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 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. Fast Money. The quick takeSamsung was a pioneer in the new generation of smartwatches, but it hasn't produced the best overall products in its past few tries. With the Gear S2 it finally has a lot of things right — the watch looks nice, has a good screen, is built well and is now a proper size for most wrists. The Tizen-based operating system doesn't have as many restrictions as before and now works properly with non-Samsung phones, which is huge. Unfortunately the software still feels a little rough around the edges, and tries to do far too much considering the screen size it has to work goodCompact and lightInnovative rotating bezelGreat screenGood battery lifeThe badSoftware still tries to do too muchNative apps offer poor experienceMore complicated than Android WearNotification support not entirely universalSamsung's best watch yetGear S2 Full ReviewWhen you look at the history of the modern smartwatch, it's hard to ignore Samsung's involvement in the process. Though it hasn't necessarily made blockbuster products that have led the wearable industry, Samsung has been eager to keep trying new things with each generation — whether it's large screens, new software interaction or standalone cellular connections in watches. Samsung also hasn't shied away from different operating systems, starting with Android, trying Android Wear and finally settling on the launch of the Gear S2, it's clear that Samsung has been learning from its mistakes as well — and this is finally the first watch from Samsung that feels like a complete product. The new watch is compact, capable and designed to look like a watch — and the new rotating bezel is a truly innovative way to interact with it. Perhaps most importantly, the Gear S2 works with Android phones other than Samsung's own, which was a bigger issue for most people than the overall quality of its previous while the Gear S2 is a better product than any previous Gear, the competition is a bit stiffer now as well. Android Wear finally has some legs, and Pebble has released new versions of its own watches. Does the Gear S2 have what it takes to be considered as your new primary wrist computer? We're here to answer that question in our full review — read this reviewI Andrew Martonik am writing this review after a little more than a week using a silver and white Gear S2 with a cameo appearance by Phil Nickinson's black and dark grey model. It's a standard Bluetooth and Wifi model not 3G, and for the entire review period was connected to either a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Moto X are two distinct designs of the Gear S2. There's the "standard" model which I have here that's a bit sporty in design, and then there's the Gear S2 Classic, which has a more standard watch design with proper lugs and a standard watch band on it. Both are roughly the same internally — the only difference is the case design. There is also a 3G model of the standard Gear S2, which is slightly larger and has a bigger new take on GearGear S2 Hardware and displaySamsung has tried various approaches to its smartwatch designs, but the one unifying feature — from the original Galaxy Gear to the gigantic Gear S — was that they kind of just felt like little phones. They were all bulky for smartwatches, had relatively large and rectangular screens and some even integrated cameras into the bodies or the straps. It doesn't make sense to do so much on a watch, and with the Gear S2 Samsung no longer tries didn't just move down to the competition, it went smaller with the Gear than just drop down to the same size on offer by the current crop of Android Wear devices, Samsung went a step further with the Gear S2 and went smaller than what's out there already. The Gear S2 has a slightly smaller display, and is thinner and lighter than your average LG Watch Urbane or Huawei Watch. The only downside here is that there aren't two different case sizes on offer like the Moto 360 2015 and ASUS ZenWatch 2 — you'll have to like the one size off, let's talk display. Samsung went with a relatively small circular Super AMOLED screen, at 360x360 resolution, and it looks beautiful. The reliance on black backgrounds in the interface make the whites and colors pop, and while there's no automatic brightness mode I found myself comfortable with brightness set to 80 percent. The resolution is plenty high for this screen size, and it has good viewing angles as well. I just expect Samsung's displays to be good at this point — no matter what the size — and the Gear S2 doesn't display is really great, and the simplistic stainless steel case is of top-notch display is surrounded by a solid casing made of 316L stainless steel, available in a light silver or a dark grey, with a plastic and glass insert on the bottom to allow for wireless charging and heart rate monitoring. And while it doesn't have standard lugs for attaching watch bands, it does extend on the top and bottom to marry up with a proprietary connector for its own bands. The bands are designed to flow seamlessly into the case, giving it a slick look, but some may still prefer the more "standard" look of the Gear S2 Classic case is nicely machined in a minimalist design, with the flat and lightly-textured steel being set off just a bit by a shiny bevel all along the rotating bezel that surrounds the screen. That rotating bezel serves as a main way of interacting with the watch, which I'll get to in a later section, but it's important to note that the bezel is very well engineered. It clicks