UlasanSamsung Gear S2: Desain & fitur utama Hal pertama yang harus saya katakan adalah ini adalah salah satu jam tangan pintar terbaik yang pernah saya pakai. Smartwatch berwajah bulat pertama Samsung terlihat dan terasa cantik, di kedua versi. SamungGear S2 kembali dengan bodi anti karat tahan lama yang tetap tipis dan ramping di pergelangan tangan. Gear S2 adalah perangkat serba bisa. Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 smartwatch Harga dan Spesifikasi - Terbaru Galaxy Gear S2 Harga, Spesifikasi, Fitur s health, Kamera dan Gambar 2016 oleh Samsung Indonesia. Walaupunbelum support 3G, fungsionalitas Gear S2 selamanya mampu sobat andalkan untuk mempermudah komunikasi dan keperluan mobil lainnya. Spesifikasi jam tangan pintar Samsung Gear S2 tergolong tinggi, dan mampu berkompetisi melawan Smartwatch buatan LG dan Motorola. Menariknya, desain Gear S2 terlihat sangat sama bersama dengan jam tangan analog, karena memiliki layar bundar dan tidak terkesan sangat mencolok. Kaliini tim hashtech mau nostalgia dengan review smartwatch yang rilis kurang lebih 3 tahun silam. Apakah spesifikasi serta fiturnya masih oke untuk tahun 2 GearS2 sudah memiliki dukungan IP68, namun kerusakan dapat terjadi disebabkan air atau debu masuk kedalam perangkat. Oleh sebab itu. kami menyarankan untuk mengikuti tips dibawah ini, dalam menjaga, melindungi dan mempertahankan kinerja Gear S2 tahan terhadap air. dan debu • Hindari merendam Gear S2 pada kedalam air yang lebih dari 1,5 meter SamsungGear S2 dan S2 Classic dapat juga digunakan sebagai media penyimpanan. Jam tangan pintar ini dilengkapi dengan memori internal sebesar 4 GB. Anda dapat memutar banyak musik, menyimpan dokumen, dan menyimpan cukup banyak gambar atau foto di dalam Gear S2 dan S2 Classic. SpesifikasiSamsung Gear S2 smartwatch. Koneksi Bluetooth, layar 1,2 inci, 47g, 250mAh baterai, memori ROM 4GB, IP68 Lihat bagaimana Samsung Gear S2 berhasil mendampingi produk unggul lainnya. SamsungGear S2. Kembali lagi pada Samsung Gear S2. Smartwatch ini menampilkan edisi klasik dengan gaya desain konvensional namun bergaya sporty dengan tali yang terbuat dari bahan silikon yang bisa dilepas, dan berarti dapat pemiliknya dapat menggantinya sesuka hati. mFnZL. Samsung Gear S2 MSRP $ “The Gear S3's release is imminent, but the S2 remains a beautiful piece of industrial design, and a decent smartwatch.” Pros Beautiful round design Elegant, fluid user interface Rotating bezel is a true innovation 2-3 day battery life Cons Barely any usable apps Reactivation Lock is buggy Fitness functions are very limited Smartwatches have gotten better and better looking since the the Gear S2 watch first blew us away at the 2015 IFA trade show. Maybe it was the Berlin goggles, but Samsung’s was the best-looking, easiest-to-use watch we had ever seen, from an interface standpoint. And over time, the watch’s beauty held out. In many ways, the Gear S2 was the best Samsung product in years. Unfortunately, since strapping the final version of the watch on our wrists — and over the months since then –the experience hasn’t been all daisies and daffodils. Samsung has updated the software to address some of the bugs we detected last fall and has released a handful of key apps — including Samsung Pay support for Uber. These improvements to one of the most compelling smartwatches yet are great; the company seems to finally understand why folks might want a watch at all. But concerns about usability remain, and ultimately, there’s no killer app that makes this a must-have device. Updated on 10-03-2016 by Jeremy Kaplan Updated to reflect bug fixes and new apps, and added experiential testing with the S Health app. Beautiful and comfortable The user interface of a watch is important, but an attractive and comfortable design is more important. Watches are fashion statements, and no one wants to wear something crappy or huge just for some notifications. A lot of post-Apple Watch wearables are looking more acceptable on the wrist, but the Gear S2 is one of the best-looking, best-sized smartwatch yet. That said, the competition in recent months has gotten quite stiff. The Huawei Watch is better looking, for example, though the interface is less intuitive and elegant. And the Gear S3, which should be released shortly, promises competition and adds some crucial missing features, though Samsung says it is will not replace the S2. Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends But back to the S2 itself! Perfectly round and sized at a comfortable inches 42mm total case size, it’s an optimal size to fit on a large variety of wrist shapes and sizes. It’s in between the two Apple Watch sizes, and comes in two designs a sporty version and a Classic version. The Classic also has a ribbed watch face and traditional lugs, making it compatible with any 20mm watch band. There are versions of the Sport with added 3G/4G connectivity as well. The Gear S2’s secret weapon is the bezel surrounding its tested the stainless steel I tested the stainless steel Sport version with Bluetooth, which has a brushed metal finish and winged-style straps that make it look a little more elegant on smaller wrists. The strap that comes with it is a