Review of smart watches Samsung Galaxy Watch: It was possible not to buy. The charging mechanism of Samsung Gear Live smart watches is very easy to damage How to charge samsung gear s smart watches

The Samsung Gear S3 is without a doubt one of the best smartwatches in the world. Their secret to success is very simple: great looks and lots of useful features. If a lot of different information is already written about the first on the Internet (photo and video reviews), then little is said about the smart capabilities of the watch. In this article, Galagram is done with all the secrets and tips for setting up the Gear S3 smart watch.

This manual will be useful for both beginners who have just purchased the gadget, and confident watch users. We think everyone will be able to learn something new for themselves and use the device to the maximum.

How to turn on Samsung Gear S3

To turn on the watch, press and hold the Power (Home) button until the screen lights up and the Samsung logo appears on the screen. If the device does not turn on, plug it into a power source for at least 15 minutes, and then try again. Perhaps the clock was simply discharged "at zero percent." To turn off the watch, also press and hold the Power button. In the menu that opens, select "Shutdown" or Power off. Everything is simple and clear here!

How to Connect Gear S3 to Android and iPhone

The watch is connected to Android (Android 4.4 and above) smartphones and Apple iPhone (iOS 10 and above) via Bluetooth. So this instruction is suitable for both operating systems. To connect the Gear S3 to your smartphone, install the Samsung Gear app from the Google Play Store or the AppStore. It is worth noting that some functions may not be available on the watch due to the smartphone model. Of course, phones from the Samsung Galaxy line work best with the gadget.

• turn on the clock
• On your smartphone, open the Samsung Gear app
• Update the Samsung Gear app to the latest version if necessary
• Click "Connect"
• Activate Bluetooth when requested by the app
• Follow the instructions on your smartphone to complete the connection

You can also connect a Bluetooth headset or wireless headphones to the watch. To do this, follow these steps:

• On the watch screen, tap "Settings"
• Then select "Connections"
• Touch the Bluetooth switch to activate the connection
• Rotate the ring around the screen and press the Bluetooth icon
• When you see the name of the Bluetooth headset appear on the screen, click on it to connect
• If you don't see the Bluetooth device, click "Scan" and then click the device's name when you see it appear on the display

Well, the reverse action, to disconnect from a Bluetooth device (speakers or headsets), do the following:

• On the Apps screen, select Settings
• Click "Connections"
• Click on Bluetooth Device
• Click the "Settings" icon
• Click Disconnect

How to choose another watch face

There are many different interchangeable watch faces for the Gear S3. Most of them are available in the Gear app on your Android device, right from the app you can view, select the appropriate one and set as the main watch face.

Switching between third-party watch faces can be done on the phone as well as on the watch itself. To do this without your smartphone and app, long tap on the current option on the screen, then swipe left or right to view the preset watch faces. Once installed, you can click on the Styling tab and select display colors and customize it as you like.

How to pay with Gear S3 with Samsung Pay

A very useful feature as you don't need to carry your wallet or even your smartphone around. Just spend hours near a compatible payment terminal. Here's how to set it up. You must enable NFC and set Samsung Pay as your default payment method before using Samsung Pay on the Gear S3

• On the start screen with applications, rotate the frame to the "Settings" tab
• Tap Connections > NFC, then tap NFC to
  enable this module
• Now select the payment method "Samsung Pay"

Great, setup is complete. Now, to pay for a purchase in the store, do the following:

• On the Apps screen, rotate the bezel and select Samsung Pay (or press and hold the back key)
• Scroll through the list of cards, select the desired card, and then
  click "Pay"
• Touch the top of the Gear S3 to the card reader
• Payment must be successful
• It's all!

How to turn on the Always On display

Out of the box, the Samsung watch's screen is set up so that it only activates when you "request". In order to turn on the screen, you need to either raise your hand or press a key on the case. But there is one secret how to make the Gear S3 screen always active. It's something like Always On Display on . To keep your watch constantly "active" and show the time all the time, do the following.

• Go to "Settings"
• On your watch and select the "Style" tab
• Click "Always On"
• Ready!

How to take a screenshot on Samsung Gear S3

Continuing the topic of display settings, we will tell you how to take a screenshot on this watch. First of all, all screenshots taken on your device are saved in the "Gallery". You can transfer screenshots from Gear S3 to your smartphone. Screenshots transferred to your phone will be saved in the Gear folder in Gallery.

To take a screenshot, just press the Home key at the same time and swipe across the screen from the left edge to the right - as you can see, very convenient! Go to the Gallery app to view all screenshots.

How to set the time

There are two ways: automatic, for which automatic updating of the time zone is provided. And manual - when you yourself set the time on the Gear S3 watch. Below are instructions for both of these methods.

Auto:

• Go to "Device"
• Click "Date and Time"
• Click the Automatic tab to enable or disable the automatic date and time update feature

Manual:

• On the Apps screen, go to Settings
• Click "Device"
• Go to "Date and Time"
• If necessary, tap Automatic to disable the automatic update feature
• To manually set the date, click "Set Date"
• Select year, month and day to manually set the date
• Then click "Set" (or install)
• To manually set the time, find the "Set time" item.
• Manually insert hours and minutes
• Now click "Set" (or install)

How to install apps on your watch

Since Samsung Gear S3 runs on Tizen 3.0 OS, you can install popular applications on them, such as Yandex Navigator, Google Maps and others. To download apps to your Gear S3, you must sign in to your Samsung account on your phone. If you don't have a Samsung account, select "Sign up" and follow the instructions.

