Smart watch Samsung Galaxy Gear. Review of smart watches Samsung Galaxy Gear SM-V700

Information about the make, model, and alternative names of the specific device, if available.

Design

Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Materials used, colors offered, certificates.

Width Width information - refers to the horizontal side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	36.8 mm (millimeters) 3.68 cm (centimeters) 0.12 ft (feet) 1.45 in (inches)
Height Height information - refers to the vertical side of the device in its standard orientation during use.	56.6 mm (millimeters) 5.66 cm (centimeters) 0.19 ft (feet) 2.23 in (inches)
Thickness Information about the thickness of the device in different units of measurement.	11.1 mm (millimeters) 1.11 cm (centimeters) 0.04 ft (feet) 0.44 in (inches)
Weight Information about the weight of the device in different units of measurement.	73 g (grams) 0.16 lbs 2.6 oz (ounces)

Operating system

An operating system is a system software that manages and coordinates the operation of hardware components in a device.

SoC (System on Chip)

A system on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device on one chip.

SoC (System on Chip) A system on a chip (SoC) integrates various hardware components, such as a processor, graphics processor, memory, peripherals, interfaces, etc., as well as the software necessary for their operation.	Samsung Exynos 4 Dual 4212
Technological process Information about technological process, on which the chip is made. Nanometers measure half the distance between elements in the processor.	32 nm (nanometers)
Processor (CPU) The primary function of a mobile device's processor (CPU) is to interpret and execute instructions contained in software applications.	ARM Cortex-A9
Processor size The size (in bits) of a processor is determined by the size (in bits) of the registers, address buses, and data buses. 64-bit processors have higher performance compared to 32-bit processors, which in turn are more powerful than 16-bit processors.	32 bit
Instruction Set Architecture Instructions are commands with which the software sets/controls the operation of the processor. Information about the instruction set (ISA) that the processor can execute.	ARMv7
Level 1 cache (L1) Cache memory is used by the processor to reduce access time to more frequently used data and instructions. L1 (level 1) cache is small in size and works much faster as system memory, and other levels of cache memory. If the processor does not find the requested data in L1, it continues to look for it in the L2 cache. On some processors, this search is performed simultaneously in L1 and L2.	32 kB + 32 kB (kilobytes)
Level 2 cache (L2) L2 (level 2) cache is slower than L1 cache, but in return it has a higher capacity, allowing it to cache more data. It, like L1, is much faster than system memory (RAM). If the processor does not find the requested data in L2, it continues to look for it in the L3 cache (if available) or in RAM memory.	1024 kB (kilobytes) 1 MB (megabytes)
Number of processor cores The processor core executes software instructions. There are processors with one, two or more cores. Having more cores increases performance by allowing multiple instructions to be executed in parallel.	1
CPU clock speed The clock speed of a processor describes its speed in terms of cycles per second. It is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	800 MHz (megahertz)
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Graphics processing unit (GPU) handles calculations for various 2D/3D graphic applications. In mobile devices, it is most often used by games, consumer interfaces, video applications, etc.	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Number of GPU cores Like a CPU, a GPU is made up of several working parts called cores. They handle graphics calculations for various applications.	4
GPU clock speed Running speed is the clock speed of the GPU, measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).	400 MHz (megahertz)
Amount of random access memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is used by the operating system and all installed applications. Data stored in RAM is lost after the device is turned off or restarted.	512 MB (megabytes)

Built-in memory

Each mobile device has built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed capacity.

Screen

The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.