rubbery silicone, which feels a lot like the Apple Watch Sport bands. The bands on the Sport are easily removed via a button on the bottom of each, and replaceable with other Samsung-made straps. There are already a number of choices at launch, though if the Gear S2 doesn’t take off, early adopters will have a hard time finding straps in a couple years. Samsung is known for iterating fast and abandoning losing ideas pretty quickly. It calls this cut-and-run philosophy “relentless innovation.” The button layout on the Gear S2 is straightforward and better than any other smartwatch. It has two navigation buttons on its right side. The bottom one acts as a power button and Home button, which brings you back to the home screen, and the top acts as a Back button, bringing you back into the previous menu, like an Android phone. Both buttons are comfortable to press and easy to find, even in the dark. The Gear S2’s secret weapon, however, is the bezel surrounding its screen, which turns and twists like a radial dial of sorts, allowing you to easily select and scroll through onscreen menus. Operating like a tiny little steering wheel, it has a pleasant click to it as you turn, giving light tactile feedback so you know how fast you’re wheeling around. Finally, there is a heart-rate monitor on the bottom of the watch which is pretty common these days. It also tracks steps at all times. Operating system Samsung’s Tizen interface is brilliant — the best around — blending Apple’s best innovations with smart, thought-out designs. All of the menus are built with a round screen in mind, and using the rotating bezel to scroll through menus, or swipe around as you would on a phone, is incredibly intuitive. Seriously, there are almost no apps for this Samsung’s best innovation is simplicity. It’s a button click or swipe to get to the radial apps menu, a swipe down to access the battery life and connectivity menu, a swipe right to check notifications, and a simple swipe left to see your widgets. And, of course, you can do all of this with the rotating bezel as well, which clears up valuable screen space that your fingers take up when swiping. Every menu and app is designed to perfectly fit this easy, round design philosophy, with the exception of the square calendar app. Samsung definitely stole a note from Apple with its watch customization menu. It looks and operates identically to the Apple Watch, but we can’t complain a ton, because it works. An added bonus Samsung watch faces can be interactive. Several baked-in faces animate to show if you’re meeting your fitness goals, and companies like CNN have created special watch faces with their headlines scrolling past. You would never know, but this entire watch runs on Samsung’s own Tizen operating system, which is in its new smart TVs but absent from its Android-powered phones. It wasn’t fun to use on the original Galaxy Gear, but six watches later, the Gear S2 shows that maybe Samsung can do its own thing. Except for one major problem There are no apps. Really. When we first reviewed this watch in late 2015, we complained about the dearth of useful apps. And now, fully a year later, there are still almost no apps for this watch. For example, let’s take a spin through the travel apps available for Apple Watch. There are apps for every major airline United, Delta, JetBlue, Alaska, Lufthansa, apps to buy tickets and read reviews Priceline, TripAdvisor, Expedia, taxi apps Uber, Lyft apps for lodging Starwood, AirBnB, and apps to tell you what to do when you arrive Yelp, Foursquare. Not a single one of those is available for the Gear. Correction two are. Sort of. Samsung has its own app store, and claims that there are thousands of apps, but aside from the Flappy Bird clone, Yelp, Nokia Here Navigator, ESPN, Bloomberg, and CNN, there’s nothing you’ll want to use. Samsung’s apps are fantastic, especially its fitness app, but there just isn’t anything else. Samsung touted the release of a few high profile apps, notably the Uber app the other item from that list of Apple apps is Yelp. Adding Uber was great for Samsung phone owners, not so much for everyone else. You see, the company offers two separate and distinct app stores. Read that again, because it’s total madness. If you own a Galaxy phone, you have access to the Uber app. If you use a phone by a different maker, you won’t see it. This is unacceptable, a clear effort to replicate Apple’s walled garden, which we also find maddeningly restrictive. Likewise, Samsung rolled out Samsung Pay over the last few months; you can download a “beta” of the app — how is it a beta if it’s released to the public? — and pay for products with a wave of your wrist. The app works great, in my testing, but again, it’s only available through the Samsung Gear app store, not the Android Gear app store. Samsung argues that the Knox security features in its phones are required for the app. Oh, really? Hmm. If Samsung wants to keep running a store independent of the Android Wear app market, it desperately needs to attract more developers to its platform. Massive connectivity bugs and lag, fixed at last As much as we love wearing and using the Gear S2, it was for a while one of the