction and contrast, inherent only in Super AMOLED technology. Mechanical dials look quite natural. Only the absence of shadows when the lighting changes will reveal their artificiality.

One of the significant design moments is the navigation ring in the Samsung Gear S watch. The process of scrolling texts or selecting the desired item in the menu can be repeated again and again. I want the sound of clicking hinges and the accompanying vibration to never stop.

Personalization - don't be like everyone else

Making something more extravagant out of such a “round” classic is as easy as shelling pears. There are hundreds of watch faces in the app store. Here you will find everything from simulated mechanics with penumbra and moving gears to Lego-style dials, old-school Casio, steampunk or themes from the films “The Matrix”, “Alien” and “Star Wars”. In addition, some splash watch faces have additional color options.

After a positively received function Always On Display in the Galaxy S7 smartphone it also appeared in watches. Yes, the watch screen can work constantly, and some screensavers-clock faces coolly play up the transition from passive to active mode.

A curious thing: the watch monitors whether it is on your hand or not. The Always On feature will only work while you are wearing them.

Really smart

In a sense, the Samsung Gear S3 is a smartphone on your hand. And it’s not just the presence of a dual-core processor and RAM.

While Samsung was developing a community of software developers for the Tizen OS, many popular programs and even games appeared on the market. Yes, yes, the company believes that play Asphalt 8 and Fruit Ninja at a resolution of 360×360 - convenient.

After launching the taxi call application or maps, the watch can no longer use the smartphone navigation, but can independently navigate the terrain thanks to built-in GPS and GLONASS.

Thus, in Ukraine with the help of a watch you can call an Uber driver, look up traffic jams on Yandex Maps, pay for utilities in Portmone.com. Why “in Ukraine”? Well, because just recently we almost said by rote that almost all services in our country are not supported.

This also includes the presence of an NFC module, which makes contactless payment possible, not only through the branded Samsung Pay, but also through the Privat 24 application, specially adapted for watches.

This model has not yet received a digital SIM card module, which would allow you not to be tied to a smartphone and still use the Gear S as a standalone cellular device. However, we have already described the scenario of working as a watch phone above using the example of a situation on the street.

Interface

Watch programs are installed using the Samsung Gear smartphone application. Not only Samsung devices are supported, but also more or less new Android smartphones. iOS support is still in conceptual plans for the future.

The clock itself is set in the same program. True, on a smartphone they are more concerned with the interaction of devices - how to send notifications, transfer music, work with SHealth.

From the watch you configure the screen backlight settings, connection to wireless networks, and notification sounds. Changing dial skins is also done from the watch, but you need to download new ones on your smartphone.

In general, when you select something that cannot be used from the watch screen, the application on the linked smartphone automatically opens.

The watch also has other “smartphone” things, such as setting a PIN code, setting an energy saving mode, the S-Voice voice assistant, reading texts and replying with templates.

You can also increase the sensitivity of the Gear S3 screen so that touches with gloves are recognized.

Anti-sports classic

Software-wise, the Gear S3's fitness features haven't undergone any major changes. The watch can count steps, steps, heartbeats, calories burned, and also give achievements for completing intermediate results, such as 1000 steps taken and a walk of ten minutes.

Yes, if in a couple of days SHealth sees that you are sitting 90% of the time, it will not only begin to remind you to move, but will also praise you more actively for even minimal activity.

Despite this, the Gear S3 Classic is poorly suited to the role of a sports gadget. Yes, the watch measures a lot and is not afraid of water, but it is large and chrome-plated. In addition, the leather strap will not allow you to swim, but it is easy to sleep with them give a black eye to your loved one in the middle of the night.

While they are perfectly suited to the role of replacing a classic or a geeky gadget, running with them is uncomfortable. In this regard, a more successful version for an active lifestyle is the Gear S3 Frontier version.

There is also baro-altimeter, a rare thing for modern wearable devices. More often it is found in specialized sports watches, tailored for specific sports.

The peculiarity of its operation is that in order to obtain data on the current atmospheric pressure, the sensor needs calibration. And for this we need current information about the pressure at a known altitude at a given geographical point. In theory, this information could be provided by a weather service. But conventional services do not update this information often enough and do not do it geographically accurately.

How long do they live?