along as a great interaction mechanism for the watch, but also doesn't look out of place or get in the way when it isn't in the same can't be said about the dedicated "back" and "home" buttons on the right side of the case, which indeed stand out as not only poor choices for usability but also kind of detract from the otherwise sleek case. A single button would've looked much better, but I can at least applaud Samsung for ditching the big front-mounted home button of previous Gear S2 comes with a flexible elastomer aka rubber band out of the box, with a standard watch buckle in matching metal to the case, and while it still has a proprietary connector it's at least easily swappable and can be changed without tools. Samsung includes both large and small bands in the box — but really they should be called "long" and short" because the only difference between the two is the length. You can mix-and-match the two bands to get the right fit, and while I just used the standard large set, those with smaller wrists will want to opt for the small only downside to the standard Gear S2's design is its sporty style, which doesn't work in all is only offering the Gear S2 in two color choices, but at the launch of the watch showed off quite a few different band color options. We haven't heard anything more about when or where those band choices will be available Samsung did eventually sell replacement bands for previous Gears, or if third parties will be able to get in on the action, but I wouldn't put much stock in them becoming available — just pick the color you'll be happiest with out of the box, and anything more is just a elastomer bands give the Gear S2 more of a sport watch feel, not unlike the Sony Smartwatch 3 or any other basic non-smart active watch from Nike or Adidas, and that can be a little polarizing. It feels right at home with casual attire and daily wear, but stands out notably if you're dressing up for a nice dinner or a meeting. Of course the opposite is true with a design like the LG Watch Urbane, which is just far too flashy, but I do wish that the standard Gear S2 band and case were a bit more neutral. At least Samsung is offering the Gear S2 Classic, which costs $50 more but has a design that should work in more How to change the Gear S2 strapsTizen is better, but incompleteGear S2 Software and performanceSamsung's Tizen-based smartwatch operating system has greatly evolved since it took over for the Android offering on the first Galaxy Gear. And just like its smartwatch hardware story, Samsung's smartwatch software often feels more like it belongs on a small phone rather than a watch. Though the latest iteration is far simpler to understand and use, I still get the impression that Samsung is just trying to do too much on the watch — particularly for a device with only a circular entire interface is navigable with swipes, but the rotating bezel is preferable in almost every this watch packs a touchscreen, there are multiple ways to interact with it that don't involve tapping the screen. The Gear S2 has two buttons on the side — one for "back" and another for "home" — as well as a rotating bezel to help alleviate navigating a rather complex interface on a small screen. The back button simply takes you back to the previous screen you were on, just like on an Android phone, and the home button returns you instantly to the watch face. You can also set a double-press of the home button to launch any app of your the entire interface is navigable with swipes, the preferred method is twisting the watch bezel. The bezel clicks while turning, with each click in position being analogous to a full-screen swipe. In most of the interface you'll turn the bezel clockwise to move right, and counterclockwise to move left. In vertically-scrolling lists, menus and apps, you'll turn clockwise to go down and counterclockwise to go up. Turning the bezel means you aren't covering the interface you're trying to manipulate, and on such a small screen it helps to just move in a series of bezel clicks rather than swiping. In multiple areas of the interface, you can highlight items from a radial list with the bezel, and then simply tap the center of the screen to select the highlighted the highest level of the interface you have a set of home screens, with your watch face of course being the primary screen — a swipe down on the screen returns you to the watch face, and a swipe down again on the watch face gives you quick controls for media playback, do not disturb mode, and brightness controlls. To the left you'll find your notifications as they come in, and to the right you'll find a succession of customizable widgets. There are 13 in total pre-loaded, and you can choose to organize, add or remove them as you see fit — by default you'll have a quick app launcher, as well as widgets for your calendar, S Health step count, weather and heart Gear S2's software still feels a bit like it belongs on a phone, and can get confusing quickly when you use the cleanest possible look you can remove all of these widgets, but you'll still get a blank page to the right of your watch face with a "+" imploring you to add more. Many of the widgets just aren't useful at all, like the full-month calendar widget, or some of the widgets that require deep multi-level dives into apps to make use of. But others, like the media playback control widget and the step counter, are genuinely useful to have at a glance over from your watch face. The best part about these is being able to choose which ones you main interface paradigm is rather simple to figure out, but it gets quite confusing