Type/technology One of the main characteristics of the screen is the technology by which it is made and on which the quality of the information image directly depends.	Super AMOLED
Diagonal For mobile devices, screen size is expressed by the length of its diagonal, measured in inches.	1.63 in (inches) 41.4 mm (millimeters) 4.14 cm (centimeters)
Width Approximate screen width	1.15 in (inches) 29.28 mm (millimeters) 2.93 cm (centimeters)
Height Approximate screen height	1.15 in (inches) 29.28 mm (millimeters) 2.93 cm (centimeters)
Aspect Ratio The ratio of the dimensions of the long side of the screen to its short side	1:1 1:1
Permission Screen resolution shows the number of pixels vertically and horizontally on the screen. Higher resolution means clearer image detail.	320 x 320 pixels
Pixel Density Information about the number of pixels per centimeter or inch of the screen. More high density Allows you to display information on the screen with clearer details.	278 ppi (pixels per inch) 109 ppcm (pixels per centimeter)
Color depth Screen color depth reflects the total number of bits used for color components in one pixel. Information about the maximum number of colors that the screen can display.	24 bit 16777216 flowers
Other characteristics Information about other screen features and characteristics.	Capacitive Multi-touch Scratch resistance

Sensors

Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that a mobile device can recognize.

Main camera

The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on the back of the body and is used for taking photos and videos.

Sensor type Digital cameras use photo sensors to take photographs. The sensor, as well as optics, are one of the main factors in the quality of the camera in a mobile device.	CMOS BSI (backside illumination)
Image Resolution One of the main characteristics of mobile device cameras is their resolution, which shows the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in the image.	1392 x 1392 pixels 1.94 MP (megapixels)
Video resolution Information about the maximum supported resolution when shooting video with the device.	1280 x 720 pixels 0.92 MP (megapixels)
Video - frame rate/frames per second. Information about the maximum number of frames per second (fps) supported by the device when shooting video with maximum resolution. Some of the main standard video shooting and playback speeds are 24p, 25p, 30p, 60p.	30fps (frames per second)
Characteristics Information about other software and hardware features related to the main camera and improving its functionality.	Autofocus Optical zoom

Radio

The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between various devices of different types over short distances.

Headphone jack

This is an audio connector, also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Connecting devices

Information about other important connection technologies supported by your device.

Audio file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different audio file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital audio data.

Video file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different video file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital video data.

Sensational, but far from perfect smartwatches

2013 was definitely the year of wearables. True, hours Apple world it never came (although rumors about it circulated throughout the year), but there were some big 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 managed to release the most different manufacturers. And the most sensational announcement was Samsung watches - 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 look at the technical Samsung specifications 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.

Besides, 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 it was 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 equipment

Because the 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 a charger.

With the exception of the contacts, the entire cradle is made of gray plastic. On the top of the cradle (where Samsung inscription) the plastic has a slight 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 your smartphone on left hand screen outward 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 watch, then here, of course, it should be noted that this is rather an option for men who prefer massive models. They are too big for a woman's hand. The case of traditional watches is two times thinner, and even square iPod nano, which many people loved to wear on their hands, also looked much more elegant. 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 to call it very stylish is to say that someone would want to buy it precisely because appearance, I'd be careful.

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 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 main 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, which 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 maximum value brightness 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 is in this case simply not applicable. 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 current time. That is, in order to simply find out the time, you don’t even need to touch the screen, but when you don’t look at the clock, the screen doesn’t light up and doesn’t 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 on the 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.

First, there are notifications (perhaps the most important element of a smartwatch). Secondly, the voice assistant S Voice, an 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 the full list of installed applications (in addition to the above, they include “Archive”, “Journals”, “Camera”, “Contacts”, “Dialing”). numbers", "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 set up things like the screen automatically turning on when you move 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 must 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 clock you need Galaxy app Gear Manager, which is installed on a 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 possible settings- 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 available applications was 89, which, frankly speaking, 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 it’s probably not 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, you can use a smartphone as a remote display, but this is quite pointless, since the task becomes more complicated, and the camera of the smartphone itself clearly takes better pictures.

And yet, the camera in the watch is not so handy tool. To do nice shot, you need to try. You can't get a decent result by simply 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 becomes meaningless if you have a smartphone.

Please note that photographs and videos taken on Samsung camera Galaxy Gear automatically ends up on 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, it is impossible to measure the battery life of Samsung Galaxy Gear watches in any objective way, 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 your watch to be notified of, you mark in the Galaxy Gear Manager, and the more often you access the watch screen, the faster the battery will drain.