A very important question in view of the number of sensors this watch is packed with.

The increased size of the case played into the hands in this regard. It accommodates a larger 380 mAh battery. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to fully charge from the wireless docking station.

If you don’t receive all notifications in a row, reduce the brightness of the backlight, measure your pulse once or twice a day and check what time it is a dozen times, then a full battery charge will last for five days work.

Add to this the introductory reading of letters and SMS, increased display brightness and activity tracking, you can not charge the watch for about four days.

If you want everyone around you to check out the animation of the new screensaver dial, and to receive notifications from your smartphone about every sneeze on social networks, then prepare to charge your watch every two days.

Is it a lot or a little? Gear S2 lived for about the same four days. The new Pebble 2 with a seemingly economical E Ink screen and heart rate monitor, the test of which is already being prepared by our Test Laboratory, can last one or two days.

Taking into account the excellent screen, sufficient performance and lack of lags, the number of sensors and sensors, we can say that the autonomy of the Gear S3 is at a very good level.

Conclusions

Note that the addition of a number of features missing from the Gear 2 and Gear S2 made the purchase of the new generation more rational. You truly get a self-contained wearable gadget.

Gear S3 looks even nicer and more organic. Especially the Frontier model. The ability to change straps, the variety of dials and the always-on display only encourage the creation of an individual image.

In addition, they will have to be charged no more than once every couple of days. The set of sensors and the ever-expanding base of applications in the Gear S3 model will qualitatively expand the lineup of Samsung smartwatches.

And for all their advanced features and pleasant little touches during user interaction, we give them a well-deserved Editors' Choice.

Grade:

Case design

Replaceable straps

Lots of applications

Personalization

– overall body of the Classic model

Lead an active lifestyle with the Gear S3 frontier. Smart watches combine exceptional style and reliability. Equipped with a 316L stainless steel alloy body, shockproof, they work even in high and low temperatures. Laser engraving on the knurled bezel of the Gear S3 frontier not only highlights its unique design, but also enhances its usability.

Innovation in a rugged package

The Gear S3 frontier combines the best of traditional watches with innovative devices. One glance is enough to appreciate their stunning design. A comfortable strap, a unique rotating bezel, a clear dial and a powerful battery make the smartwatch so incredibly convenient to use and allow you to use it for up to 4 days without recharging.

Always active screen

The updated full-color always-on screen is virtually indistinguishable from the classic watch face. Choose the interface that suits you. The watch comes pre-loaded with 15 screen designs, and you'll find even more in Galaxy Apps! Make your watch truly unique!

Control with one movement!

Enjoy the ease of use of the Gear S3 frontier. Manage notifications, adjust volume, answer calls by simply rotating the bezel left or right. You can easily operate your watch even with wet hands or gloves.

Call from your smart watch!

Let the Gear S3 frontier be your smartphone. The built-in speaker and microphone allow you to make and receive calls without your smartphone and listen to voice messages and reminders. (Voice calls require a Bluetooth connection to your smartphone and the Samsung Gear app on your phone.) Plus, you can enjoy your favorite tracks with the built-in music player.

Built-in GPS

With the Gear S3 frontier, you'll never go astray from your intended route again, even without a smartphone. Thanks to the built-in GPS, you can build walking routes, calculate the distance to your destination, and even find the best cafes and restaurants nearby.

Built-in sensors

Gear S3 frontier is equipped with a barometer and constantly monitors pressure, informing you of any unexpected or expected changes in as much detail as necessary to plot a new route. An altimeter and speedometer help you track your speed and show your current altitude. Smart watches allow you to always be one step ahead.

Tracks for the road

Connect your Bluetooth headphones and listen to your favorite tracks during workouts and trips! 4 GB of internal memory in the Gear S3 frontier allows you to take your favorite music with you, even without a smartphone. Listening to music from online resources is possible if Wi-Fi is available.

4 days without recharging!

Thanks to the capacious battery, you can go without charging for up to 4 days! Battery charge time may vary depending on usage and settings.

Water and dust protection

Wear the Gear S3 frontier in any weather, in any situation. IP68 water and dust resistance allows the watch to withstand immersion in fresh water to a depth of 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. (Not suitable for diving and swimming)

SOS messages quickly and easily

Simply press the Home key three times to instantly send your location to your selected contacts. They will be able to track your movements in real time. The service is provided by the Glympse platform. Available services may vary by country and region.