most frustrating products we had ever reviewed. In testing the device paired with a Nexus 5X and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus in November of 2015, we encountered tremendous issues connecting to our phones — issues that have subsequently been fixed. Here’s the scoop. The setup process for the Gear S2 is fairly straightforward when it works. You download the Android app the Gear S2 is Android-only, for now, though the company recently launched a long overdue beta test for iOS support in Korea, find the watch, and then hit Yes on both devices. This will probably work the first time you set up your Gear. If the Gear S2 runs out of battery, it will never reconnect to your phone again. We uncovered a massive bug with the Gear S2 last fall, however If you wear it until it runs out of battery, it will never reconnect to your phone again. The only solution is a factory reset, where you lose all your data and apps. I’ve had to do this three times now. Other users and reviewers have reported similar issues. This bug makes the watch nearly unusable. I don’t know if every Gear S2 has this problem, but several other reviewers — AndroidPit, GreenBot, AndroidHeadlines — have struggled with the exact same problem. The problem, fortunately, has been rectified, but for a time, it was pretty hairy. Switching the phone you use it with is another ordeal. It will require a factory reset, but if you had a different Samsung/Android account connected to the Gear S2 on one phone, factory reset it, but enabled the Reactivation Lock feature, you’re in trouble. This feature is meant to prevent a thief from stealing your watch, factory resetting it, and reselling it, but Samsung has not worked out the kinks. The Reactivation Lock is a nightmare if you are the person trying to switch phones or users. DT Mobile Editor Malarie Gokey and I swapped the Gear S2 between us a family might try to do this as well, but even though she factory reset it, it would not connect to my Galaxy S6 Edge Plus because she had turned on the Reactivation Lock. There were no good on-screen prompts for how to proceed — a hard reset and debug menu didn’t help, either. In the end, I had to log in as Malarie on my phone to make it work. It was a colossal pain in the ass. Don’t ever factory reset a Gear S2 before you disable the Reactivation Lock. Notifications seemed to never arrive on the Gear, or came slowly, when we first reviewed it. This issue too seems to have been resolved. Finally, we never encountered much lag in the OS, but if you scroll quickly, it will fail to keep up. More annoyingly, if you have an app that sends multiple notifications, such as a chat app, Samsung’s swipe-up-to-delete gesture will fail to work. Instead, it will just scroll through the notifications. Eventually, if you press hard enough or get lucky, these notifications will vanish, but they do so in an ugly, laggy way. Using it as a fitness band Given the near total absence of smartwatch apps here, I tend to use the Gear S2 as a fitness tracker more than anything else. So how does it perform in this capacity? It does … okay. The Gear S2 has S Health, a very full-featured suite of tools to track your activity. We’ve ran hundreds of miles with the watch, and biked just as many. We’ve tried golfing with the Gear S2, cross-trained, hit spinning class, and more. Across those activities, the watch appears to track step counts reasonably well, though no fitness band seems to count the same number of steps nor log the same distance. For example, we recently ran miles on a treadmill in the gym; the Gear S2 recorded the distance as miles. What happened to that last half mile? Examining that run after the fact on the app yields an abundance of data heart rate over time, calories burned 615! Woo hoo!, average speed and pace, and so on. However, as a fitness band, the Gear S2 is limited by the absence of GPS functionality. Unless you carry your phone with you on that run, you’ll have no way to know exact distances or to track your path. We’re glad to see Samsung adding this feature into the S3. Also, while the watch charges quickly enough, it has died in the middle of several runs for us, meaning all data is simply eliminated. Additionally, the app makes it easy to select the last used activity but doesn’t make it easy to change it. If you recently went for a run, just scroll the dial right to get to the Start Workout widget and quickly start another run. Want to go cycling instead? Scroll right once, push apps, select S Health, scroll right to the green screen, push the arrow at the bottom of the screen, and select a different workout type. Whew! There are only eight types of activity, unfortunately, another limitation of the app. Cross training? What to select? Solid specs The Gear S2 has a gorgeous 360 × 360 pixel Super AMOLED screen that couldn’t look nicer. It’s covered by Gorilla Glass 3, runs Samsung’s Tizen OS, and has a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8x26 processor, 4GB of internal storage, 512MB of RAM, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth NFC, a heart-rate monitor, an accelerometer, a barometer, and a 250mAh battery. The NFC connectivity allow it to work with Samsung Pay, though that payment platform is still in beta, as we noted earlier. It still doesn’t work on Android Pay, and we have little expectation that Samsung will add this support. Bountiful battery life The Gear S2 kicks ass when it comes to battery life. The 250mAh battery in the S2 doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve gotten about – 3 days out of every charge. I did experience a lot of connectivity issues, which may have improved battery life, but even when it was connecting regularly, the battery killed it. Most watches seem to average about 1 to days, including the Apple Watch, so it’s nice to see Samsung excel in this regard. Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends Jessica Lee Star/Digital Trends The Gear’s charging cradle is also well thought out. Instead of a hunk of magnetic plastic that awkwardly slaps onto the back of the device, like the Apple Watch, this has a full stand that props the watch up like it’s on a pedestal, with a little indicator light that tells you if it’s charged or charging. One-year warranty Samsung’s standard manufacturer warranty is normal for a mobile device. A Gear S2 is covered for 1 year after the day of purchase for defects that occur under normal use, though Samsung determines “normal use,” so it can deny any claim it wishes. Don’t expect a repair or replacement if you get the Gear S2 wet or drop it, but if the battery gets very bad before a year is out, Samsung may replace it. You can find full details on Samsung warranties here. Conclusion Even though the Gear S3’s release is imminent, the Gear S2 remains a beautiful piece of industrial design, and a decent smartwatch. Updates to the software have come steadily, patching the serious connectivity bugs we identified in our initial review and adding some neat features, notably support for Samsung Pay. But without the enormous app market seen on the Apple Watch, it’s hard to say the Gear is a better product. Buy one and you’ll invariably find yourself wishing you could do more with it. That’s a shame, because Samsung has made a watch with possibly the best battery life, clearly the best interface to date, and one of the best designs we’ve seen. Looking for an alternative? There’s the Apple Watch, of course. Keep in mind that it requires an iPhone — and if you’re in the market for a Gear, you probably own a Galaxy or Android phone. Given the jaw-droppingly frustrating app store experience on other Android phones, we heartily discourage non-Galaxy owners from buying the Gear S2. Android Wear watches are getting better, but they still aren’t great. If you want to explore that route, try one of the new Moto 360s or the Huawei Watch, or keep your eyes out for the Gear S2’s big brother, the Gear S3. The Gear S2 retails for about $300 and most other watches hover around that price. Alternatively, you could choose to go low tech. We like the simple Withings Activite and Activite Pop, though they’re made for slender wrists. Highs Beautiful round design Elegant, fluid user interface Rotating bezel is a true innovation 2-3 day battery life Lows Barely any usable apps Reactivation lock is buggy Fitness functions are very limited Editors' Recommendations Google Pixel Watch 2 rumored price, release date, news, and more Apple AirPods Pro 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 4’s sleek design teased in detailed leak Samsung Galaxy Watch Active vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs. Watch Active Spec comparison Verdict Pros Bright, sharp display Rotating bezel is the best wearable feature yet Not limited to Samsung handsets Cons Tizen is limiting Expensive for what you get Poor, slow voice search Key Specifications Review Price £ Circular watch face Rotating bezel thick 360 x 360 AMOLED touchscreen 3G option with e-SIM technology NFC for mobile payments 2-3 days battery life Tizen OS dual-core processor 4GB internal storage 512MB RAM S Health support IP68 certified dust- and water-resistant Wi-Fi Bluetooth Optical heart-rate sensor Wireless charging 250mAh Li-ion battery What is the Samsung Gear S2? Samsung’s back catalogue of smartwatches has been, to put it mildly, poor. The vast array of Gear-branded wearables have been bulky, ugly and running an operating system devoid of killer features and decent apps. The Gear S2 hopes to change this. I’m happy to report that in pretty much every area it achieves this. The Gear S2, with its circular display, is the first in the series that actually looks good. Instead of simply following the crowd, Samsung’s headline rotating bezel results in a smartwatch that’s the easiest to navigate yet. However, by failing to opt for the constantly improving Android Wear OS, and instead choosing to stick with Tizen, Samsung’s Gear S2 feels hamstrung in many areas. Samsung Gear S2 – Design and rotating bezel Smartwatch manufacturers are no longer happy to make only a single model, instead churning out multiple varieties at varying prices. Apple started the trend, and Samsung has continued it. Related Best fitness trackers The Gear S2 is available in three versions the standard, more sporty model that I’m using, and a slightly classier one called the Gear