It can be said unequivocally that the maximum at everyday use- this is three to four days, at least one day (you are unlikely to be able to discharge the clock faster, unless you set such a task 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 a watch is added to them...

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, it’s very upsetting limited functionality, strict binding to several devices from the same manufacturer, unintuitive process of connecting the watch to a smartphone and shortcomings in the software interface. 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 Samsung features 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.

Globally speaking, the Samsung Galaxy Gear watch is not so bad as to cause mass disappointment in the very idea of ​​​​smart watches, but not so good as to make people run to stores in droves for a new product, as was the case when, say, the advent of, say, a smart watch appeared. first iPad. 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

Recently launched in Russia official sales smart watch Samsung Gear S3, inheriting elements of the “ancestor” Gear S2 and expressing them in a new combination of design and functionality. Today we will look at what innovations Samsung has implemented in this device.

Specifications

• Screen: 1.3", IPS Super AMOLED, 16 million colors, 360x360 pixels, capacitive, 392 ppi;
• Operating system: Tizen 2.3.2;
• Processor: Exynos 7270, 1 GHz;
• RAM: 750 MB;
• Built-in memory: 4 GB;
• Battery: Li-Ion 380 mAh;
• Dimensions: 49 x 46 x 12.9 mm;
• Weight: 59 g (Classic), 63 g (Frontier);
• Communication: WIFI: 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2 (A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP), GPS/GLONASS;
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, barometer, light sensor;
• Available versions: Classic, Frontier.

Equipment

The watch is supplied in a cylindrical box made of thick matte black cardboard. The design of the lid is made in the form of a now popular technique - relief concentric circles. The company and model names are embossed. Depending on the version, the color of the top edge varies.

Unpacking is the main ritual after purchase, on which the first impression of the type of device depends. The Samsung Gear S3 is straightforward in this regard. You lift the top part of the “cylinder” - and there the watch lies beautifully on a stand for wireless charging, and the inscription “Samsung” is engraved, like the signature of the author. As they say, “you just have to extend your hand and they are yours.”

The above is placed on a plastic platform (the entire inner surface of the box is made of plastic), under which there are a user manual and a warranty card, in which everything is written in a tiny font; to read it, you need to strain your eyes, as well as a 5V 0.7A charger with a wire 1 meter long, which connects to a magnetic stand via a microUSB connector.

Appearance and features

The overall appearance of both versions of the Gear S3 is relatively similar, with a stainless steel composite body held together by four screws. A metal bezel rotates around the 1.3-inch display, making it easy to navigate through the interface. The watch has a standard 22 mm strap mount - this expands the possibilities for customizing the appearance, limiting only the variety of straps available.

The lower part is identical in both cases and contains an optical heart rate monitor with two LEDs, inscriptions indicating the model name, country of manufacture - Vietnam, and CE marking.

On the right side of the watch there are two buttons: “back” and “home”, next to the second there is a microphone.

On the other side there are three small speaker holes.

External differences concern the front part. Starting from the color (black for Frontier and silver chrome for Classic) and the shape of the buttons, to the material of the strap (genuine leather for Classic and silicone for Frontier), as well as weight - the weight of the watch officially indicated by the manufacturer is 59 and 63 g for Classic and Frontier respectively, but due to the straps the weight increases to 72 and 87 g, which is already more noticeably felt during direct use.

Samsung Gear S3 is protected according to the IP68 standard, which means complete protection from dust and moisture, as well as immersion in fresh water up to one and a half meters for 30 minutes, however, the manufacturer on the official website and in the instructions for quick start notes that swimming, showering and diving are prohibited in them. Consultant in official store Samsung, on the contrary, assured that you can swim in them calmly. It is worth noting that the warranty does not cover damage caused by disruption or interruption of operation of the device due to flooding.

Unfortunately, in practice we were not able to test their water resistance, since someone opened the samples before us and did not tighten the screws completely, we decided not to risk it.
The Gear S3 Frontier also differs from the Classic in that it can withstand extreme temperature changes.