More than 10,000 applications

You don't need a smartphone to download apps for the Gear S3 frontier. Just go to Galaxy Apps from the Gear S3 frontier screen and download the apps you trust, the ones you can't live without, or the ones you've always wanted to try! Easier than ever!

Setup and compatibility with smartphones

Setting up the Gear S3 is as easy as it is using it. To connect the Gear S3 to your smartphone, open the Samsung Gear App on your smartphone and follow the onscreen instructions. Gear S3 is compatible with many other smartphones. Gear S3 connects to smartphones running Android 4.4 or higher and equipped with more than 1.5 GB of RAM, as well as iPhone 5 and newer smartphones running iOS 9.0 and higher. (Some Samsung features may not be available on smartphones from other manufacturers)

Samsung Pay

Make purchases with your Gear S3 using Samsung Pay! The Samsung Gear S3 device fully supports the payment service, allowing you to pay for purchases at terminals that accept regular bank cards. All you need to do is connect the Gear S3 to your smartphone (a smartphone running Android 4.4.4 or higher, compatible with the Samsung Gear app with Samsung Pay functionality on the Gear S3)!

Which I really liked then. Which was quite strange, because previous attempts by Koreans to make watches caused slight bewilderment.

Over the past year, my opinion about watches has not changed, but on the contrary, it has improved. For two reasons.

Firstly, after the review was published, they pointed out an inaccuracy to me: it turned out that the Gear S2 still knew how to keep the display on and show the time constantly. It’s just that this function was hidden quite deep into the watch itself. But initially everything was limited to a monochrome picture (white on black), which looked rather boring against the backdrop of the color dials of watches with Android Wear. But Samsung updated the firmware, after which color dials appeared in abundance. Let me emphasize that we are talking about color in standby mode. In active mode, the picture is full color, there is an excellent Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 360x360 pixels.

Secondly, there was simply a gigantic amount of watch faces for Gear 2. Tizen, let's say, is not the most widespread platform, and I never expected such diversity. And here there are both free and paid ones - you’ll get tired of choosing. My heart finally sank when dials appeared for the Gear S2 that copied the design of the “Commander” watch. This is probably not very good from the point of view of compliance with copyrights, but wearing smart “Commander” cards on your hand, and even constantly changing the design, is cool.

For me personally, the Gear S2 and the second-generation Moto 360 are quite equivalent. Both from the point of view of functionality and from the point of view of convenience. Samsung makes it very convenient to control using a rotating bezel, but Android Wear is not a hassle at all. The hardware of the watches is almost the same, and therefore they probably consume the same battery. By evening I usually had about 60% charge left. I don’t like survival experiments; I always put the watch on the docking station at night.

At the end of summer, Samsung announced a new model, the Gear S3. Any day now they will be sold in Russia, but I’ve already been wearing them for a week and am impressed.

What's the difference?

I’ll say right away that I studied the Gear S3 Classic, not the Gear S3 Frontier. The latter is distinguished by the presence of a SIM card inside and a radically black body color. I also need a SIM card in a watch, but the black case looks much better than the steel one. I hope that one day it will migrate to Classic.

It's immediately noticeable that the Gear S3 is much larger and thicker. In numbers, the difference does not look very significant - the screen diagonal has increased from 1.2 inches to 1.3 (at the same resolution), and the thickness from 11.4 to 12.9 mm. The weight has grown from 47 grams to 59 (excluding the strap). Everyone likes watches in different sizes. Personally, the dimensions of the younger Moto 360 and Gear S2 seem optimal to me, but there are many men who prefer something more substantial. The Gear S3 is designed specifically for them. They are not huge, but really large, and you can see them from afar.

There are only two major hardware changes compared to Gear2.

The first is the appearance of a built-in speaker, so now you can talk for hours without a phone in hands-free mode. Motorists will definitely love this.

The second is a GPS receiver (also called GLONASS). Now, with Samsung watches, like the new Apple Watch, you can run without your phone, and they will record everything.