S2 Classic; a 3G enabled smartwatch will arrive later. I can’t comment on the pricier Classic £299, but the standard model £249 looks and feels superb. It isn’t in the same league as Huawei’s Watch, but it’s one of the better smartwatches on the market. The circular display is surrounded by a metal bezel, with two clicky buttons. There’s one for jumping back a step and another for heading to the homescreen. Both buttons sit on either side of a microphone on one side of the smartwatch. The Gear 2 isn’t overly thick either, sitting only off my wrist. While the Classic model has a standard 22mm watch strap, this version uses a proprietary connection, so it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to swap out the rubber strap for one your own. I like the strap, and it fits in with the more sporty look of the watch. It doesn’t become overly hot and sweaty during extended workouts and it’s comfortable enough to wear for extended periods. Unfortunately, it isn’t particularly durable mine has already picked up a small tear. The overall look of the Gear 2 is certainly more fitness watch than one you’d match with a suit, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Related Apple Watch review The most notable design feature on the Samsung Gear 2, however, is the rotating bezel. This is the main method by which you navigate the Tizen OS, and in my opinion it’s truly fantastic – it’s easily the best way I’ve found so far to jump around menus on a wearable. It turns smoothly as you twist it around, providing a satisfying click instead of just spinning endlessly. Both Apple with its Digital Crown and Android Wear makers with their touchscreen-lead approach should take note. It isn’t perfect, though. You can’t press down on the bezel to select an item – even though naturally it really feels like you should be able too – so you still have to use the touchscreen for that. Buy Now Samsung Gear S2 at from £190 Samsung Gear S2 – Display Samsung’s smartphone panels are the best in the business, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise to find that the AMOLED display used here is probably the best on a smartwatch to date. It’s in size, with a 360 x 360 resolution that makes it hard to pick out individual pixels unless you get up really close. Colours are rich and vivid, while the black backgrounds are inky and blend nicely into the bezel. Viewing angles are great too, but outdoor visibility could be better. Being an AMOLED panel, it can be put into an ambient mode. This means it will continue to display the time and only burst into life when you flip your wrist and look directly at it. An always-on clock is a vital feature that ensures smartwatches don’t resemble a computer on your wrist; it’s something Apple Watch severely lacks. Brightness isn’t an issue either, but the lack of an auto-brightness setting means you’ll be constantly altering it manually. This isn’t ideal, and certainly noticeable when it’s dark and the whole watch lights up. Thanks to the rotating bezel, you interact with the watch much less through the small touchscreen, but it’s still responsive to the touch. A couple of features short of perfect, then. Samsung Gear S2 – Performance and Battery Life Referring to the performance of a watch can still seem slightly odd, but as proved by the first-gen Moto 360, it can be a real problem. I can safely say it isn’t an issue on the Gear S2. The dual-core Exynos 3450 processor paired with half a gig of RAM is pretty standard on a smartwatch, and it provides plenty of oomph to keep the watch feeling smooth and fast. Battery life, like performance, is also on a par with the majority of 2015 Android Wear devices – and slightly better than the Apple Watch. With the always-on mode turned on, the 250mAh cell can easily make it through the day and on until lunchtime the following day. Switch that off and the Gear 2 will keep going for about two full days. Personally, I’d rather have slightly shorter battery life and always have the clock visible, but the option to turn it off is there if you want it. If you’re all about battery, I’d still recommend the Pebble Time Steel. Charging is via the supplied wireless dock – it’s the spitting image of Motorola’s Qi cradle – and my Gear S2 can go from 0% to full in less than hour. Slightly annoying is the fact that there isn’t a way to power up the watch without the dock, but at least it’s a sleeker solution than those pesky charging adapters supplied with previous Gear watches. Samsung Gear S2 – Software and fitness features So far, things are looking pretty rosy for the Gear S2. It has a comfortable, sporty build, impressive display and performance and battery that are good – if not anything to worry the competition. It’s a shame then that Samsung chose not to complete the package by opting for a more capable OS. Instead, the Gear S2 is severely limited by the Tizen operating system. I’ll start with the bits I do like. For once, Samsung has made something that doesn’t disappoint in the looks department. The selection of watchfaces – which range from digital ones to those built for apps such as ESPN and Bloomberg – are attractive and customisable, and the general UI is slick. As you