Regarding shock resistance, it is assumed that the steel case should withstand a normal drop from a height of one and a half meters (the typical height when putting a watch on the wrist), and the protruding bezel should protect the screen from direct impact. physical impact. The display itself is protected from scratches and can withstand accidental contact even with metal objects such as a subway handrail or a car door.

Despite the same price for both versions, Frontier looks more expensive than Classic. It seems that the Classic was created as an addition to the "core" Frontier. Perhaps it’s the “whale” strap; on the Classic it looks rustic, poor, and not at all elegant, while on the Frontier it only adds even more brutality.

Frontier is very difficult to put on due to the thick silicone strap, which does not slip at all, but it is wider and fits snugly on the hand, and also better withstands diving, temperature changes and other extreme situations. Classics, on the contrary, are aimed at calm behavior of the “wearer”; with classic analogue dials, they look like ordinary wristwatches, which is why the user will be able to surprise “unenlightened” friends by raising his hand to see the time, and then twist the bezel to check the weather, notifications, find out the latest news, or even answer a call or write an SMS.

Display

What makes the Samsung Gear S3 look like a watch is its 1.3-inch (32.9 mm) round screen, equipped with an IPS Super AMOLED matrix with a resolution of 360x360 pixels, the density of which is 392 ppi. The clarity of the image is colossal, even the smallest symbols of the additional dials are visible without graininess.

The degree of brightness change is measured in 10 points, but the function adaptive adjustment depending on the lighting eliminates the problem of constant adjustment.
Color rendition on top level, viewing angles are as wide as the maximum angle possible when looking at the watch.
The screen is covered with a layer of scratch-resistant glass and has an oleophobic coating.

The Always-on-display feature, as the name suggests, instead of turning off the screen, reduces the backlight level to a minimum so that the user does not have to shake his hand to activate the clock and see the time.

Iron

Samsung has equipped the Gear S3 with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A53 1 GHz Exynos 7270 processor, built on a 14 nm process technology that provides lower power consumption and improved performance (The Gear S2 uses Exynos 3250, 28 nm, ARM Cortex-A7, 1 GHz).

Apps and watch faces installed on watches do not require as many resources as, for example, smartphones, so 750 MB of RAM (500 MB in Gear S2) is enough for fast switching between Tizen OS interface elements.

Of the 4 GB of internal memory, only 1.6 GB is available to the user. They can be used as a storage for installed applications, images both sent to the Gear, and screenshots of the watch itself, as well as music tracks for playback by the built-in player through the watch’s speaker or a Bluetooth headset connected to it.

On the back of the Gear S3 there is an optical heart rate sensor that reads very clearly, accurately repeating the rhythm of the heartbeat during the measurement process.

For lovers of hiking (especially mountain hiking), the Samsung Gear S3 has a built-in barometer and altimeter. The first measures pressure in hectopascals (hPa) and inches of mercury (inHg), and also shows a graph of further pressure changes based on data for the last 6 hours. If we convert hPa to mmHg. and compare with a regular home barometer, the difference in readings is minimal.
Altimeter (altimeter) is a device for measuring the altitude of an object’s “flight” based on GPS data.
Samsung Gear S3 has a built-in NFC module for using the service Samsung Pay.

The watch can work both in tandem with a smartphone and as an independent device; for this you need to activate Offline mode, which breaks the Bluetooth connection with the smartphone and all functions such as answering calls, showing notifications, receiving messages, etc. Uses built-in Wi-Fi to install apps and watch faces, and Bluetooth for connectivity wireless headphones. This mode is intended primarily for training without a smartphone.

Software

Samsung Gear S3 runs on an open platform operating system on the base Linux kernels- Tizen 2.3.2, adapted for the “watch” shell.
The public today debates especially actively about the benefits and functionality of smart watches, because the wearable electronics market is “blooming”, new players are appearing, and competition is growing.

Some say it's a waste Money, and those who confirm the benefits are divided into two “camps” - the first put sports functions at the forefront (pedometer, altimeter, heart rate monitor with appropriate software, etc.), and the second believe that it is not the functionality that is important, but the design and first of all, convenience, manifested in the fact that the watch allows you to constantly stay up to date with events, and not waste energy every time taking the phone out of your pocket (new notifications, instant reading and replying to messages, checking the weather, BT headset functions, etc.) etc.), and fitness functions are perceived only as an addition.

