There are smart watches, and there is the Samsung Gear S2. Samsung has been one of the first to develop wearables and it has gone a long way since it first introduce them a couple years back.
Check out the 8 reasons why we think the Gear S2 is Samsung’s best smartwatch to date.
Rotating Bezel. Central to the unique design of the Gear S2 is the rotating bezel. It is an intuitive way to navigate the interface of the smart watch which is more practically especially when the screen is rather small. The rotating bezel is perhaps the smartest execution that’s ever done in a smartwatch, better than the rotating crown of the Apple Watch.
Tizen FTW. We have had our reservations with the Tizen operating system for the Gear S2. While it is actually a fork of the Android OS, there are advantages and disadvantages that come with it. For one, Samsung is able to make full customization with the OS and be independent from Google. This paved the way for the rotating bezel and the circular interface (in contrast to Android Wear’s up/down and left/right navigation). On the other hand, the developer community is very sparse so you don’t have as much apps as the ones in Android Wear.
Wireless Charging. Samsung popularized wireless charging in all of its flagship smartphone so it was not a surprise that they also included this feature into the Gear S2. Wireless charging is more practical, convenient and opens the possibility of having 3rd-party wireless chargers, in case you need to have more than one with you.
IP67 Rating. No need to worry when you go for a few laps in the pool or go out running under heavy rain because the Gear S2 is designed to be water-proof. It can last up to 30 minutes underwater at a depth of 1.5 meters. This is where the rubber strap design makes more sense. Of course, that means scuba diving is out of the picture.
Health and Fitness. One of the biggest draw for many smart watches is that they are filled with a lot of health and fitness features. The Gear S2 is no exception with the S Health feature we first saw in the Galaxy line being ported into the Gear S2. It comes with a pedometer, heart rate sensor, activity tracker and tracks calories burned. If you’re into running as a regular exercise, then the Nike+ Running app pre-installed should be very useful.
NFC. If you’re one of the lucky ones that happen to live in cities where Samsung Pay is already rolled out, the Gear S2 also supports it. That’s as simple as tap and pay for all your purchases in supported merchants. While the service is not yet available in the Philippines, it’s nice to know that feature is also built into the Gear S2.
Replaceable Straps. The more fashion-conscious, the ability to change the straps is as important as the technology behind the watch itself. The Gear S2 allows you to do that and it’s actually pretty easy. There’s a small latch at the back that you can pull so the straps pop out of the body right away. You can then replace it with any 20mm band of your choice.
Find My Phone and Find My Gear. The Find My Phone is already a standard feature in most mobile devices but the added feature “Find My Gear” does the same to your smartwatch. Just activate Find My Gear on your smartphone and the Gear S2’s display will light up and sound off until you figure out where you left it.
Two-day Battery Life. Most smartwatches barely have a day of battery life. The Gear S2 can stretch it to two full days on a single charge. You will still end up charging the Gear S2 at the end of the day just to be sure but, at least, you don’t have to worry if you accidentally forgot to charge it the night before.
Samsung has finally figured out the right balance between form and function with the Gear S2. It looks like your typical wrist watch yet has a lot of power and features under the hood. It’s by no means perfect but it’s the best Samsung has done to date.
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