The remaining changes would be more accurately called cosmetic. The amount of RAM has increased - from 512 megabytes to 768. It’s hard to feel it. The volume of onboard flash remains the same, 4 GB. Instead of the Exynos 3250 SoC there is a new Exynos 7270, but there are the same number of cores (2) and the same operating frequency (1 GHz). Most likely, the advantage is only in power consumption, because the clocks are the same in operating speed. Still, the Tizen platform is in full control of Samsung, and it would be a sin not to optimize it for its own hardware.

The battery capacity has increased from 250 mAh to 380 mAh. By smartphone standards this is nothing, but by watch standards it’s a big step forward. Samsung promises up to four days of operation without recharging. My watch is new, the battery has not yet been trained, so it’s too early to judge the battery life. It happens that you use up 18% of the charge in a day, and sometimes you use up 35%. So I can only guarantee two days without recharging. The rest depends on the load, the watch face you're using, and your need to keep the screen lit all the time.

Everything else about the Gear S3 is the same as the Gear S2. IP68 water resistance, accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate monitor, barometer, light sensor... If you like the idea of ​​paying by the hour, it is also present in the S3, and if in the S2 Samsung Pay only worked with contactless terminals, then in the S3 they also added magnetic stripe emulation .

Personal impressions

I understand why Samsung decided to keep the screen resolution the same on larger (and more expensive) watches. For compatibility. Running after developers and persuading them to make new versions of watch faces and applications is quite troublesome (and expensive).

But still I cannot support this decision. Highly detailed watch faces that look like they've been painted on the Gear S2 show a bit of grain on the S3. No, it's okay. And, probably, if I had not walked with S2 for a long time before this, I would not have noticed anything at all. But, given the circumstances, I notice.

The bezel has grown along with the watch, becoming heavier and more difficult to turn. Perhaps it’s also the fact that on S2 the finger touches the teeth on the sides, which enhances grip, but here the finger slides along a wide strip of steel. Another small thing. And again - I notice.

In general, I rather like the increased dimensions. I don't have any strict preferences. In my huge collection of analog watches there are both very small and huge pieces, and there was something to suit everyone’s mood. Perhaps (perhaps) the watch should have been thinner by about 0.5 mm. But, rest assured, there will be those who would like to add half a centimeter on the contrary.

The Gear S3 will keep a very close eye on you by default. “Wow, you’ve walked so many steps!”, “Hey, you’ve climbed five floors!”, “Hey, why did you sit too long, come on, go walk!” This can be turned off, or you can leave it - as you like. The radius within which the watch works with a smartphone via Bluetooth remains the same, and if you go beyond it, the watch will switch to Wi-Fi and continue sending notifications.

The main impression from the Gear S3 is that they are big. From a user experience point of view, everything is very, very similar. However, watches on Android Wear can do the same thing.

Yes, it’s worth clarifying that the watch works with almost any Android device (from version 4.4) and is partially compatible with the iPhone. That is, at the level of warnings about calls and messages. Full support for iOS is promised in the first quarter of 2017, but there is a small nuance: they started promising it back at the end of 2015...

Price and selection

I don’t yet know the official price of the Gear S3 Classic in Russia. In the States they cost $299 excluding sales tax, which in our money means about 21 thousand rubles. I can assume that a copy from the official supply will cost 24,990 rubles. The version with a SIM card (Frontier) costs the same.

At the same time, the official price of the Gear S2 Classic in Russia is 19,990 rubles, but can easily be found for 16-17 thousand. There are no plans to discontinue the previous generation yet.

Which option should I choose? If you need hands-free calling by the clock, take the Gear S3. It’s the same story if you run a lot and it’s important to overlay routes on the map.

Otherwise, everything depends only on size. If you want something bigger and more impressive, we take the S3. Do you prefer the compact version – S2. In any case, you won't be able to save much. If you are just trying to decide whether a smart watch is needed in principle, the cheapest and most decent ticket to this world is.

We constantly hear that smart watches “didn’t work” and that they are not needed. But myself, being a watch lover with considerable experience, I can only look at ordinary watches from the point of view of a collector. And only smart people can wear it.

Samsung Gear S3, despite significant changes in design, represents a smooth evolutionary development of ideas from S2, without turning its predecessors into archaism. You can choose calmly. Choice is wonderful.