• You can download apps to your watch from your phone using the Samsung Gear app and the Samsung Galaxy Apps tab.
• Swipe left on the watch screen or rotate the bezel until you reach the Get more apps icon
• Choose the app you want
• Select "Install"
• Once the app has been installed, you can access it from your watch's full list of apps

How to download music to your watch

On the main screen of your smartphone, go to "Apps". Select Samsung Gear. The Samsung Gear app may be located in the Samsung folder on some phones. Then do the following:

• Go to "Settings" tab
• Click Submit Content to Transfer
• Tap Select Audio Tracks (may be called differently)
• Check the box next to the audio files you want to move to the Gear S3
• Then click "Done"

To have new songs automatically sync to your Gear S3 while your watch is charging, tap the slider next to auto sync to turn sync on.

How to set and reset a PIN

Since smart watches do not yet have a fingerprint scanner, data protection is carried out using a regular PIN code. How to install the code and what to do if you forget it, the tips below will help you with this.

To set a PIN code:

• On the Apps screen, tap Settings
• Click "Security"
• Tap Lock Screen
• Click "Screen Lock Type"
• Click PIN.
• Enter a 4-digit password
• Re-enter the 4-digit PIN to confirm

To reset your PIN:

• Make sure the clock is off
• Press and hold the power button until "Rebooting" appears on the display, then release the key.
• On the "Rebooting" screen, press the "Power" key to confirm the reset of the device
• After that, the watch will be reset to factory settings along with the PIN code

You must understand that a Factory Reset will completely erase data from your watch. Use this method as a last resort if the information stored on the watch is important to you.

How to properly charge your Gear S3

The most important thing to remember is to always use the original charger and battery to maintain optimum battery performance throughout the life of your Samsung watch.

You can charge the watch through the original accessory that comes with the gadget. To do this, simply plug the USB cable into a power outlet and connect it to a power outlet or USB port on your computer. The device charges faster from a conventional wall outlet. From a laptop, the charging process will be a little slower.

Place the watch on the charging dock, make sure it is properly connected to the gadget. The device will now start charging. While charging, the watch screen will display a battery charging icon with the amount of time remaining until the battery is fully charged.

How to improve autonomy

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your Samsung Gear S3 watch. Follow these instructions and your watch will run much longer.

• Set the brightness to minimum
• Disable smart display activation
• Disable Always On Display
• Turn off continuous heart rate reading
• Disable in GPS settings
• Activate power saving mode

Hello everyone.

This publication is a continuation of the Huawei Watch smart watch with OS Android Wear. Those watches were used for 1.5 years, and in general, this system left a pleasant impression. But the life cycle of such products is very short, and as you know, geeks pay for progress so that everyone else can then use the debugged technology. So it's time to change the watch to a newer model, at the same time compare what has become better or worse over a couple of years of progress.

Photo (c) Samsung

Under the cut are reviews of the previous model, and a comparison with the new one.

Part 1. Huawei Watch - user experience

It is worth saying a few words about the use of smart watches in general - what is it for? Of course, everyone’s usage scenarios may be different, but it’s safe to say that in 95% of cases, the watch is used as a “second screen” to a smartphone. And in principle, this is really convenient: if, for example, a message has arrived via SMS or E-mail, you can simply raise your hand and immediately look at the text of the message on the screen. Or, without getting out of bed in the morning, you can quickly scroll through your incoming mail, see the weather for today, or stop the alarm. It is convenient, and you quickly get used to such comfort, after all, a watch, unlike a smartphone, is almost always on hand.

The second useful feature turned out to be a pedometer, when sedentary it is useful to know how many steps have been taken per day in order to maintain a level of 10,000 steps, it is also interesting to see the total distance at the end of the day on tours. Sometimes the ability to set a timer with voice control right from the clock came in handy, for example, if you cook something in the kitchen and your hands are busy. In general, that's all, no third-party applications, in general, were useful. Android Wear 2.0 even added the ability to download applications directly from the watch, which also never came in handy ... really, what else can you do on a watch, not play games.

For those who have not read the previous part, let me remind you that Huawei Watch was bought at the time, the price of which at the time of purchase was 380 Euros. This is certainly not Tag Heuer, but nevertheless, the price of the watch was about 30% higher than the average market among other models with Android Wear. And I must say, their design is quite good, the watch has a metal case, leather strap and sapphire crystal:

But not everything turned out to be perfect, and during operation a number of shortcomings were revealed.

The first, and obvious one, is the battery. Of course, you can set the screen to be off by default, but a clock that does not show the time is very pointless (raising your hand or pressing the button every time is also not very convenient). In general, with the screen on, the clock worked for 2 days, then with an update from 1.5 to 2.0 and / or with battery degradation, this time was reduced to 1 day. In principle, this is not so critical if the watch were conveniently charged. But unfortunately, for 1.5 years, the charging contacts of the watch have become completely unusable.

