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| Samsung’s Gear S has its own mobile phone built-in for texting, calling and browsing from the wrist. |
Samsung’s Gear S claims to be unique among smartwatches. More than simply a second screen for a smartphone, it is a full mobile phone strapped to the wrist – no need for a separate handset for an internet connection.
It is capable of emailing, sending text messages and making phone calls but can a 2in screen on the arm really replace a smartphone? To find out I wore a Gear S for a week and attempted to leave the smartphone at home.
So how did it go? Well, it didn’t start well … the first thing you notice when breaking the Gear S out of the box is that you can’t actually use it without a smartphone. Despite having its own access to the internet, you need an Android smartphone – a Samsung one to boot – to actually set it up.
The Gear manager app configures email accounts, installs apps and customises the look and feel of the watch. It’s disappointing to have to resort to a smartphone to do this basic stuff.
Many of the apps once installed, including the News Briefing app and the Nike+, demand that you need to “agree to its legal notices” or similar set up procedures on a smartphone.
Initial app setup can possibly be forgiven, but disappointingly it turns out the Gear S can only send and receive email if connected to a smartphone, be that directly via Bluetooth or remotely over Wi-Fi or 3G. If the Samsung smartphone isn’t on or doesn’t have an internet connection you can’t read or compose new email, begging the question: what is the point?
It’s clear that despite technically being able to operate independently from a smartphone, Samsung doesn’t want the Gear S to do so, despite costing over £300.
Specifications
- Screen: 2in curved Super AMOLED
- Operating System: Tizen
- Processor: 1GHz dual-core
- Storage: 4GB
- Connectivity: 3G, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, Wi-Fi
- Dimensions: 39.9 x 58.1 x 12.5mm
- Weight: 67g (black), 84g (white)
‘What’s the weather like in Wimbledon tomorrow?’
Viewing contacts, calendar, setting timers, navigating via Here Maps and viewing the weather work fine on the watch. As does Samsung’s S Voice for dictating text, asking questions about the weather and setting timers, alarms and other built-in features.
Although shouting at the watch works just fine, is not practical in public and … still makes you feel like a burke.
Text messaging works without a smartphone. Sending and receiving texts is quite easy from the wrist. Dictating text is the fastest route, but only for 10 to 15 second bursts after which it will cut out.
Typing out short texts on the virtual keyboard is fine, but you only see two lines of text as the screen is mostly covered by the keyboard, making anything long impractical. The keyboard supports gesture typing too, which proved pretty accurate, but typing for any extended period makes your wrist ache. In the end I resorted to taking it off an holding it like a small phone, which rather defeats its purpose.
Using the Gear S as a phone however is great. You can use it Dick Tracey style, shouting at it with the loud speaker. It works fine with the wrist around chest height, although starts to get drowned out when down by your side.
It’s better using a Bluetooth headset or pair of earphones, that’s when having the phone on your wrist really comes into its own. The one downside is that the Gear S has its own phone number to confuse the issue, but when connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth it will forward calls to the smartphone.
Opera Mini to the rescue?
The Gear S doesn’t come with a web browser out of the box, but Opera Mini is available from the Samsung app store via a smartphone.
Browsing the web is tedious on the small screen, but for quickly checking something it does the job. It can’t seem to play gifs, however.
A calculator app is also available, which makes the Gear S look like the calculator watches from the 1980s.
Samsung’s suite of S Health apps work fine, although the built-in heart rate monitor struggled to keep a consistent lock on my heart rate requiring the smartwatch to be moved further up my arm than I would normally wear a watch.
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| The optical heart rate monitor works fine as long as the watch is high enough up your arm and not next to the wrist bone. |
On the wrist the Gear S is chunky, and struggles to fit under a shirt cuff. It is curved, which fits to the wrist well and has a size adjustable clasp, which makes wearing it comfortable despite its size.
The screen is sharp, colourful and bright, and is readable, if washed out, in direct sunlight. It has a series of customisable watch faces, with more available from Samsung’s app store, which display more than the time.
The face lights when the wrist is turned to save battery. The Gear S lasts for a full day’s usage running on its 3G connection making phone calls, sending texts and emails, or closer to two days when paired to a smartphone over Bluetooth.
It also comes with a snap-on charger, which takes microUSB but also has a battery integrated into it that can do a complete charge on the go. You can’t wear the watch while it’s charging, however.
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| The watch separates from the strap, but third-party straps are not available. |
Price
The Samsung Gear S costs £329, but will also require a separate mobile phone contract to use its 3G connectivity. The Gear S is available with no upfront cost from mobile operators including O2 from around £31 a month for 24 months.
Verdict
The Samsung Gear S has a lot of potential. Its Tizen operating system is easy to navigate, the battery lasts a solid day and the built-in phone and 3G internet connection could be great.
But as it stands Samsung has hobbled the Gear S’s independence. Beyond phone calls, texts and browsing the web, everything else more or less needs a smartphone to act as a relay, which defeats the point of having a phone on your wrist.
The Gear S is an average smartwatch when paired with a Samsung phone and a missed opportunity for something much more. This is not the smartwatch to replace the smartphone.
source: theguardianPros: built-in phone, sends texts, Opera Mini, maps without a smartphoneCons: needs a Samsung smartphone to work properly, needs a separate phone contract to make the most of it, bulky
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