→ October 17, 2013 With only a few smartwatches on the market, it's tough knowing exactly what a device in the*extremely young product category should be able to offer. Samsung is one of the first major companies to venture into relatively unknown territory with its Galaxy Gear, and while the product is conceptually interesting, it gives us more of us an idea of what smartwatches could be like in the future instead of what we should expect today.
Like Samsung's many other mobile devices, the Galaxy Gear boasts a number of*potentially useful hardware and software features—including a full-color Super AMOLED display, a built-in camera, and*S Voice functionality—but, unfortunately, it falls short when trying to deliver basic functions that one would want in a wearable companion device.
By far, the most important role of a smartwatch (aside from telling the time) is to deliver notifications,*which the Galaxy Gear does a decent job doing—in some situations. Text messages and emails handled through Samsung's own Android email app are sent to the Gear just fine, letting you respond to texts using S Voice and giving you the option to delete emails. However, when delivering*notifications from extremely popular services like Twitter, Facebook, and Google's Gmail app, the results are much more clumsy.
The Galaxy Gear gently vibrates to let you know when something comes in through these channels, but upon checking the notification, the smartwatch displays a message that tells you to look at the contents through your mobile device. The experience is akin to a waiter telling you that your food is ready, but that you have to*go get it from*the kitchen if you want to eat it.
Thankfully, there are third-party apps that can provide this type of functionality, but it's a shame Samsung couldn't do it itself, especially since the Gear can be set up to receive notifications from these specific services right out of the box.*Future software updates could rectify these problems, but as it is now, the Galaxy Gear's ability to handle notifications is limited, at best.
Other known, albeit not quite as*popular,*apps have been optimized for the Galaxy Gear.*Evernote can be installed for adding voice memos that are translated into text, users can check-in or share pictures through Path, and the watch can read back stories you've saved to Pocket. Aside from a few other notable exceptions, like RunKeeper and SnapChat, the app store is pretty bare at this time. Fewer than*50 apps are currently available, including watch faces.
You can also make and receive phone calls and capture photos and video with the Gear's 1.9-megapixel camera, all of which work as advertised,*gimmicky as they may be. I was able to safely take calls while driving with both hands securely on my steering wheel and shoot surprisingly good pictures, especially considering camera's specs and its confined housing.
The device itself features a rubber wrist band and a well-built*stainless steel*housing. Overall, the Gear feels much nicer than the plastic Pebble smartwatch, and although Samsung's offering is heavier than the alternative, it*feels much more durable and*generally looks like a more mature product.
The Galaxy Gear's*1.63-inch 320 x 320 screen looks good on the wrist, clearly displaying text, watch faces, and, to a lesser degree,*pictures and video taken with the watch. But a downside to using a display such as this, as opposed to the e-paper screen found on the Pebble, is that the face cannot be lit at all times, forcing users to take action just to view something as simple as the time.
Powering up the screen can be done by either pushing the single hardware button on the side of the watch or by lifting your wrist to look at the display. The latter didn't always work as expected, so there were more than a few occasions where I was just flicking my wrist and staring at a blank watch face.
Even with this power-saving approach, the Gear's battery still leaves much to be desired. Samsung's smartwatch can easily get through an entire day, but trying to go much longer between charges will leave you with a completely drained device—Sony claims its new SmartWatch 2 can go 3–4 days on a full charge, and, during our review, the Pebble only needed to be charged once a week.
Another area where the Galaxy Gear is severely lacking is device support. At launch, the*watch is only compatible with the Galaxy Note 3 and the new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, with support for other recent Galaxy devices expected to arrive in the coming months. So if you have an iPhone or any other Android device, you're out of luck.
If you do own a Note 3, though, pairing with the watch via NFC is a pain-free experience. Simply place the Gear in its charging cradle and tap the device to your phone, then follow the directions on your mobile device's screen. Once set up, the Gear Manager app*is used to configure settings, notifications, and manage apps.