Samsung Gear S3 may well reconcile the controversial supporters of smart watches, as it perfectly combines functions that will suit everyone.

To connect the Gear S3 to a smartphone and configure some programs, you need to install the Gear S application, available on Google Play and AppStore; the features and nuances of how the application works with iOS and Android will be discussed below.

The watch face is the central element of the “home page”, where you can add widgets and switch between them on the right side, and to the left of the watch face you can scroll through new notifications.

Pressing the home button opens a list of installed applications. They are also arranged in a circle. Some pre-installed applications aimed at quick access to smartphone functions:

• Phone - opens a list of recent calls, contacts, and also allows you to dial any number and call directly from the watch.
• Contacts - allows you to select a contact (search) and call or send SMS directly from the watch. There are 4 types of input available to choose from: keyboard, dictation, drawing, emoticons.

• Weather - updates the weather data of cities selected in the Gear S application via a smartphone and displays the information on the watch screen.

• Music - combines the function of controlling music playback on a smartphone and a full-fledged mp3 player. Selected tracks are transferred to the watch's internal memory via the Gear S app on your smartphone.

• S Voice is a voice assistant similar to Siri, capable of many things - from calling a contact or phone number, to viewing weather data, getting directions and searching for places. Displays information on the screen of a watch or smartphone.

• Organizer applications: Reminders, Calendar, World clock, Alarm clock.

• Flipboard News Briefing - a short, up-to-date news digest.

• Find Phone is a useful utility that triggers a beep on your smartphone. Helps to find it not only if it goes missing in an apartment or house, but also if it is stolen or lost.

Samsung claims there are over 10,000 apps available in the Galaxy Apps store - which doesn't seem to be true. Besides the huge number of watch faces (including paid ones), most of which were developed during the Gear S2 era, the applications that are suitable for installation on the Gear S3 mainly belong to the “health and fitness” group, or these are utilities from industry giants, like Yandex with a metro map and traffic jams.

S Health

S Health is an application developed by Samsung to track the activity of the owner of the Gear S3 watch (or Gear Fit bracelet). First you need to download the application from Google Play, then create or go to existing account Samsung, then indicate your physical characteristics and activity level.

The watch app counts steps, calories, floors (based on altimeter data), regularly measures heart rate, monitors activity, reminds you to warm up every hour, and recognizes sleep time. You can keep track of the amount of water and coffee you drink,

S Health is a great training assistant. The database contains 16 types of exercises, each of which has a specific set of monitored activities. So, for example, while riding a bicycle, the watch will count speed, calories, distance and heart rate.

The smartphone program has a wide range of functions. The main goal is to maintain statistics, not only based on data from the Gear S3, but also by manually entering data. Using the program, you can control the number of calories consumed by choosing a dish - you can search through restaurant menus! You can also monitor your weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.

The “Goals” mode will clearly show the progress of achieving the desired level of activity, nutrition, and sleep.

In the “Together” tab, you can compare your results with all S Health users, or with your age group, or you can add friends and arrange a competition.

Working with Android

It's no secret, and it's obvious that this watch will work flawlessly with Samsung smartphones, including instant connection, fast exchange content and Samsung feature Pay (but this is not accurate, we have not checked). The manufacturer also promises stable work(or explains how to eliminate the shortcomings as much as possible) on the page of the global website with a list of devices compatible with the watches being reviewed, therefore, in order to answer the question about the interaction of the Gear S3 with any interpretation of Android OS, we chose the hero of a recent review, the Chinese Umi, as a “guinea pig” Max.

A pleasant surprise was that after installing the Samsung Gear application, as well as the two plug-ins required for operation, all functions except Samsung Pay work as they should. The connection was easy and quick, applications downloaded and updated reliably.

Despite the fact that our device is far from Samsung, S Health works to the maximum.

A couple of times there was an unexpected break in the watch-smartphone pair and to restore the connection I had to reboot the watch.