Photo

I apologize for the not very artistic photo under the spoiler, but what is, is. As a result, the watch was charged 1 time out of 10, and they had to be placed on the charging pad for a long time and carefully in order for normal contact to appear. I don’t know what these contacts were made of, but obviously not gold. Probably Huawei engineers did not suspect that the watch would be wear(sarcasm), and contacts can oxidize from moisture and sweat (or vice versa, was it intended?).

The OLED screen is gradually fading. In principle, this does not lead to its inoperability, but on a plain background it becomes noticeable:

You can clearly see the gray area at the bottom of the screen where the digital clock was displayed. But in real use, this is not visible, if it were not for the battery (which, by the way, is not removable), the screen would have worked quite well for a few more years.

The watch was worn neatly, did not drop. But nevertheless, the black metal case received a couple of scratches to the metal, white scratches on a black background look untidy. Apparently, the coating is not so reliable, which, given the price, is certainly not encouraging. The leather strap was also completely worn out in 1.5 years, so there was a fear that the watch would simply be lost (a new branded one is also expensive, although there are analogues on Chinese ebay).

As a consequence of the above, it can be seen that the residual value of a very expensive watch, alas, tends to zero. A practically non-working charger, a partially burned-out screen, a battery that holds a charge for only one day, and a strap worn to holes - sell such impossible, I think even a 1.5 year old smartphone would have had a much better condition and price, not to mention the usual "classic" watches. Alas, in terms of upgrade, the smart watch “toy” is almost disposable.

All this is described in detail so that those who choose a smart watch can draw some conclusions. For example, it became clear that watch charging should preferably be wireless, otherwise the reliability of such a solution leaves much to be desired.

OS Tizen and Samsung Galaxy Watch

Hardware

Samsung Galaxy Watch is a new product, let's see what features modern smart watch manufacturers offer today.

1.3" or 1.2" screen with 360x360 resolution and Gorilla Glass
- Battery 472mAh or 270mAh, depending on the model. Claimed battery life for a model with a "large" battery is up to 6 days (in reality it will probably be less, but still not bad).
- 4 GB of flash memory, of which approximately 2.5 GB is available to the user (for example, music can be stored)
- Bluetooth or WiFi connection
- Various sensors (accelerometer, barometer, pulse sensor)
- Availability of GPS
- The presence of NFC (Samsung Pay support, theoretically you can pay for hours in the store)
- Optional support for LTE, allowing you to be online even without a smartphone (for example, you can listen to music online while jogging)
- The presence of a light sensor (by the way, its absence annoyed Huawei Watch - the brightness of the display, which is sufficient for sunlight, dazzles at night in the dark)
- Wireless charger.

The price of the watch on samsung.com is $349 for the regular watch and $399 for the LTE version. Versions with 1.2" screen are $20 cheaper.

Software

One of Samsung's key design elements is the wide bezel around the screen, which is used for scrolling. The decision, in my opinion, is controversial - and the usual swipe with your finger on modern screens works quite well, so the ring does not add any benefit, but it takes up a lot of space.

The main thing on the screen is (who would have thought:) the clock, the choice of watch faces (watch faces) can be seen in the Galaxy Wear program, with which you can change the watch settings.

This is not to say that the choice is so great, but if you wish, you can go to the Samsung app store, which has third-party watch faces, including paid ones.

Turning the bezel or swiping to the left from the main screen shows the latest reminders (mail, SMS, app notifications), turning or swiping to the right shows various "widgets" - barometer, heart rate monitor, calendar, fitness tracker, etc.

Screenshots from the watch:

"Widget" in Samsung's understanding is something like a simple application with quick access. You can return to the main window with the top button, which works like the Back button everywhere.

The bottom button opens a list of installed applications that spans several screens:

Many applications are quite simple - timers, alarms, reminders, etc. Some programs can be useful, such as remote control for GoPro or Philips Hue. Given the presence of GPS, maps can sometimes be useful, but there were no free versions. Strangely, Samsung does not have any map display apps at all, and all third-party apps are paid.

There are even games, the approximate form of which is clear from the screenshot.

In my opinion, it’s hard to come up with an activity more stupid than playing on the clock, but since they are made, someone might even buy them ...

According to modern fashion, the watch has many fitness functions. Tracking calories, heart rate, various types of workouts, logging water or coffee consumed, and so on.

The built-in application for running is quite functional, and can show the pace and speed, heart rate, record the route, has the functions of auto-stop, save results.

The watch can play music, including through Bluetooth headphones, which can be useful for athletes during training - no need to take your phone with you. The app store also has a Spotify client, so that owners of the LTE version will be able to listen to music online.

The watch has a speaker and a microphone, with their help you can answer a call, or, for example, watch a youtube video with sound (albeit with dubious pleasure - on a small and round screen).

The built-in mail client, in principle, allows you to read the headers and text:

You can reply to the letter with preset phrases (it is advisable to edit them in advance).