once you dig deeper into it. Again you get the feeling that there's more smartphone DNA in this watch than anything else, as there are still situations where you need to be several taps, swipes or clicks deep into the interface to get things done. Diving into the settings is just a rabbit hole of lists upon lists, with every option imaginable available, and doing some things like replying to an email can take upwards of five taps on the screen. You can get by with just the simple things on the Gear S2, but there's a lot going on here that can get frustrating and confusing to navigate on such a small facesSamsung has done a pretty good job with the watch face offerings on the Gear S2. Out of the box you'll have 15 distinct watch faces to choose from, some of which are branded with pre-loaded apps like Nike and CNN, but in general run the range between modern and classic, as well as analog and digital. Most of the faces can be customized some more than others, with options to change the dial, hands if analog, colors and information can also browse through dozens of watch faces from Samsung's Galaxy Apps store, though I honestly couldn't find many that appealed to me and was more than happy with a customized version of a pre-loaded face. Perhaps these offerings will improve over time, but only time will tell there — there's nothing in the Galaxy Apps store that can rival the watch face offerings for Android Wear of the most important experiences on any smartwatch is how it handles notifications from your attached smartphone, and thankfully Samsung has made huge strides in this area compared to the original Gear S. There are two major improvements to the notification system — two-way notification sync, and actionable third-party notifications. Two-way sync means any action you take on the smartwatch is reflected on the phone, and vice-versa, while actionable third-party notifications mean you can actually do things with notifications that arrive rather than just clear notifications arrive on your phone they're pushed over to the watch and lined up in chronological order — grouped by app — on individual screens to the left of your watch face. You can also have the watch screen turn on when notifications arrive, as well as adjust the vibration intensity on your wrist for notifications. Unfortunately if you turn on this heads-up notification mode, you can't actually clear the notification right as it arrives — you need to hit the back button and then go back to the main notification area to clear it. Baffling, but that's how it you scroll or swipe through your unread notifications you'll see an app icon indicating where it came from, as well as a brief bit of information on the content — such as the subject line of an email, or the first few words of a text message. Tapping individual notifications expands them so you can view the full content — as in, you can actually scroll through a 500 word email if you want. If it's a text-based chat — like an email or Hangouts message — that can warrant a response, you can reply with quick canned responses, a set of emoji, voice dictation which is unfortunately not very well done, or even type in words with an absolutely tiny T9-style keyboard believe me, it's not great. If you'd prefer to just clear the notification, you can swipe it up on the watch and it'll also clear on the sync and actionable third-party notifications are a minimum requirement in a modern the Gear S2 now supports more than just Samsung phones that also means it supports non-Samsung apps, and the compatibility is surprisingly good. For example when Gmail messages arrive you can actually archive or delete them from the watch, and when Hangouts messages come in you actually see the person's picture as a background and can reply properly. There are also a few glaring omissions, like a lack of turn-by-turn notifications from Google Maps, and informational pop-ups that are more watch-specific like boarding information from airline as is the case with Android Wear you can't expect every app you have to interact properly with the watch, but it seems as though Samsung has done its part to get popular apps working as expected on the Gear S2. Unfortunately it isn't likely that new apps released further down the road will be supported, and if a developer is choosing to hook into just one wearable platform on Android, chances are they're going to start with Android using Tizen for its wearable platform has many advantages, but one of the biggest downsides is in its handling of apps. Because there's no inherent link between the apps on your phone and the watch outside of just basic notifications, if you want any more complex interaction you need to install an app on the watch directly. Samsung showed off dozens of apps from well-known names at the launch of the Gear S2, but unfortunately a large number of those have yet to show up in the Galaxy Apps store for download. And those that have are quite a pain to install, involving downloading the watch app from Samsung's store, often followed by another app download from the Play Store on the phone side, and then some complicated of the big name apps aren't here yet — but unfortunately even those that are here aren't like CNN, Bloomberg, Nike+ and Here Maps are on-board, but dozens of others — like Uber, for example — aren't here and have no time frame of when they'll arrive. But I'm not losing much sleep over it, because the app experience as a whole isn't that good anyway. As you'd expect there isn't a ton you can do on a screen, and reading CNN articles three words at a time or scrolling through Bloomberg