scroll through your homescreens, widgets display handy information such as the current weather, your step count and current heart rate. They’re a little slow to update – the music one takes an age to show the current song I’m listening to, for example – but on the whole they’re easily accessible and handy tidbits of information that work well on a smartwatch. There’s also a good selection of fitness features, all tied together by Samsung’s S Health app. An accelerometer tracks your movements throughout the day, while the heart-rate sensor takes constant readings. The lack of GPS will put off those looking to ditch their dedicated running watch, though. An IP68 rating means you’ll be able to submerge it in of water for 30 minutes, and I’ve used it in shower without any issues. I find the heart-rate monitor here to give much more accurate readings than Android Wear watches, which often fluctuate massively between readings, and the step-tracking is as good as a dedicated wearable such as the Misfit Shine. The real problem with Tizen is the utter lack of apps. Now, while I don’t want apps on my smartwatch that I have to open, I do want them throwing up handy information – and to be there when it’s more convenient than whipping out my phone. Apps such as Citymapper, Uber, Google Maps and so on make sense on a wearable, but the Gear S2 app store is a barren wasteland. Aside from an overly US-centric ESPN app, I haven’t really been able to find something that I want to download and install. Not good. With the Gear S2 costing a pretty pricey £249, I’m not sure why developers would bother building apps for this platform rather than focusing on Watch OS and Android Wear. This could be a serious problem for the longevity of the Gear S2. Notifications – the bread and butter of any decent smartwatch – are also hit and miss. Connected to a Nexus 6P, HTC One A9 and Moto X Style – all at different times, obviously – buzzes of new alerts were constantly a good second or so behind the phone. And when they did come in, they were too quick to disappear from the watch. I was left wondering what that last buzz was about until I headed into the notifications section. S-Voice, Samsung’s alternative to Google voice search and Siri, is another disappointment. It’s limited in what it can do – it won’t even let me quickly create a note. When it does work – calling a contact, for instance – it’s slow. The Tizen experience is frustrating. It looks good, but limited app support is a bleak sign for the future and the poor voice integration is a shame. If Samsung really is so against using Android Wear, it needs to find a way for developers to choose its platform instead. Should you buy the Samsung Gear S2? The Gear S2 is a good smartwatch, but the limited Tizen operating system stops it from being a great one. At least Samsung didn’t make it exclusive to Galaxy handsets; the Gear 2 will work with any Android device with of RAM or above. The build, display and the fantastic rotating bezel – the cleverest input method on a watch yet – are all impressive and it’s Samsung’s best wearable, but it’s not better than anything running Android Wear. That could change if Tizen takes off, but judging by previous devices running the OS, this is unlikely to happen. Poor voice search, the on-occasion dodgy notifications and lack of customisation on the cheaper model also make the Gear 2 more difficult to recommend. Samsung has improved plenty with the Gear S2, but it just isn’t quite enough. Buy Now Samsung Gear S2 at from £190 Verdict A well-built smartwatch with a great screen, but it’s let down by a lack of support and the half-baked Tizen operating system. Trusted Score Farwell, Android Wear. Hello, Tizen. Samsung's latest smartwatch abandons the Android Wear OS in favor of the company's homegrown Tizen OS, which proves to be a smart choice indeed. The Samsung Gear S2 $ has a user-friendly interface that's worlds easier to use than Android Wear. And the watch itself has a great design that combines the round face and stainless steel case of a traditional timepiece with a futuristic, rotating bezel that makes navigation even easier. But there's still some room for Tizen to grow, as a dearth of apps and weak voice recognition keep the Gear S2 from nabbing a higher score. Pricing and Design The Samsung Gear S2 comes in two flavors There's the regular Gear S2 for $ and the $ Gear S2 classic. The regular Gear S2 comes with a black or white silicone wristband, while the classic model has black leather strap. No matter which version you choose, the watch face is made of matte stainless steel. We reviewed the $ model, with a white band and a silver face. You Can Trust Our Reviews There are also 3G versions of each watch available with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon service. Pricing and availability will vary according to carrier; T-Mobile, for instance, offers the option to add the watch to your plan for $5 per month. Similar Products The standard Gear S2 model is extremely comfortable and light on the wrist, with a simple clasp and an adjustable buckle to stay in place. No matter which model you choose, you're sure to be happy with the watch's most distinguishing