With a strong desire, you can type the text, but it will be slow and sad:

There is also voice input from a microphone, which more or less understands English (I'm not sure about Russian). By the way, just like Amazon, Google or Apple, Samsung has its own "intelligent assistant" Bixby, capable of understanding text. However, “intelligence” is very conditional, for example, simple phrases like “what is the weather today” are recognized normally, but the command after saving the screenshot “send the last image from the clock to the smartphone”, although it was grammatically recognized, but stumped the system (in the program The “Gallery” on the watch has a function to send an image to a smartphone, which I wanted to use).

Flaws

If we talk about the Galaxy Watch, they are quite large, even for a man's hand. Even on Samsung's promotional pictures, they seem too big.

However, this is a fee for a large number of functions and a larger battery.

Speaking of battery. With the screen mode "always on", a full charge of the battery will last for 2.5 days. In power saving mode, the watch will run for 3-4 days. If you need to leave for a long time, for example, on vacation, you can turn on the “watch only” mode, where all smart functions are disabled, and the watch will work in this mode for about 30 days.

If we talk about software, then the main drawback of Tizen OS is that it is not Android. The bottom line is that Android Wear is much more integrated with the Android smartphone. All notifications coming to the smartphone are immediately displayed on the watch, if you start playing youtube on the smartphone, the stop / pause buttons appear on the watch, etc. With Tizen OS, almost all this also seems to be there, but to a lesser extent. For example, mail is displayed normally, but it is impossible to stop the alarm clock from the clock, when the alarm goes off on the smartphone, nothing is displayed on the clock. Of course, the watch does not have a gmail client (it has its own from Samsung, which, however, can read gmail mail) and there is no google maps, there is no youtube application (although the video can be watched through a browser), and so on.

So, if from a “hardware” point of view there are no complaints about the watch, then from a “soft” point of view - for those who want absolutely complete and transparent synchronization with an Android smartphone, it is better to look towards watches with the same OS. However, some critical moments (except for the alarm clock and the lack of built-in maps) have not yet been found.

Another disadvantage (although this is more of a nitpick) is the tendency that every large company wants to have its own payment system, its own app store, its own account with authentication, and the user, in turn, must maintain all this cloud of accounts. It would be easier if some kind of unified payment system appeared, where one account and one registration would be enough, but alas, this is hardly possible.

Conclusion

In general, you can see that smart watches are still exotic, but this market is definitely showing good growth. The ideal is still far away, but technology is improving, and this pleases. As for the functionality of Tizen OS, the fears about the lack of functions turned out to be in vain, with a few exceptions, all the necessary functions are there and work just as well.

It is also interesting that O The greater capabilities of modern watches provide new features that were previously unavailable, for example, LTE support allows the owner to stay online even without a smartphone, or make payments using the Samsung Pay system.

Read the article: 10 351

Smartwatches are considered by many to be a fleeting fad that won't gain a foothold in the tech market. Even those who believe in them more are not in a hurry to buy watches themselves. Often, weak autonomy is to blame. Can the new Samsung Galaxy Watch solve old problems?

Samsung has combined the design and durability of Gear S3 and Gear Sport in the new model. The company is trying to attract the largest possible audience of buyers. To do this, she offers watches in two sizes and three color options.

The Galaxy Watch offers new health, fitness and other experiences with Tizen 4.0. There are versions with support for the LTE communication standard and a new HRM operating mode. For the first time, Samsung's Bixby virtual assistant will appear on the wrist. True, it is not yet too popular on smartphones.

Is all of this enough to make the Galaxy Watch an attractive purchase option?

Specifications

Galaxy Watch 46mm:

• Case: stainless steel, silver with black bezel
• Screen: 1.3" (33mm) Super AMOLED, 360 x 360, Always On Display, Corning Gorilla Glass DX+
• Battery: 472 mAh, WPC wireless charging
• Size: 46 x 49 x 13mm, weight 63g without strap
• Strap: Detachable 22mm

Galaxy Watch 42mm:

• Case: stainless steel, black with black bezel or rose gold with rose gold bezel
• Screen: 1.2" (30mm) Super AMOLED, 360 x 360, Always On Display, Corning Gorilla Glass DX+
• Battery: 270 mAh, WPC wireless charging
• Size: 41.9 x 45.7 x 12.7mm, weight 49g without strap
• Strap: Detachable 20mm

General characteristics

• Protection: 5ATM/50 meters, IP68, MIL-STD-810G
• Operating system: Tizen 4.0
• Processor: 2-core Exynos 9110 1.15 GHz
• Storage: 4 GB
• Memory: LTE model 1.5 GB, Bluetooth 768 MB
• Connectivity: 3G/LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, NFC, A-GPS/Glonass
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, ambient light, HRM
• Other: Bixby, microphone, vibration sensor, speaker
• Compatibility: Samsung, Android 5.0 or later, iPhone 5 or later, iOS 9.0 or later

In order to appeal to a wider audience, Samsung removed the dependence on Android and released the Gear and Health apps. How much are you missing if you don't have a Samsung smartphone, or any Android smartphone at all?

To clarify this issue, the reviewers used the iPhone and the silver version of the Galaxy Watch 46 mm for a week.

