Samsung Gear S2

Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch, running on Tizen OS! 

I purchased my Samsung Gear S2 last week and have been using it for a week now. My choice was the silver and white edition. My previous Smart Watch was the LG G Watch R. These are my thoughts and opinion on the Gear S2. 

PROS:

• Tizen OS
• Decent Battery Life for a Smart Watch
• Light Weight
• Compact Size
• Sharp Screen
• Intuitive Rotating Bezel

CONS:

• Pricey
• Lack of App Support Compared to Android Wear
• No Support for Google Apps such as Maps, Keep & Google Now
• S-Voice Doesn't Match Google Now for Voice Search 

SPECS:

• Size: 49.8 x 42.3 x 11.4mm 
• Weight: 47g
• IP68 Certified 
• Super Amoled Screen
• 1.2" Full Circular Screen
• 360 x 360 pixel density 
• Duel Core 1ghz Exynos 3250 CPU
• Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC, Accelerometer, Gyro, Heart Rate Monitor, Barometer 

  

EXPERIENCE/OPINION: 

I previously owned a LG G Watch R smart watch, running Android Wear, for about a year. Having switched over to Tizen with the Gear S2, i immediately find the software to be a long way ahead of Android based smart watches. Tizen feels far more polished, smoother and quicker than Android Wear. Android Wear feels very much like a work in progress whereas Tizen feels and acts like a smart watch should. 

The watch itself is a great size, smaller than my previous watch but large enough that even with the text size set to the smallest, text on the 1.2" screen is easily viewable. It also looks very sharp and clear, colours are great also. You can even sync photos to the Gallery App, which also look great. As for the rotating bezel, the idea behind that is absolutely genius. It feels extremely intuitive and is a great way of navigating the watch and apps without your finger getting in the way of the screen. There is a little bit of feedback when rotating the bezel so you don't find yourself over rotating and going past the apps or widgets you want to select. The watch has a great weight, it doesn't feel too light that it feels cheep, but also doesn't feel too heavy. 

The selection of Apps is a problem for many from the reviews and comments i've seen and although the number of apps pales in comparison to Android Wear watches, i don't feel it is such an extreme gulf when you consider that the majority of apps available for Android Wear are just variants of the same type of app. For example, i wanted a calculator app for my G Watch R and i had dozens to choose from, when i downloaded one for the Gear S2, there was just one. It does the job perfectly, so i don't feel like i need more options to choose from. With regards to apps, my biggest gripe is a lack of support for Google apps such as Maps and Keep (two of my most used apps on the G Watch R). You do get Here Maps, but as a long time user of Google Maps, i would have preferred to have that option. There also doesn't appear to be a decent note taking app which i miss. Other than that, there are the types of apps you would expect to find for all manor of activities such as running, diet and nutrition, heart rate monitoring, sports scores, news, stocks etc. as well as a host of watch faces. 

The battery life appears to me to be on a par with the G Watch R. Samsung claim you will get two to three days life on a single charge, however this will depend on your usage. Personally, i end the day with around 50% but i use always screen on, with a relative high brightness level and never turn the watch off which eats battery life but can still get the best part of two days. 

Unlike the G Watch R, the Gear S2 features two buttons on the side of the watch, one works as a back button and the other one a home button. The home button also has an option to choose what the watch does when you double press it. I chose to open music controls as this is the most useful to me. This is useful as you require less swiping and touching of the watch screen to close apps which keeps finger prints to a minimum.  

 

RECOMMEND?
Anyone who is looking for a smart watch should definitely consider the Gear S2. As i mentioned already, Tizen OS is a much more polished OS than Android Wear. The rotating bezel is a fantastic idea which feels like it should be the standard and is the best way of navigating a smart watch there is. Having come from an Android Wear watch, there is no way at this moment i would go back, not unless Google bring Android Wear in line with Tizen, which is frankly a long way off. I enjoyed Android Wear but once you try Tizen first hand, you can see and feel a huge difference. There is the lack of support from developers and that doesn't look like changing any time soon, but there is the large selection of app types which should enable you to find everything you need. As a big Google supporter and user, i am very entrenched in the Google ecosystem, but this hasn't been a stumbling block in using Tizen. Although i do miss Google Keep! It's a slightly more expensive option than some alternatives, but worth the extra investment in my opinion. I don't think, anyone who is interested in purchasing a smart watch would be disappointed in choosing the Gear S2, unless they feel that smart watches in general are just not for them. A very happy purchase that i will get my worth out of and then some. Definite recommend.