feature, a rotating bezel. Similar to the digital crown on the side of the Apple Watch $ at eBayOpens in a new window , you physically turn the bezel around the watch face like a dial in order to make selections. It's precise, quick, and feels very satisfying to use thanks to the little clicks it makes. The watch also has a Back button in the two o'clock position, and a Home button in the four o'clock position. The Home button brings you to the default watch face or to your main app library if you're already at your home watch face. The Back button brings you back one step in whatever app you're in. Of course, you can also tap your way through the interface without bothering with the bezel. I'll discuss navigation more in a bit, but the Gear S2 is the most easily navigable smartwatch I've tested. Left to right Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S2, Moto 360 The Gear S2's round watch face measures inches around, inches thick, and weighs ounces. The Huawei Watch at AmazonOpens in a new window , by comparison, is slightly larger at inches wide, inches thick, and ounches. The Motorola Moto 360 , meanwhile, meastures inches wide, inches thick, and ounces. The variations might seem slight on paper, but you can really feel a difference on your wrist. The watch is rated IP68 for water-resistance, which means it can withstand splashes at the sink, but you shouldn't take it to the beach or in the shower. DisplayThe Gear S2 has a circular Super AMOLED display with a 360-by-360-pixel resolution that works out to a sharp 302 pixels per inch. It doesn't get quite as bright as the Huawei Watch, but I was always able to see it outside, even with the brightness set to low. The screen is not always-on by default, but there is an option to do so if you wish. Without it on, the screen still activates quickly when you life your wrist, and it never accidentally turned on in my testing, which is very helpful for conserving battery. The screen turns off fast, though—after about five seconds—which can get a little annoying when you're trying to read an email, text, or CNN headline. However, a quick tap or turn of the bezel keeps the screen activated. Samsung uses an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness depending on surroundings, without the "flat tire" effect that cuts off the Moto 360's circular display in a horizontal line at the bottom. It's also easy to adjust the brightness on your own just swipe down on the display and tap the Brightness setting. I didn't detect any prismatic screen aberration here like I did on the Moto 360, unless you count some very slight reflections of light around the edge of the bezel. The watch can be paired with Bluetooth devices, including headesets or speakers for music playback, or mobile devices that run Android or later. Unlike Pebble or Android Wear devices, there is no iOS support. To start the pairing process, you need to download the free Samsung Gear Manager app on your Android device and follow the simple on-screen instructions. I easily paired the Gear S2 with a Samsung Galaxy S6 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window . Once connected, you have a number of options at your command, like customizing the watch face, managing apps and notifications, and sending music files to the watch, which comes with 4GB of internal storage. Features, Performance, and TizenThe Gear S2 has an accelerometer, a barometer, a gyroscope, proximity sensors, and a heart rate sensor. Unlike the Sony SmartWatch 3 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window , there is no GPS, but there is Wi-Fi, which extends the range of the watch when connected to a wireless network. The heart rate sensor here works better than the one in the Huawei Watch or the Moto 360 by automatically measuring your heart rate throughout the day. By default it checks in about five times per day, though you can adjust it to check more or less frequently. You can also check manually, and it lets you know whether your heart rate is average when you're resting, in a state before exercise, or after exercise. The watch reported resting numbers in the low-to-mid sixties while sitting in a relaxed state, which is on par with measurements taken by the Huawei Watch. The watch counts steps and detects when you're exercising or resting for too long, similar to the Apple Watch. You can also keep track of the amount of water or caffeine you've been drinking. And you can install the Nike+ running app for more detailed fitness analysis. However, like I usually advise, you probably want to go with a dedicated fitness tracker rather than a smartwatch if fitness is your primary concern. The Misfit Flash Link $ at AmazonOpens in a new window is great if you're on a budget, while the Fitbit Charge HR $ at AmazonOpens in a new window is worth the splurge. Powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM, the Gear S2 uses Samsung's proprietary operating system, Tizen. It has the best user interface for a smartwatch yet, though it does have one annoying flaw. For some reason, the Gear S2 doesn't go back to the app you were previously using after it goes to sleep. Instead, it goes back to the default watch face