Working with iOS

In the last quarter of 2016, a beta version of the iOS-based Gear S application began to circulate on the Internet for connecting with smart watch Gear S2 and S3 and the Gear Fit fitness bracelet. Then, to install this application, you had to do several manipulations in the iPhone settings. On January 7, 2017, this application became available for download in the Russian AppStore. Its rating is unimportant, although there are not enough reviews, which suggests that there are quite a few perverted individuals who are ready to “connect the incompatible.”

First iPhone contact with Gear S3 is the most difficult and patient task. To connect to the phone, the device uses two Bluetooth channels: Bluetooth LE (Low Energy - a standard with lower energy consumption) to maintain the connection and management functions such as sending messages, reading notifications, controlling music, etc., and to use the watch as a Bluetooth headset , that is, for conversations using the built-in speaker and microphone, it is used standard bluetooth channel.

You cannot close the application. It should always be running at least in the background.
The connection is quite fast, but downloading, installing and updating applications takes a very long time. So long that this may not happen at all. It is better to install applications one at a time, maximum two at a time, otherwise you will have to restart everything and get rid of installation errors that constantly pop up.

The release version of the Gear S app is not far from the beta version. While using it to write a review, there were permanent freezes, lags, and disconnections. Many features, such as sending images from your watch to your phone, are not available.

S Health for iOS does not exist, it is included in the Gear S. Available measurements: steps, floors, water, caffeine, sleep, heart rate and 4 activities: walking, running, cycling, hiking.

Unfortunately, with the release of the tenth version of iOS, which contains many additional features, in particular the effects of sent messages and stickers that will not be displayed in notifications, the point in buying the Gear S3 disappears, and the brand itself seems to oblige you to buy Apple Watch, despite their price. If you remove the heart rate monitor and altimeter with barometer, the benefits from the Gear S3 for iPhone are as much as from Chinese clones of popular smartwatches for 2000 rubles.

Battery

Samsung Gear S3 equipped lithium-ion battery capacity of 380 mAh, which is 130 mAh more than the Gear S2. Charging is carried out by connecting to a magnetic stand and there is no other method provided. Samsung promises fast charging, but in fact the watch charges up to 50% in 2 hours, and fully in 4 hours.

After fully charged and immediately paired with a smartphone at 17:00 on the first day, without breaking the connection and taking into account that 70% of the time the watch and phone were just lying on the table, sometimes notifications from social networks came - so the charge was enough for 70 hours.
Those who want to get the most out of their watch, that is, use it for training, for talking, monitoring sleep, constantly receiving and responding to notifications, messages, and all this with always-on GPS and the Always-on-display function, can expect an average of one and a half days of battery life.

To (emergency) save battery power, the Gear S3 has a power-saving mode that switches the home screen theme to grayscale, disables all functions except calls, messages and notifications, disables Wi-Fi, and limits maximum performance. In this mode, the watch can work up to 5 hours on the remaining 10%.

Results and conclusions

Compared to the previous generation of Samsung Gear, the watch marked with the number 3 has, in a word, grown. The screen has become larger, and most importantly, more convenient to use (although some may consider the size of the Gear S3 a disadvantage). Processor performance and RAM capacity have also increased. Gear S2 looked somehow frivolous, like a toy. Gear S3, if desired, can look like an expensive Swiss watch, you just need to set the desired dial and choose the appropriate strap.

Lovers of hiking and an active lifestyle will choose the brutal Frontier. For people who are closer to business and business style, elegant Classic ones are suitable. With S Health it will be very easy to start managing healthy image life, but with a battery increased capacity you will be less distracted while recharging.

Unfortunately, there are not very many applications in the local store, and for some watch faces the developers require a (sometimes considerable) fee. The internal memory is sufficient only in words, and iOS support is still too crude.
In addition, the Gear S3 is not a cheap pleasure. Price in the Samsung store is 24,990 rubles.

Pros:

• Design, rotating bezel, large screen with excellent brightness and color reproduction
• Long autonomy
• Variety of watch faces
• S Health
• Works with any smartphone running Android above 4.4 and RAM from 1.5 GB
• Almost complete freedom of choice of strap
• Heart rate monitor, barometer, altimeter.

