IFA 2014: Samsung Gear S Smartwatch Officially Presented
We have all seen that Samsung has big plans for the wearable market. The Korean company has released several smartwatches and the most recent one is none other than Samsung Gear S smartwatch which was officially presented at IFA 2014. We want to tell you from the very beginning that Samsung Gear S is special as long as it isn’t a simple companion device to your smartphone, but one that stands alone, having its own SIM, GPS in built and more to be discovered.
Samsung Gear S Smartwatch: Design and Specs
When it comes to the design of this Samsung Gear S, we must admit that it is just what we have expected. Its OLED screen slopes with the curvature of the wrist and despite of the fact that it doesn’t have LG’s G Watch R special style, it’s still worthy of our attention.
Moreover, its Super AMOLED display has a resolution of no less than 360×480 pixels and a good pixel density of 300ppi, which is better than we have expected for a 2-inch display very. The screen is more than decent, not pixelized or with any issue that we have noticed so far. As for the power aspect, Samsung Gear S smartwatch comes equipped with a dual-core processor with 512MB of RAM, also including a 300mAh battery and the usual proximity sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, heart rate sensor, barometer, as well as UV light sensor.
When it comes to software, Samsung wearable Tizen platform is an ideal choice (as long as Tizen OS seems to be a great alternative to Android Wear), not to mention that other major key feature of this smartwatch is its SIM-card slot, which lets you have 3G access in addition to the usual Wi-Fi. So yes, you have the possibility to pair a compatible Samsung device via Bluetooth, but this new Gear S is also offering you the chance to leave your smartphone at home and still handle calls and messages or notifications.
Samsung’s Gear S Tour
When it you are first on Samsung’s Gear S homescreen, you have a choice of various ‘watch’ themes (there’s no surprise in that), but these themes have hotspots on them and this is something new.
From the homescreen, you just have to swipe up and you’ll see a list of apps including the new Nike+ (an app which is a perfect fitness match for Gear S) and Samsung’s link up with Nokia Here maps (this app offers turn by turn navigation directly from the smartwatch).
And when it comes to the actual phone functionality of this watch, we are getting the usual access to Messages, Missed calls, E-mail, Contacts, Apps, data from your smartphone and not only. We also have weather and agenda apps, as well as a news reader.
The Samsung Gear S feels like a different device than what we have seen up to now, so we cannot wait to see if it has any chance to become successful or not. If you need a smartwatch that looks like a watch then Gear S isn’t for, but if you need something special on your wrist, you might give it a try.
