

We'd say that a single day is entirely feasible, and even two if you're only getting a few notifications and don't pair it for things like location specific weather or lots of music control. The Gear S2 comes with a 250mAh battery that Samsung optimistically states could be good for "Low Usage Time" of up to four days. It still feels a little socially awkward to talk to your watch in most circumstances, but there are times when it's downright handy, and it's been a feature of previous Gear watches, so it's definitely missed here. If you're called while wearing it, you'll get the option to take or dismiss the call, but any audio chores have to be handled at the handset level, not directly into the watch. One genuinely curious omission from the Gear S2's toolbox is the ability to fully answer phone calls. Essentially, as with most technology purchases, you should buy the Gear S2 for what it can do now, not what it might do in the future. Samsung has reasons to produce new apps for the Gear S2, but almost nobody else does, and with its history of a new smartwatch model every few months, even that isn't assured.
#Samsung s gear 2 review android
It still strikes us as a limiting factor being Tizen based, simply because the market penetration and therefore app support is likely to be much lower than that of Android Wear. Samsung provides a variety of smartwatch faces with the Gear S2, many of which put the stock Android Wear ones to shame. The Gear S2's operating system focuses on simple operation, so while it does guide you through the basics of selection, rotation and cancellation, both onscreen and through Samsung's Gear app, it quickly becomes second nature to get the Gear S2 to perform to your wishes, whether you're using the included heart rate monitor to track your exercise, checking notifications from any installed Android app on your paired phone or simply using it as a stopwatch. Read more Countdown to Click Frenzy 2015 begins If you're not a fan of the concept you can still use taps and swipes on the touchscreen, as well as the back and home buttons that rest on the right hand side of the watch. Where you might fumble with fingers on the tiny digital crown, it's easy and intuitive to just grab the bezel and give a twirl to change display screens or scroll through onscreen information. It's a similar control concept to that on the Apple Watch with its digital crown, only the implementation is considerably better. The display screen is a 1.2 inch 360x360 pixel Super AMOLED display that can be very bright indeed, although you can dial the brightness down if it's either too garish for your tastes or you just want a little more battery life from it.ĭialing it down is exactly the right term to use with the Samsung Gear S2, because apart from the touchscreen display, the other primary way you interact with the Gear S2 is via the rotating bezel around the display. There have been a number of smartwatches with a round face to date, but the Samsung Gear S2 might just be the roundest. The "standard" Gear S2 doesn't get such luxuries, and it's the model we were sent to review.

That's an interesting inclusion, as it means that you can add any given watch band to the S2 Classic. In case you're wondering what makes a brand new smartwatch a "Classic", in Samsung's case it denotes a $100 price difference which pays for a leather band and the inclusion of standard 20mm pin style watch strap. It's into that market that the latest effort from the South Korean technology giant comes, in the form of the very round Samsung Gear S2, and the slightly classier Samsung Gear S2 Classic. It seems as though every time we turn around, there's a new Samsung smartwatch promising to wow us with new and innovative features. Samsung is notable in this field simply because it's issued so many smartwatches over the relatively short period in which smartwatches have even existed. The initial wow factor has worn off, whether you're a fan of the Apple Watch, Android Wear competitors such as the Motorola Moto 360, LG Watch Urbane, Asus Zenwatch or even the humble Pebble. Smartwatches are in a bit of a lull at the moment.