Contents of delivery

The package included a docking station that says Gear S4. Most likely, this is how Samsung wanted to keep the official name of the watch a secret until they were announced.

The kit includes the watch itself, a charging station, a charging adapter and a setup guide.

Whether it's 46mm or 42mm, each has two strap sizes. The default silicone strap is great for fitness and activity. The silicone straps are different from those on the Samsung Gear watches. There are grooves that run parallel to the strap, not diagonally.

The docking station provides wireless charging for the watch by attaching it to itself with magnets in landscape orientation. So the clock can be conveniently located on your bedside table and you can see the time at any time. The charge LED is too bright and can be annoying at night.

Unfortunately, the docking station uses an outdated microUSB connector. During the announcement, Samsung also introduced the Wireless Charger Duo wireless charger. It can charge your watch and Samsung smartphone at the same time. In addition, the Wireless Charger Pad 2018 was recently introduced, also capable of charging the Galaxy Watch.

Design

As already mentioned, there are two sizes of watches. One of them is suitable for men, the other for women.

The body is coated with corrosion-resistant 316L steel and polished to a high sheen. There is 5 ATM/IP68 water protection and a MIL-STD-810G rating.

It uses a Super AMOLED touch screen with Gorilla Glass DX+ protective glass. This glass will protect your watch from scratches. A rotating frame is responsible for navigation, which eliminates the need to press the screen with your fingers, dirty it and close the view.

The two buttons perform the Home and Back actions. They are made from the same stainless steel with embossing for improved grip.

The appearance is reminiscent of the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier watch. However, the teeth of the frame are smaller and there are more of them. The result is a smoother and more sophisticated look.

The silver model 46 mm has a black frame. The result is a two-tone coating. There is also a 42mm model with a less contrasting appearance.

It is difficult to accurately determine the material from which the frame is made. It looks like some kind of composite. This reduces its weight and makes it possible to make the color match the color of the main body.

On the back of the watch, you'll see an HRM heart rate sensor inside a black cover.

Management and navigation

Nothing has changed in the process of interacting with the Galaxy Watch compared to previous Samsung watches. It uses a rotating bezel, touch screen, and physical Home and Back buttons. There is also a Bixby voice assistant.

The previous Samsung Gear watches run on the Tizen 3 operating system and have one strange quirk. When the timeout expires and the clock goes off, the next time you wake up, the watch face opens. It's annoying when you're doing something and you get interrupted. Increasing the time before the clock turns off solves this problem, but consumes power faster.

Galaxy Watch runs on Tizen 4.0 and there is no such problem here. New setting Show latest app allows you to determine how long the application remains available for activation after the screen timeout expires.

The combination of touch screen, rotating bezel and Tizen 4.0 user interface makes the watch a pleasure to use.

Hardware Components

The Galaxy Watch in both sizes has a Samsung Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 360 x 360. The 46mm version has a 1.3-inch screen with a pixel density of 282 ppi. The 42mm version received a 1.2-inch screen with a higher pixel density of 302 ppi.

Screen quality and color accuracy are traditionally high for Samsung. Content looks great and the ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness.

Different watch sizes have different batteries, 472 mAh and 270 mAh. Samsung promises 7 days on the 46mm model and up to 4 days on the 42mm model under light load.

In all cases, the Samsung Exynos 3110 processor with two cores and a clock speed of 1.15 GHz is used. A more efficient 10nm chip was developed specifically for smartwatches. It delivers longer battery life than the 14nm Exynos 7270 found in the Gear S3 and Gear Sport.

The new processor does a great job. Navigating the interface is fast and fluid. No slowdowns were observed.

Unfortunately, the storage capacity is only 4 GB, which is needed for applications and multimedia files. After installing the Spotify app, transferring 52MB of music, and taking a few screenshots, only 1.43GB is left. Users with a large number of applications and files may experience problems.

768 MB of RAM is enough. The version with the LTE communication standard offers 1.5 GB. This may improve performance, although it is not noticeable to the eye.

In addition to the new heart rate sensor, the Galaxy Watch's fitness capabilities are enhanced with an accelerometer, barometer, and gyroscope.

Among the communication standards there is Bluetooth 4.2, through which you can connect the watch to a smartphone and wireless headphones. There is support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n 2.4 GHz to connect to wireless networks. There is 3G and 4G with built-in eSIM, which allows you to do without a smartphone.

Thanks to the NFC communication standard, the Samsung Pay payment system works. Samsung has abandoned the MST standard with credit card emulation, where security is provided only by a magnetic strip. If you do not have a smartphone with Samsung Pay support, then you cannot use this payment system.

GPS / GLONASS is responsible for tracking the location.

Updated HRM sensor

Samsung didn't specifically say anything about the HRM sensor, but a new module is used here. Almost all smartwatches monitor their heart rate using Photoplethysmography. Blood is red because it reflects red light and absorbs green. By using green LEDs along with photodiodes to measure the amount of light absorbed, the smartwatch is able to determine the amount of blood flowing through the wrist.

The new sensor contains one green LED with four photodiodes. The Galaxy S3 and Gear Sport use two green LEDs and one photodiode. In comparison, the Garmin Fenix ​​5 watch has three green LEDs with one large photodiode. Apple Watch uses two green LEDs and one photodiode.

