Samsung’s newest timepiece looks more classic yet has more modern functions than ever.
So they say size doesn’t matter. But when faced with a watch that’s 46mm in size, you either have the hands for it or not. Electronics giant Samsung has taken its smartwatch, the Gear S3, in a bold direction, making it look like an exquisite automatic watch.
(If you have a more diminutive wrist then you will be glad to know Samsung is still keeping the S2 on the market while stocks last.)
While the Gear S2 is more plastic and futuristic, the S3 is mostly metal and traditional-looking. Just like its predecessor, the S3 comes in two distinct designs – the S3 Classic and S3 Frontier.
The differences are mainly cosmetic. The S3 Classic embraces the looks of traditional watches with a silver and shiny metal body with contrasting black leather straps. The S3 Frontier, on the other hand, is a rugged beast in black with a very sporty look.
No matter which design you choose, both support 22mm straps so you can easily change them to match your style or sport.
Samsung’s expertise in screen technology is well known and it shows here. The Gear S3 has a large 1.3in screen with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. While there are other smartwatches with bigger faces or higher resolution, most don’t look quite as good as the S3’s. For instance, I use WatchMaster for its large collection of professional-looking watchfaces and on the S3 I can actually see the subtle difference in the textures of the faces.
The smartwatch has an always-on feature so your watchface is always visible instead of showing a black screen – this complements its already good physical looks.
Tied to Tizen
The next rather important thing you need to know about the Gear S3 is that it runs on Samsung’s own Tizen-based wearable OS and not Google’s Android Wear.
This might not sound like a good thing, but for someone who has tested both platforms, let me tell you that Tizen works great on wearables because of its simplicity and stability.
Just about everything is easy to do, from launching apps to checking messages, thanks to two hardware buttons and the ubiquitous bezel.
Pressing the Home button (bottom right) displays eight apps at a time in a circular fashion – this list is sortable so you can place your favourite apps on the first screen. On Android Wear, apps are displayed as a long list which you can’t sort, making it a pain to launch apps on a smartwatch’s small screen.
Flicking the screen to the left will display widgets (again, customisable) which show you information at a glance, such as your step count, weather, altitude, upcoming events and even your favourite contacts. Some widgets, like the third-party Philips Hue app, will even allow you to turn your smart lights on and off.
Swiping to the right displays notifications from your phone from pretty much any app, including SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
What ties it all together is the bezel – by turning it right or left, I can select apps, reject or answer calls, switch between widgets and go through my messages.
This means I don’t have to touch the screen as often – I don’t like leaving fingerprints on my phone display, and it’s even more important to me that my smartwatch screen stays smudge-free.
Sadly, nothing is perfect and where Tizen falters a little is in the app department – while it has plenty of watchfaces (and games!), it doesn’t have as many apps as Android Wear. This is not such a big deal though, as it pretty much has most of the apps that you will need on a watch.
You can also initiate and receive calls on the Gear S3 – as long as the environment was not too loud, I was able to have short (but slightly awkward) conversations on my watch.
As you can never be too safe, Tizen has a nifty SOS function – pressing the Home button quickly three times will send a message to your designated contact with your location info.
No phone, no problem
One of the reasons for getting a smartwatch, at least for me, is so I can set goals and monitor my workouts.
And the best thing about the Gear S3 is that I don’t need my smartphone to track my activities. It has a built-in GPS and heart rate monitor, so at the end of a workout, I get all sorts of information, including a graph of my heart rate versus speed and a map of my walk/run, as well as the usual stuff such as step count, calories burnt and distance travelled.
Especially handy for outdoors is its ability to monitor altitude and pressure changes – you can set it to warn you when there is a sudden change in pressure, which is usually a signal that the weather is about to change.
But that’s not all – you can even listen to music while working out and that’s a big plus. The smartwatch comes with 4GB of storage but only about 1.5GB is available to you as the rest is taken up by the OS.
This is actually good enough, as songs, photos and apps (which are generally tiny on Tizen) don’t take up much space.
The Gear S3 is more versatile than its predecessor, allowing you to track both indoor and outdoor activities. Some activities are automatically detected such as walking, running, cycling and rowing (on the machine). But for it to count reps for lunges, crunches, squats and burpee jumps, you have to initiate it manually.
And did we mention you can also easily monitor your caffeine and water intake too?
The battery life is great, and while it’s rated to last four days, I only got slightly more than two as I like leaving the display always on and also using it for tracking multiple workouts.
In any case, I tend to charge it daily because the wireless and magnetic charger makes the process effortless.
All geared up
Forget plasticky, mundane-looking watches – Samsung has set a new standard for smartwatches that look as good as traditional designs.
It doesn’t just work with Samsung phones – it is also compatible with most new models running Android 4.4 with over 1.5GB RAM. At present it supports over 30 models from other brands, but some features will have limited functionality.
And with Samsung Pay – which allows you to pay with your mobile or, if you own the Gear S3, via the smartwatch – expected to come soon, you are in good hands.
All in all, Samsung’s new smartwatch won’t fit everybody but if you are one of the lucky few who fit the bill then the Gear S3 is worth a serious look.
The Gear S3 goes on sale on Dec 8, with both Frontier and Classic costing RM1,399 each. Early birds who purchase either design from the Samsung online store (Lazada and 11street) and Samsung SES Stores will get two additional straps and a limited- edition watch collector box while stocks last.
Pros: Two bold and beautiful designs; meets the military standard for dust, shock, pressure, low/high temperature resistance; works independently of the phone for workouts; tracks many activities; Tizen works well for wearable; good battery life; works with most new Androids, not just Samsung’s; supports any 22mm strap on the market.
Cons: You’ll need large wrists; not for Android Wear fans.
Gear S3 Classic
(Samsung)
Smartwatch for Android
Operating System: Tizen-based wearable OS 2.3.2
Processor: Exynos 7270 1GHz dual-core
Display: 1.3in touchscreen (360 x 360 pixels)
Memory: 768MB RAM, 4GB internal storage
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2; WiFi b/g/n, NFC, GPS
Other Features: Accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate monitor, ambient light sensor, barometer, water resistant (IP68), dust, shock, low/high temperature resistant (MIL-STD-810G)
Battery: 380mAh
Size (W x H x D): 46 x 49 x 12.0mm
Weight: 59g (body only)
Price: RM1,399
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review unit courtesy of Samsung Malaysia Electronics, 1-800-88-9999
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