 |
||||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
Home > Gadget & Smartwatch Reviews > Samsung Gear 2
Samsung Gear 2
What's Hot: Packed with features, works with standard watch bands. What's Not: Many features require one of 17 Samsung Galaxy phones or tablets. OK but not great looks. No innovative feature that makes you feel you must own one.
Reviewed May 19, 2014 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade) Samsung's second generation Gear watch drops the "Galaxy" name, along with Android, but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in OS when using the watch. The Samsung Gear 2 is Samsung's highest end offering for early 2014 with the Gear Neo being the $100 less expensive alternative with a plastic body and no camera and the Gear Fit being mainly a fitness watch. The Gear 2 addresses many of the complaints we had about the first generation Gear, but we're still not convinced this is something most folks need, especially at $299.
Like many smartwatches, the Gear 2 is a bulky, manly sort of watch with a 1.63" Super AMOLED display that's clear, colorful and viewable outdoors. Gals with small bones will look geeky wearing it, but these days geek may be chic. Unlike the original Galaxy Gear that had a permanent wristband with a camera mounted on it, the Gear 2 has interchangeable wristbands and the camera is now on the watch's body. If you find a watchband that's the right size (and there are plenty), then you can customize the gear to your tastes. Samsung sent us a Fossil brown leather faux croc band that toned down the techno look considerably. The Gear 2 is available in 3 colors: silver-gray watch with a black band or orange band and a copper watch body with a brown band. The Gear 2 is IP 67 certified water and dust resistant, so you can wash dishes or garden while wearing it. It's not designed for swimming, but it will survive a shower. The hypoallergenic band is surprisingly comfortable and pliable for a rubbery-plastic band and it has a wide range of adjustment to fit wrists from small (but not tiny) to very large. The watch body is metal and though I wouldn't call it attractive, it looks like a quality piece. In contrast, the all-plastic Gear 2 Neo looks cheap for a $199 watch. It does however have all the features of the Gear 2 except the camera, which in turn makes it more acceptable for secure businesses and gyms where cameras are banned.
Interacting with the watch is simple; after all how complex can you get with a small wearable? There's a power/wake button on the front face and every interaction is accomplished with swipes or taps on the touch-sensitive face. It's pretty easy to learn, though you'll do plenty of swiping and tapping if you install several apps. The watch has a surprisingly loud speaker and a mic: yes you can use it for voice calls and look like Maxwell Smart, and you can use the built-in music player, though we recommend using a set of Bluetooth headphones for either task. The Gear 2 can play music through headphones and a Bluetooth headset would make the most sense paired to your phone rather than the Gear 2. The watch has only a Bluetooth radio, it does originate and receive calls, and rather it acts something like a Bluetooth speakerphone and relays your phone's calls. Only for Select Samsung Galaxy Phone and Tablets Samsung's Gear watches work only with select Samsung Android smartphones, including the Galaxy S3, S4 and S5 (including variants like the S4 Active). It also works with the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 2 if your Note has received the Android KitKat OS update. In addition, it works with a few tablets like the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition and the new Galaxy Tab and Note Pro tablets. The watch's utility with a tablet is dubious, and the watch makes more sense when paired with a phone. Why? Because the Gear 2 needs to stay in constant contact with your phone in order to be more than a timepiece, pedometer/heart rate monitor, TV Remote, music player and a 2MP camera. It pulls notifications, phone calls, news stories and even apps from your phone. We tend to keep our phones close, but our tablets not so much. Since the phone and watch talk over Bluetooth, they'll need to be within 30 feet of each other, or a bit less depending on 2.4GHz airwave pollution. When I wore it in the backyard to garden, I left the phone safely inside on the windowsill, and the watch vibrated every few minutes to let me know when it had lost or regained connection with my Samsung Galaxy S5 (I was 25 feet from that windowsill). This was sufficiently annoying that I vowed to not leave the phone in the house again. |
Deals and Shopping:
Advertisement |
|