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The new Gear S3 was presented to the public at the presentation as part of IFA 2016. Like its predecessors, the curved Gear S and the first round watch Samsung Gear S2, the new watch has attracted a lot of attention from the public, and it’s not just a big name, but also a great combination stylish appearance, advanced characteristics and thoughtful interface.

Samsung watches, like a year ago, came out in two modifications: now they are called Classic and Fronter. The differences between them are minor, but we will mention them where necessary.

Package immediately puts you in the right mood: she is round and discreet.

Scope of delivery quite predictable: a smaller replaceable strap, a charger, a docking station and a small instruction manual.

Design largely retained the same features: round case, steel edging, rotating bezel for control. Classic are executed a little more gracefully, Frontier - rougher, this is clearly a purely masculine version. The difference is mainly in the design of the bezel (polished metal or notches) and buttons.

At the same time, the watch became slightly larger: dimensions 6 × 49 × 12.9 mm, the weight of the Classic model was 57 g, and the Frointer model weighed 62 g.

On the right side we see a couple of buttons through which the device is controlled.

On the left are subtle microphone holes.

On the back there is a heart rate sensor.

The strap fastening is standard, 22 mm, so you can always easily replace it with the model you like. The clasp is also standard, strong and reliable.

There is dust and moisture protection that meets the IP68 standard; Fronter is also protected from shaking, shocks and falls.

Display made using Super AMOLED technology and has a resolution of 360x360 pixels on a 1.3-inch diagonal. It is covered with Gorilla Glass SR+, created specifically for wearable devices.

The Gear S3's screen has all the characteristics typical of Amoleds: high brightness and contrast, good viewing angles and deep blacks. All this gives the display excellent readability, sufficient even outdoors on a sunny day.

The watch also boasts a light sensor.

Control for hours it is implemented conveniently: the rotating bezel is responsible for scrolling through the menu, and answering calls and messages, buttons for going back and quickly going to the main screen, and everything else can be done using the touch screen.

A prerequisite here is the installation of the proprietary Samsung Gear application, through which the watch is configured and programs are installed on it.

operating system hasn't changed either. This is Tizen OS version 2.3.2 with a slightly increased set of software. We've already studied it in detail in our Gear S2 review. In principle, there are already enough applications for smartwatches. Without exoticism and outright stupidity, but everything you need is already in the list of applications.

Voice input is provided for typing messages and other information.

And a lot of different dials have been developed to suit every taste, color and need. Moreover, the dials can be changed at least several times a day: for work with one, for training with another.

Speaking of training, everything is fine with the fitness functions: there is sleep monitoring, a pedometer, a heart rate monitor, etc.

There is support for Samsung Pay, which recently appeared in our latitudes.

On watches, Tizen OS has already proven itself well: it works quickly and smoothly, without glitches, and the interface, tailored to a specific screen, looks very harmonious.

Filling The clock is quite predictable: it is based on a dual-core Exynos 7270 processor, made using a 14-nm process technology, its clock frequency is 1.2 GHz, 768 MB of RAM, and a built-in 4 GB storage.

Thanks to the presence of a speaker and microphone, the watch can broadcast calls coming to the phone.

Interfaces varied and mostly familiar: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS and GLONASS are used for navigation.

There is also a Frontier modification equipped with a 3G/LTE cellular communication module, but for us this option is not interesting at all due to the use of e-SIM technology, which is not supported by our operators.

Autonomy at 3-4 days - always good news for smartwatch owners. It is guaranteed by a 380 mAh battery.

By the way, the watch has wireless charging, but here you have to come to terms with the duration of this procedure: from zero to maximum the battery will charge in about 2.5 hours.

Generally, Gear S3 is a really interesting step in the evolution of Samsung smartwatches: increased autonomy, stylish appearance, although not universal (yes, we admit, you can’t wear such a watch with an evening dress), but very pleasant. Tizen OS is difficult to attribute to the advantages or disadvantages of the device: on the one hand, the operating system is good in itself and has a sufficient set of applications, on the other hand, it is opposed by a seasoned competitor in the form of Android Wear with frequent and impressive updates and a very large set of software.

Of course, the watch may not suit you. For example, you have very thin wrists, on which such a colossus would simply look out of place, or you don’t need a smart watch at all. Moreover, as just an accessory they cost a lot: in Europe their cost starts from 400 euros.