headlines just isn't in any way something I want to do on a outside of direct fitness trackers and small utilities, there isn't much you can do on a watch that would warrant a full app running on it. And while the apps do run smoothly and work, they don't offer a good enough experience to make you want to use them on the watch instead of just taking out your phone. The only real downside of not having local apps is for things like messaging, where it's impossible right now to initiate something like a Facebook Messenger message, a Gmail email or a Skype call — the only way to interact with those apps would be through a reply to a VoiceSamsung's S Voice service — think Google voice search, only from Samsung — is baked into the watch, and getting beyond the awkwardness of trying to interact with a watch for voice controls, it has some limited functionality. You can initiate phone calls by number or name, send text messages though only if you use the default app on your phone, show contact information, get calendar information, play local music, set an alarm and get current can turn on always-listening mode to respond to your command of "Hi Gear" or train it for any other phrase, which works any time the watch is on, but that feature is turned off by default, likely for battery voice command list is relatively limited, and S Voice just isn't as robust as Google's offering on Android voice commands for calls and texts seem to work, other natural language queries like "What was the Seattle Seahawks score last night?" just came up blank and queries such as "Send an email to Phil Nickinson" returned a "no matching applications found" error. It's hard to knock S Voice too hard considering that voice commands aren't the biggest feature of a watch, but when it doesn't work properly for basic Google-style searches or can't handle basic queries, it limits the number of times I'm going to actually turn to it throughout the Voice is also the speech-to-text engine when you're sending messages or speaking voice replies to messages, as an alternative to the other text input methods. Voice replies are rather accurate, but the method for taking input and sending the message is a bit clunky. S Voice doesn't do a good job of identifying when you've stopped speaking when you're replying to a message, leaving you to simply hit the "send" button to stop the recording — I really wish it would identify the end of your sentence as it does in the main S Voice ManagerIn order to get up-and-running with the Gear S2, you'll need to have the Gear Manager app installed on your phone. The Gear Manager app itself hasn't changed dramatically since Samsung's last wearable release, but quite importantly the compatibility of this companion app has opened up to non-Samsung phones. The full list of supported phones is right here{.nofollow}, but basically anything running Android or above with of RAM should work just finally supports other Android phones, and thankfully the experience is nearly Manager is the middleman that lets your phone talk to your watch, and it's necessary because Android doesn't inherently talk to non-Android Wear smartwatches. You can use the app to change your watch face, choose which apps give you notifications, and toggle a few different settings on how the phone interacts with the watch. You'll also find it puts a persistent notification in the shade, not the status bar telling you the watch is connected, but you can simply "block" it in the phone's application settings without the experience of using the Gear S2 on a Samsung phone and any other Android phone is nearly identical. Of course things are a bit more seamless on the Samsung phone on account of the Galaxy Apps store and Samsung's apps being pre-loaded on the phone, but you can overcome these things on any other device — the Gear S2 hooks right into the stock dialer, messaging app, calendar and other system-level functions on compatible phones. I never had any issues or notable differences in app performance, notifications or Bluetooth connection when using the Gear S2 on a non-Samsung phone in my case a Moto X 2014.Just charge at nightGear S2 Battery lifeWith the Gear S2 being relatively small and thin, I was immediately worried about how Samsung was going to handle battery life with the 250 mAh cell inside. Thankfully my concerns were completely overblown, as I haven't had a single worry about battery life on the watch. Leaving the Gear S2 at 80 percent brightness remember, there's no automatic brightness with its ambient display mode on, S Voice listening for a wake-up phrase, and receiving nearly all notifications on the watch, I would end each day with at least 20 percent battery life — many times ending with up to 40 that's with what I'd consider "normal" smartwatch usage, as in I wasn't interacting with it all day. I would regularly check messages, archive Gmail, check my step count, look at the weather or my upcoming appointments on the calendar — but I didn't regularly perform lots of voice searches or do anything that kept the screen on more than 20 seconds or so at a you do plan to use the watch on a more frequent basis — as in more often than when notifications arrive — I'd recommend turning off the ambient watch face mode and lowering the brightness to get the most out of the 250 mAh battery. You can also flip into a limited Power Saving Mode, just like Samsung's phones, that severely limits functionality to preserve battery. In any case, I don't think you can actually expect the Gear S2 to make it through multiple days of use comfortably, which is hardly a knock on it considering