Minuses:

• Working with iOS
• Paid watch faces
• Few applications
• Price (as for a separate good smartphone)
• Long charge.

Samsung Gear Sport is an Android-based smartwatch with a rotating bezel that costs $300 (RUB 17,500). Instead of Android Wear it has its own Tizen operating system installed. If Apple Watch Series 3 is considered the best hours for iOS devices, then Gear Sport is the best smartwatch for Android gadgets.

Let's take a closer look at this gadget.

The Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch, released in early 2017, was thick and bulky. The new Gear Sport has a thinner body, a smaller display (1.2 inches), but with the same resolution of 360x360 pixels. To ensure that the image on the AMOLED display remains legible even when daylight, just set the brightness to 60%. The colors are very rich.

The rotating bezel has also become thinner. The screen is still round, and the body is closer in shape to a square than a circle. The width of the gadget is 42.9 mm.

The set includes a silicone strap with a pleasant texture and less noticeable clips that securely holds the Samsung smart watch on any wrist. It can be easily replaced with any other 20mm strap.

In the upper right corner there is a Back button, in the left - Home. A quick press on the first one will return you to the previous screen; a long press will give you access to Samsung Pay. At double click S Voice will turn on, and if held for a long time, the power options will open. To go to the list of installed applications, press once on Home button.

Samsung Gear Sport is available in black and blue color options. The blue version goes well with the Pop watch face. Despite the name, Gear Sport will look appropriate not only with sportswear.

Rotating bezel

Thanks to its rotating bezel, the Samsung Gear Sport smartwatch stands out from its competitors and can offer new features. The bezel rotates here with a pleasant mechanical sound.

Rotate the Gear Sport's bezel to the right to open the widget menu, or to the left to view notifications. This is useful for scrolling text without obscuring the small screen with your finger. The tactile sensations here have been improved by Samsung engineers, so this element works quickly and without problems. The only annoying thing is the sound of metal, which can be heard when you press the front panel of the watch.

Performance and operating system

The speed of the Gear Sport is inferior to the Apple Watch Series 3, although it is superior to any smartwatch based on Android Wear.

The specifications of the Samsung Gear Sport are the same as the Gear S3 - a dual-core processor with a frequency of 1 GHz, 768 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory. Navigating through the interface and apps is fast and there are no performance issues here.

Samsung's proprietary Tizen operating system has a simple and user-friendly interface. Fans of Android Wear don't have to worry - Tizen also allows you to interact with all notifications. To do this, click on it to read it in its entirety or select an action option. If you swipe up on the screen, the notification will instantly disappear - not only on the watch, but also on the smartphone.

To reply to messages you can use on-screen keyboard, voice, emoticons or one of the ready-made answers. Although the Gear Sport is compatible with iOS, you won't be able to interact with some notifications, so you'll always feel limited in what you can do. iPhone owners It's worth choosing Apple Watch.

4 GB of internal memory is enough to store files, and Bluetooth allows you to connect headphones to listen to music even without a smartphone. Pairing is quick, as is switching between music on your smartwatch or smartphone.

On Samsung smartphones, the default for playing music is Google player Play Music. It's surprising that Samsung Gear can't detect songs downloaded from this player. I had to install third party application Music Mate - only then was it possible to add songs through the Gear application.

There were no problems with Spotify - in the Spotify Tizen application you can add downloaded playlists directly to the watch. Even the Apple Watch does not have this feature. Facebook Messenger, Allo, Hangouts and WhatsApp are not available here, since sending messages is tied to the contacts list on the phone. By comparison, on an Apple Watch, you can open Facebook Messenger and start a conversation using just the watch itself.

Samsung has added NFC technology to the Gear Sport, which supports the Samsung Pay mobile payment service. This smartwatch also lets you control PowerPoint presentations and can be used as a controller for the Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset. To control smart home devices, there is the Samsung Connect application.