Galaxy Watch keeps track of your heart throughout the day. You can set continuous monitoring (which consumes a lot of energy), every 10 minutes or turn it off.

The sensor is located on the reverse side of the housing and protrudes 1 mm beyond its limits. This provides improved contact with the hand and improves the accuracy of the readings.

autonomy

Hours of operation thanks to the 472 mAh battery on the 46 mm version. This is the largest battery among all Samsung watches. The 42 mm model received a 270 mAh battery.

The duration of work was considered over the weekend. Bixby voice commands were active. The automatic settings of the HRM module and constant automatic stress measurement were exposed. This increases energy consumption.

Wi-Fi networks have been added at home and at work, the settings are set to automatic. Screen brightness was 50%, auto brightness enabled, screen timeout 15 seconds, standard Frontier dial, default power management.

At 100% charge, the estimated battery life was 2 days 13 hours 32 minutes. Activating the power saving mode gave a forecast of 7 days 3 hours 6 minutes. In this case, the home screen is displayed in gray, everything is turned off except for calls, messages, notifications. Including the Wi-Fi network is turned off and performance is limited. Mode Only watch showed an estimated run time of 41 days 21 hours 15 minutes.

When the charge level was 11%, the reviewers turned on the power saving mode. He provided an additional 12 hours of work.

Although this was not the most accurate measurement, the watch worked for 4 days 5 hours 30 minutes. At the same time, indicators of heartbeat and stress were taken around the clock.

Connecting to the docking station allowed the watch to be charged 100% in 2 hours 51 minutes. Qi wireless charging standard supported. Despite this, charging only happens with the Samsung docking station and the new Samsung Wireless Charger Duo. Probably the reason is the shape of the back of the watch. Thus, foreign charging trays will not fit.

You can roughly estimate that the 42 mm model with the same load will work for about 2 days 4 hours.

Playing music through the Samsung Music app for an hour with local file storage and through Dr Dre BeatX headphones used up 8% of the battery. GPS hour spent 4%.

Operating system

Rumors said that the Google Wear OS system could be used here. This did not happen and Samsung still prefers its Tizen platform. In this case, version 4.0 is installed.

We will not consider the entire operating system, there are separate reviews for this. Let's talk about what's new here.

Watch faces. The default watch face has become even more reminiscent of a real watch. Traditional 3D effects are complemented by a gyroscope to display lighting effects in real time. They change when you move your wrist. If you hold the watch to your ear, you can even hear the ticking of the clock. Of course, this is not particularly important, but it gives a sense of realism.

Good night mode. It exists so that nothing disturbs your sleep. When it is active, all notifications are muted, except for the alarm and system sounds. Disables the always-on clock function and the wake-up gesture. Increased battery life.

You can add this mode to quick settings. However, you will need to remember to turn it on and off manually. I would like it to activate automatically based on a schedule or when it detects that you have fallen asleep.

Daily help. Only available on Android. This is Samsung's answer to Apple's Siri assistant on the Apple Watch. In the morning, the watch will give you a quick overview of the weather, your daily schedule and reminders. Before going to bed, you will receive another overview that will contain the remaining reminders and health information.

day dial. Displays a summary of your schedule for the next 12 hours, highlighting the next appointment on the calendar. If you click on an appointment on the watch face, additional information will appear. Rotating the frame allows you to move between different appointments. Touching the pop-ups will show all the information about the meeting, including the notes you've taken. Works great with the iOS platform.

Read notifications aloud. Text-to-speech technology allows you to hear notifications through Bluetooth headphones. It can be useful while exercising, running, driving a car.

bixby. Activation occurs by double pressing the Home button. A Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection is required, otherwise the assistant will not work. The LTE watch version works with an assistant without a smartphone.

When connecting the watch to the iPhone, even with a network connection, errors often occur. The server may not be fully operational. When connected to a Samsung Galaxy S9+, Bixby behaves as expected. The assistant is able to run certain exercises and respond to basic requests. On non-LTE Galaxy Watch, there was a one-second delay when using the assistant. If you do not need an assistant, double-clicking on the Home button can be assigned to another function.

Show last app. Under Settings > Display, this option allows you to define how long the last used app is displayed when the screen is re-enabled after being turned off due to a timeout.

The disadvantage of the Tizen system is not in itself. Support from third-party app developers is not as extensive as on the Apple Watch. Thus, before buying, you should check if the applications you need exist.

Health & Fitness

Last year's Gear Sport was not the best fit for fitness. There are more specialized applications for this.

The advent of the HRM module made it possible to slightly improve the situation. Samsung has worked with the University of California to improve software and algorithms for processing results and heart rate fluctuations. This can be useful in the long term when analyzing medical information. It will be possible to analyze sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation and hypertension.

Daily activity and health

The watch can track steps, floors, sleep, and calorie consumption. When it comes to accuracy, readings on different devices are never identical. In this case, the accuracy is quite high. The Galaxy Watch 46mm is well suited for tracking sleep quality due to its long battery life. Since you don't have to charge your watch every night, it can stay on your wrist. Four stages of sleep are recorded: deep, light, REM and awakening.