every time it wakes up. That can be frustrating if you want to keep reading a story, or reply to a text when suddenly the screen shuts off from inactivity. Thakfully, the watch keeps images and headlines loaded in news apps when you finally return to them. The strength of Tizen lies in its layout, which is a pleasure to navigate. Turning the bezel or swiping to the left brings up any notifications, which you can tap to open or swipe up to dismiss. Swiping or turning the bezel to the right brings up the main menu for Apps, a list of favorite contacts, Settings, or the S Voice assistant. Keep swiping or rotating the bezel and you can see a whole collection of apps around the perimeter of the screen, as if they were numbers on a watch face, including the calendar, heart rate monitor, music playback control, pedometer, or whatever other apps you want to include. It beats swiping through endless vertical lists and cards like in Android Wear. However, you still have to tap on the touch screen to make selections. It would've been nice to be able to push the bezel in to make selections, but since your fingers are already on the watch anyway, it's not a big deal. Unfortunately, Tizen's selection of third-party apps is weak compared with Android Wear, Apple, and Pebble. There are no music streaming services besides Samsung's Milk Music, little in the way of fitness apps besides Samsung's S Health, and nothing when it comes to note-taking apps or popular social media like Facebook or Twitter. There are some useful apps available, like Bloomberg, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Yelp, but Samsung needs to lure many more companies if it wants to compete. And although watch apps aren't available, you can still receive and respond to phone notifications from Facebook, Google Hangouts, and Twitter on the Gear S2 with a robust set of options. You can choose from some short, canned phrases or send an emoticon. You can also respond with voice-to-text, though unfortunately this feature is hit-or-miss; I never reached a point in testing where I felt like I could rely on it to quickly send an accurate message. Surprisingly, the Gear S2 also offers a phone number pad-style keyboard with three letters assigned to each number so you can type out messages. It's a slow process, but predictive text helps things along. A friend texted me some good news and I was able to type in "Wow, that's great! Congrats!" fairly easily. Don't expect to take calls on the Gear S2, though. You can use it to dial a call, but you'll have to take out your phone or put on a Bluetooth headset if you want to take things any further. Battery life is relatively excellent. Samsung promises up to three days of use, which is accurate if you keep the display set to power off automatically. With it set to always-on, the watched lasted for nearly two days, which is still better than any other smartwatch with a color display I've tested with the exception of the Pebble Time, which can last for about a week, albeit with a much dimmer, lower-resolution display. The Gear S2 can also be set to go into Power-Saving mode, which turns the screen monochrome when you're running low on battery. It charges with an included magnetic dock and micro USB cable. ConclusionsThe Samsung Gear S2 should certainly sit alongside the Apple Watch and the Pebble family as one of the better smartwatch options on the market. It sports a sleek design, a user-friendly interface that blows the confusing Android Wear out of the water, very good battery life for a smartwatch, and a unique, rotating bezel. Unfortunately, a paltry selection of apps holds it back, especially when Apple and Pebble have so many to choose from. And underwhelming voice recognition ultimately makes the Apple and Pebble watches easier to use. I'd certainly choose the Gear 2 over Android Wear options like the Huawei Watch and the Moto 360, but it's a harder pick from there. The Apple Watch remains the smartwatch for dyed-in-the-wool Apple users, with a reliable heart rate sensor that works as you exercise, NFC so you can pay without flashing your credit card, the best selection of third-party apps, and an intuitive interface similar to that of the Gear S2. But our Editors' Choice remains with the Pebble family, which we highly recommended to smartwatch newcomers. The original Pebble is inexpensive, is compatible with both Android and iOS, and works with many useful apps. The Pebble Time $ at AmazonOpens in a new window adds a color screen and reliable voice-to-text messaging. Or you could wait for the Pebble Time Round, which is the Pebble Time with a traditional round watch face. The Samsung Gear S2 is definitely an intriguing new option, but it's worth waiting for the second generation. Pros Sleek design. Nice display. Useful rotating bezel. Intuitive user interface. Good battery life. View More Cons Weak app selection. Spotty voice recognition. Pricey. The Bottom Line The Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch has great software and a thoughtful design going for it, but a paltry app selection and finicky voice recognition hold it back. Like What You're Reading? Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.