that's the case on just about any other non-Pebble smartwatch out be charging every night, but at least the cradle is well Gear S2 charges wirelessly, which is preferable from a case design standpoint but does mean that you'll need the included dock to get the job done even though it's Qi, the band design makes it tough to use on other charging pads. The dock is a simple small cradle that holds the watch with the screen vertical and the strap ends resting on the table, similar to the Moto 360 2015's cradle, but unlike that model the Gear S2 actually holds magnetically to the back of the cradle for a secure charge. The entire cradle is quite a bit smaller than Motorola's offering, which is vertical cradle style certainly looks nicer when on display on your desk or bedside table, but it's far less practical if you plan to bring it with you when you travel when compared to the flat disc-style charging attachments. That's a small deal for most, but considering the watch will need charging every day you'll have to bring this thing with you wherever you're going to be spending the best Gear, but not the best smartwatchGear S2 Bottom lineIt's hardly a stretch to say that the Gear S2 is Samsung's best effort yet at making a compelling smartwatch. The hardware is very attractive and well made, and between the standard and Classic version you'll likely be able to settle on one that fits your style. The Gear S2 is refreshingly small for a smartwatch, and the rotating bezel is a genius way to overcome issues related to interacting with a very small touch screen. The screen is absolutely top-notch, and the battery lasts a full day without the software on offer is still a bit of a mixed bag on the Gear S2. It's very capable when it comes to handling basic notifications, giving you glanceable information and using native functions provided by Samsung. On the other hand, the third-party app support is anemic and poorly implemented at best, interaction between the watch and the phone can be a bit clunky, and voice commands and speech-to-text leave something to be clearly learned a lot of lessons from the original Gear S, but with the Gear S2 it's still trying to do far too much in the software considering the limitations of the screen size. Having lots of options and features on a watch is great in theory, but those extra options and interactions get in the way of getting things done on the watch — and in the end the goal should be to interact with the smartwatch less, not you buy it? Android Wear is still in the leadOne of the biggest hurdles facing Samsung on previous Gears was its limited support of just its own phones, which with this generation it has finally eliminated. Though that opens up the Gear S2 to dramatically more people, it doesn't mean the Gear S2 has vaulted to the top of the list of smartwatches to buy if you have an Android the hardware on the Gear S2 is really great, and surely on-par with other Android Wear offerings in the same price range, the software doesn't quite offer the great experience it may have seemed to at first glance. And even though Samsung has made leaps in adding support for third-party apps and improving its overall interface, there's no getting around the fact that Android Wear more seamlessly integrates with all Android phones and is simpler to there are places where the Gear S2 beats Android Wear — namely in the use of widgets, the rotating bezel for interaction and albeit limited on-watch apps — but those few wins don't overtake the issues in interface and interaction that are handled much better on Android Wear. And when we're talking about a $299 or $349 smartwatch, I don't think you should feel the need to settle for something that doesn't work as well as the other offerings out to buy the Gear S2Amazon BestBuy Samsung Macy's Expansys UKWhere to buy the Gear S2 ClassicAmazon BestBuy Samsung Macy's Expansys UK{.nofollow .cta .shop} Andrew was an Executive Editor, at Android Central between 2012 and 2020. Most Popular The Samsung Gear S2 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window is only a few months old, but it's already been updated in the form of a new $ Classic edition. The Gear S2 Classic has the same exact interface and hardware as the original, but it's built with classier materials including a leather wristband that could be worth the $50 premium if you like the look. It's an attractive smartwatch, with one of the most intuitive interfaces we've seen and a unique, rotating bezel you won't find anywhere else. But just like the original Gear S2, the lack of third-party apps and finicky voice recognition keep the Classic from earning a stronger recommendation. DesignThe Gear S2 Classic $ at AmazonOpens in a new window goes for a more subdued, traditional appearance than its sportier sibling. It has a black leather wristband, while the stainless steel case is now adorned with little ridges, giving it the appearance of an actual gear. The added bit of texture also helps when rotating the bezel to control the watch. The Classic's leather band is highly comfortable, with a creamy brown suede underside that feels fantastic on the wrist. That said, you can still pick up the original watch, which comes with black or white silicone bands, for $50 less. You Can Trust Our Reviews To round out the design, the Classic is slightly smaller than its predecessor, measuring inches around compared with the original's inches. The Classic is also a bit lighter, weighing in at ounces compared with the original. Similar Products Like on the original, the Classic's bezel is its best, most unique aspect. It can be