There is a new stress monitor. You can set the watch to measure stress all the time or choose a specific time. Once the watch has collected basic stress information, it will start offering you breathing exercises. You can choose the exercises you need to relax at any time convenient for you.

Unfortunately, this information is not sent to the Samsung Health app on iPhone. You need to track the history right on the clock.

There were no problems with round-the-clock collection of heartbeat information both day and night.

Sports and fitness

Galaxy Watch can automatically recognize 6 types of activity when you're doing at least 10 minutes. This is walking, running, cycling, and a number of other activities. All possibilities of automatic recognition are indicated in the table.

If you select strength training, an animation of how to perform the exercises correctly is shown. For beginners, this can be useful, but in practice it quickly gets boring.

Each exercise is recorded individually and quickly fills the Samsung Health app bar. The structuring of individual exercises leaves much to be desired.

But you can easily move from one exercise to another without having to go back and start a new activity. If you click Complete in the current activity, you just need to click on the next activity and select the type of activity.

I would like to be able to combine different activities in one place. You can choose a goal before starting classes. True, the goals are limited. For example, distance only works when using GPS. When walking, the goal is only to burn calories.

During exercise, the screen can be adjusted to show you the information you need.

Use with iPhone

Galaxy Watch App

On the iPhone, this program shows the battery charge, the amount of storage and RAM. You can change many settings yourself. There is also a method to find and install watch faces and apps.

The program proved to be stable and permanent in operation. However, there are also missing aspects:

• Unable to reply to text messages
• Unable to set up Samsung Pay
• Transferring music through the browser is complicated
• Can't transfer screenshots to smartphone
• Can't set up SOS message
• Reminders not syncing with iPhone
• Most notifications are shown, but you can only look at them or dismiss them. Missing email notification
• No Wi-Fi sync with iPhone, need to add manually
• The Find My Phone application is useless if the clock in silence mode has fallen somewhere behind the sofa. Instead, it's better to use Find my iPhone. Then the clock will vibrate and a sound will be heard that will help you find it.
• Samsung SmartThings setting not supported

Samsung Health App

Significantly inferior to programs like Fitbit, Garmin and Apple. It will take longer to learn how to work with this application.

• There are no links to the Apple Health app and other programs like My Fitness Pal. On Android, there are no such problems and data is being synchronized
• There is no stress tracking in the app, only on the watch itself. Android doesn't have this problem.
• There are no fitness programs like on Android
• Certain physical activities do not fully transfer data to Samsung Health

Conclusion

Despite all the cons, this is the best smart watch in the history of Samsung. They develop the already good Gear S3 and Gear Sport. The new model isn't revolutionary, but the sum of the hardware and software changes makes for a great device.

The watch is beautiful, durable and with a great screen. In addition, the large model has excellent autonomy. The fitness and health options are more extensive than most users need.

iPhone owners should make sure that the existing restrictions do not scare them. The rest of the Galaxy Watch can be safely recommended for purchase. The only barrier could be the arrival of the Apple Watch Series 4. For iPhone owners, this is the more obvious choice. At the same time, the battery life of the Galaxy is better.

pros

• Two sizes and three colors
• Build quality
• Autonomy of the 46 mm version
• Tizen offers a great user experience
• Excellent daily activity tracking, stress and sleep monitoring
• Improved heart rate monitoring
• GPS works fast
• Water resistant up to 50 m
• iPhone support

Minuses

• Lack of baselines such as Vo2 Max and SWOLF
• Small amount of storage
• A small number of existing applications
• Model autonomy 42 mm
• Not the most stylish default strap
• Bixby on iOS
• No online version of Samsung Health
• Ability to connect external heart rate monitors

Samsung's Gear S3 is a fully functional smartwatch, although I would like to see more apps for it.

If you received the Gear S3 as a gift for the holidays, or bought it recently, there are chances that there are some nuances and aspects of the watch that you have yet to explore. We've highlighted 10 tips and tricks to help you get comfortable with your new gadget.

The box is a charging stand.

Instead of throwing the box in the trash, you can turn it into a watch charging dock. Apart from the simple assembly of some parts, no complex work is required on your part. See the user manual included with the kit (p. 5) for detailed instructions on how to assemble the stand.

During the setup process, the app will ask you to install two or three more apps that are necessary for the watch and phone to communicate with each other. Follow the instructions and install the required plugins and services.

Changing dials.

The Gear S3 has many watch faces, most of which you'll need to use the Gear app on your Android device to view and install.

You can switch between watch faces on your phone or on the watch itself. Press and hold on the current watch face, and then swipe left or right to view the installed watch faces. If the Styling option is shown below the preview, click on it to change the color and customize the watch face to your liking.

Using Samsung Pay.

One of the important features in the Gear S3 is full compatibility with Samsung Pay. This means that you can pay for purchases at NFC terminals, as well as at old classic credit card payment terminals, using your watch. I spent the whole weekend using this technology,
and she is amazing.

Press and hold the top right button on your watch for a couple of seconds to begin the setup process. You need to add a plastic card to your phone, but the app will guide you through the process.