The Gear Sport has an outdated and sluggish S Voice. Double-tap the Home button when you want to check the weather, make a call, or send a text. S Voice reacts extremely poorly to search queries- Bixby would be preferable, but this voice assistant is only available on Samsung smartphones.

Smart watch functions

For fitness, there is a Samsung Health application that tracks calories burned, number of steps, distance traveled, number of steps on stairs, etc. There is also a special widget that allows you to take into account the number of calories consumed, but it requires a smartphone to work.

Samsung Gear Sport can automatically detect the start of a workout after only 10 minutes, during this entire period, it will constantly monitor your heart rate.

The measurements are quite accurate, but the system does not know how to stop in time and continues to monitor activity several minutes after the end of the workout. The heart rate monitor tracks your heart rate fairly accurately—during testing, the Gear Sport reported 89 beats per minute, while I manually counted 85 beats.

Automatic detection works with walking, running, cycling and rowing, while the dynamic training mode covers all other sports activities.

Thanks to the waterproof casing, Gear Sport will survive immersion to a depth of 50 meters - even in salt water. The built-in GPS module allows you to create a route to better measure the distance traveled.

Endomondo, MapMyRun, MyFitnessPal and other programs from Under Armor are not installed here, but are available in the Galaxy Apps store. Unfortunately, the famous fitness app Strava is not supported here either.

Samsung Gear Sport battery and autonomy

The duration of operation without recharging depends on the intensity of use. With the screen always on and GPS turned off, the Samsung Gear Sport's 300 mAh battery will last about 1.5 days.

If you turn on GPS, this smartwatch will be discharged to 47 percent by the evening. Half an hour of training and listening to music is enough for the charge to drop to 35% during the same time. Place the Gear Sport in the dock and they'll charge from 0 to 100% in half an hour.

Bottom line

Samsung Gear Sport is a compact, lightweight and comfortable smart watch with many functions. Thanks to the metal case and high build quality, they will last for many years, although the release of software updates will stop after 2 - 3 years.

Is there an alternative?

The Gear Sport's closest competitor is the Gear S3, which is currently offered for $350 (RUB 20,500). They are larger and thicker, but support LTE and MST technologies, which significantly expands the capabilities of Samsung Pay.

Owners of Android devices should also pay attention to Huawei Watch 2 - the same functions, compact body and affordable price.

The only watch that can be recommended to iOS fans is the Apple Watch Series 3, with a similar price, LTE support, small size and excellent build quality.

Benefits of Samsung Gear Sport

• Bright screen.
• Long lasting battery.
• Compact and convenient.
• High performance.
• Useful bezel.

Disadvantages of Gear Sport

• Unavailability of third party applications.
• Spotify is required to stream music.

New smartwatch Samsung Gear Sport - video review

If you find an error, the video does not work, please select a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Gear S3 frontier

Always active screen

Control with one motion

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 control your...

Gear S3 frontier

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. The laser engraving on the grooved bezel of the Gear S3 frontier is not...

Gear S3 frontier

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.

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 motion

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.

Change your style by changing straps

Find a strap that's right for you. The Gear S3 frontier has a universal mount that is standard on traditional watches. Samsung replacement bands are durable and elegant. Emphasize your unique style!

Call from your smart watch

Let the Gear S3 frontier be your smartphone. The built-in speaker and microphone make it possible to make and receive calls without your smartphone and listen voice messages and reminders. In addition, you can enjoy your favorite tracks thanks to the built-in music player.

Built-in sensors

The Gear S3 frontier features a barometer and constantly monitors pressure, keeping you informed of any unexpected or expected changes in as much detail as needed to help you 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.

4 days without recharging

Thanks to the capacious battery, you can go without charging for up to 4 days!

Water and dust protection

Wear the Gear S3 frontier in any weather, in any situation. IP68 water and dust protection allows the watch to withstand immersion in fresh water to a depth of 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.

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.

More than 10,000 applications

Go to the Galaxy Apps online store and download any application from the huge library from the Gear S3 frontier screen. 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.

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 where regular bank cards. All you need to do is connect the Gear S3 to your smartphone.