Some of these settings, as well as apps, can be accessed directly through the watch's UI. Maneuvering around the interface involves simple swipes and icon presses, and basic navigation doesn't take long to get used to. Alternatively, S Voice can be used to quickly perform actions like*sending text messages or asking the watch to tell you the weather forecast or read back your messages.
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Like Samsung's many other mobile devices, the Galaxy Gear boasts a number of*potentially useful hardware and software features—including a full-color Super AMOLED display, a built-in camera, and*S Voice functionality—but, unfortunately, it falls short when trying to deliver basic functions that one would want in a wearable companion device.
By far, the most important role of a smartwatch (aside from telling the time) is to deliver notifications,*which the Galaxy Gear does a decent job doing—in some situations. Text messages and emails handled through Samsung's own Android email app are sent to the Gear just fine, letting you respond to texts using S Voice and giving you the option to delete emails. However, when delivering*notifications from extremely popular services like Twitter, Facebook, and Google's Gmail app, the results are much more clumsy.
The Galaxy Gear gently vibrates to let you know when something comes in through these channels, but upon checking the notification, the smartwatch displays a message that tells you to look at the contents through your mobile device. The experience is akin to a waiter telling you that your food is ready, but that you have to*go get it from*the kitchen if you want to eat it.
Thankfully, there are third-party apps that can provide this type of functionality, but it's a shame Samsung couldn't do it itself, especially since the Gear can be set up to receive notifications from these specific services right out of the box.*Future software updates could rectify these problems, but as it is now, the Galaxy Gear's ability to handle notifications is limited, at best.
Other known, albeit not quite as*popular,*apps have been optimized for the Galaxy Gear.*Evernote can be installed for adding voice memos that are translated into text, users can check-in or share pictures through Path, and the watch can read back stories you've saved to Pocket. Aside from a few other notable exceptions, like RunKeeper and SnapChat, the app store is pretty bare at this time. Fewer than*50 apps are currently available, including watch faces.
You can also make and receive phone calls and capture photos and video with the Gear's 1.9-megapixel camera, all of which work as advertised,*gimmicky as they may be. I was able to safely take calls while driving with both hands securely on my steering wheel and shoot surprisingly good pictures, especially considering camera's specs and its confined housing.
The device itself features a rubber wrist band and a well-built*stainless steel*housing. Overall, the Gear feels much nicer than the plastic Pebble smartwatch, and although Samsung's offering is heavier than the alternative, it*feels much more durable and*generally looks like a more mature product.
The Galaxy Gear's*1.63-inch 320 x 320 screen looks good on the wrist, clearly displaying text, watch faces, and, to a lesser degree,*pictures and video taken with the watch. But a downside to using a display such as this, as opposed to the e-paper screen found on the Pebble, is that the face cannot be lit at all times, forcing users to take action just to view something as simple as the time.
Powering up the screen can be done by either pushing the single hardware button on the side of the watch or by lifting your wrist to look at the display. The latter didn't always work as expected, so there were more than a few occasions where I was just flicking my wrist and staring at a blank watch face.
Even with this power-saving approach, the Gear's battery still leaves much to be desired. Samsung's smartwatch can easily get through an entire day, but trying to go much longer between charges will leave you with a completely drained device—Sony claims its new SmartWatch 2 can go 3–4 days on a full charge, and, during our review, the Pebble only needed to be charged once a week.
Another area where the Galaxy Gear is severely lacking is device support. At launch, the*watch is only compatible with the Galaxy Note 3 and the new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, with support for other recent Galaxy devices expected to arrive in the coming months. So if you have an iPhone or any other Android device, you're out of luck.
If you do own a Note 3, though, pairing with the watch via NFC is a pain-free experience. Simply place the Gear in its charging cradle and tap the device to your phone, then follow the directions on your mobile device's screen. Once set up, the Gear Manager app*is used to configure settings, notifications, and manage apps.
Some of these settings, as well as apps, can be accessed directly through the watch's UI. Maneuvering around the interface involves simple swipes and icon presses, and basic navigation doesn't take long to get used to. Alternatively, S Voice can be used to quickly perform actions like*sending text messages or asking the watch to tell you the weather forecast or read back your messages.
More...