physically turned around the watch face like a dial to make app selections, which is a much faster and more precise way to navigate menus than the seemingly endless series of screen wipes that are required with an Android Wear watch like the Motorola Moto 360 . The Gear features two buttons on the right side of the case to help navigate the interface a Back button at the two o'clock position and a Home button at four o'clock. The Home button brings you to the default watch face, or your app library if you're already at the watch face. The Back button, naturally, sends you back one step. You can also tap the touch screen to get around. Display and Setup The Classic shares the same screen as the original Gear S2 an attractive, circular, 360-by-360 Super AMOLED display. It stays off by default unless you wake it with a twist of the bezel, a wrist gesture, or a tap there is also an option to keep it on all the time, which will seriously drain your battery life. Brightness can be adjusted by swiping down on the display and tapping the Brightness setting, or you can let the ambient light sensor do the work for you. Unlike the Moto 360, there is no "flat tire" effect. You can pair the Classic with Bluetooth devices like headsets or speakers for music playback, or with mobile devices that run Android or later. You don't need a Samsung device to use the watch, but there is no iOS support like you get with Android Wear or Pebble watches. To pair the watch, you need to download the free Samsung Gear app and follow the on-screen instructions. I paired the Classic with a Galaxy S6 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window in about a minute. Once connected, you can select your watch face, manage apps and notifications, or transfer music files to the watch, which comes with 4GB of internal storage. Features and Performance As mentioned earlier, the Classic has the same exact internals as the original. This includes an accelerometer, a barometer, a gyroscope, proximity sensors, and a heart rate sensor. Unlike the Sony SmartWatch 3 $ at AmazonOpens in a new window , you won't find GPS. There is Wi-Fi connectivity, which extends the range of the watch when connected to a wireless network. The heart rate sensor intermittently measures your heart rate throughout the day, but it doesn't track continuously like the Garmin Vivosmart HR , a dedicated fitness tracker. Instead, the Classic checks in about five times per day, though you can adjust it to check more or less frequently. You can also have it check manually. You'll find a few preloaded widgets on the watch, including the S Health step counter, weather info, and a water consumption tracker. You can customize where the widgets are placed on your watch face and add your own apps from the Samsung Gear manager on your phone. Similar to the Apple Watch $ at eBayOpens in a new window , the Classic counts steps and nudges you when you're at rest for too long. You can install the Nike+ running app for more detailed fitness tracking, but if workouts are your main concern, you'll want to go with a dedicated fitness tracker. The Classic runs on Samsung's homegrown Tizen operating system, which is very simple to navigate. A twist of the bezel or swipe to the left brings up push notifications, while the right brings up the menu for Apps, a list of favorite contacts, Settings, and the S Voice assistant. Swipe or rotate again and you'll find every loaded app circling the screen, like numbers on a watch face. It's a far better solution than Android Wear's cards and vertical lists. That said, the Classic returns to the default watch face every time it wakes up. Tizen's primary shortcoming is its weak selection of third-party apps compared with Android Wear, Apple, and Pebble. Samsung's Milk Music is the only streaming service available, and besides Nike+, fitness aficionados are stuck with Samsung's S Health. A note-taking app has shown up since I last reviewed the Gear S2, but Facebook and Twitter are still absent. Besides Bloomberg, CNN, Uber, The Wall Street Journal, and Yelp, there are few big-name companies lending their services to Tizen. Another issue is that the Classic's microphone failed to pick my voice up several times when trying to dictate a message, a problem shared by the original Gear S2. As for battery life, you can go about two days before you need to recharge the Classic with its proprietary dock. Conclusions The Samsung Gear S2 Classic is simply a sleeker version of the rubbery original. It looks and feels nice, and Tizen is easier to navigate than any other smartwatch OS. Unfortunately, the Classic also suffers from the same issues as its predecessor, including poor voice recognition and a lackluster app library. You'll get a far greater selection of apps with the Apple Watch, though it isn't compatible with Android devices. Your best bet is our Editors' Choice, the Pebble Time $ at AmazonOpens in a new window , which offers a robust app library, longer battery life, and support for both Android and iOS devices. If you want something that looks a bit sharper, the Pebble Time Round $ at AmazonOpens in a new window is a solid alternative. Pros Sleek design. Sharp display. Unique rotating bezel. Intuitive UI. View More Cons Mediocre app selection. Weak voice recognition. The Bottom Line The Samsung Gear S2 Classic smartwatch upgrades the original with a sleek stainless steel case and a leather wristband, but the same drawbacks remain. 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. 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

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