Then, when it will be necessary to pay for the purchase, click on the desired card, and bring the watch to the payment terminal. It's just some kind of magic.

Access to quick settings.

Swipe down on the watch face to access quick settings. Here you can turn on Airplane Mode, turn on Do Not Disturb manually when you go to a meeting or a movie, adjust the brightness, speaker volume, and control the music app.

Add widgets and change their location.

By rotating the ring around the watch face to the right, you can view the widgets of the apps currently installed on your watch. While viewing a widget, press and hold on it to customize, change, delete, or add new widgets.

Application management.

The default app circle is also configurable and can be called up by a long press on the app icon. A ring will appear around the edge of the watch screen, letting you know that you are in edit mode. Drag, drop and delete apps right on the watch screen.

Set the home button shortcut.

Double-clicking the bottom button on the Gear S3, also called the Home button, launches "S Voice" by default. However, you can customize this setting to launch other apps ranging from the calendar to S Health.

On your watch, open Settings > Device > Double Press Home Key and select a shortcut from the list.

Do Not Disturb setting.

With the Gear S3's long battery life, you can leave the watch on at night to track your sleep. But waking up at night to calls and texts on your wrist won't help you get a good night's rest, so you'll probably want to turn on Do Not Disturb.

On your watch, open Settings > Device > Do Not Disturb. Select the days and times you want to disable notifications, then double-check to enable the schedule.

Turn off reminders to move.

Some people get annoyed by hourly reminders to get up and move. You can disable these alerts in the S Health app on your watch. Scroll to the "Settings" icon and select it, and then, click on "Inactive time". It is difficult to treat smart watches without a certain amount of skepticism. After all, the idea that to show the time you need to charge the watch every couple of days does not cause much enthusiasm. However, smartwatches promise a lot of advantages over traditional models. I decided to try to see if such watches could not only replace the usual ones, but also help me in solving daily tasks. To do this, I took a Gear S2 watch for a month, for which special thanks to Samsung. I liked this portable electronic device for its design and features, and it was also interesting to get to know the Tizen OS on the basis of which it works.

A little about the prospects of smart watches

In our age, when the time is constantly shown on a smartphone, laptop, and even on a microwave, a wristwatch could be classified as an anachronism. But this is not the case, they have perfectly adapted to modernity and have become not so much a device for showing the time, but a fashionable and often expensive accessory. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, in 2014 the export of Swiss watches increased by 1.7% compared to 2013. But for 2015, the numbers are unlikely to be as rosy. The fact is that according to the latest available data, in November 2015, the export of Swiss watches decreased by 6.1% and this trend continues to persist. It is difficult to say unequivocally whether the spread of smartwatches has affected Swiss exports, but they certainly have contributed to this. After all, according to the forecast of Strategy Analytics in 2016, sales of smart watches should grow by more than 60%.

dials

No matter what, a watch must be able to tell the time in the first place, and there can be no exceptions for the Samsung Gear S2. Therefore, the first thing I did after turning on the clock was to select a suitable dial for myself.

In this regard, Gear S2 provide disproportionately more opportunities than traditional watches. Right out of the box, 20 different watch faces are available in the device, each of which has its own additional stylizations. For example, you can choose a round watch face, change its design, the appearance of the hands, as well as additional information such as weather, battery charge, or the number of steps taken.

This allows not only to diversify the appearance of the watch, but also simply to choose the dial to suit your style. I quite often change the dials according to my mood, sometimes I want to choose some bright, and sometimes classic.

Interchangeable dials are generally a great solution for watches. You choose the shape of the watch, and then you can complement its design to your liking.

I used the regular Gear S2, but for those who like the classics, there is also a version in a steel case with a leather strap. And most recently, Samsung introduced two models of Gear S2 with the addition of platinum and gold.

Alerts and messages

Working with smartphone alerts is one of the key features of smartwatches. Getting a lot of emails on Gmail, messages in Skype, Viber, Facebook Messenger and Telegram in a day, you begin to understand that not all of them require an instant response. From my own experience, I can say that a smartwatch can really help with the processing of incoming messages. Gear S2 through the Gear Manager app support all kinds of notifications on Android. At the same time, you can easily configure which ones should come to the clock and which ones should not.

Particularly pleased with the good integration with Gmail, which allows you not only to view the contents of incoming letters, but also to respond to them using prepared phrases, emoticons or voice. The latter is especially true when you are driving.

Unfortunately, not all alerts support actions, and some incoming messages on the Gear S2 can only be viewed.

But you can not only read SMS from the watch, but also compose new ones, there is even a small virtual keyboard for this. It is still possible to type short phrases with its help, although it often costs nerves, but longer ones are best dictated by voice. Fortunately, recognition works just fine.

Physical activity and sports

The Gear S2, like most smartwatches, can function as a sports bracelet. Actually, in terms of capabilities, they are even better than most bracelets that track physical activity. The main app for step counting, running, cycling, heart rate and water/coffee consumption on the Gear S2 is S Health.

Over the past few years, this service application has grown well in terms of functionality, and with a high degree of probability it will suit any user. With it, I counted on the Gear S2 the steps taken, the pulse, as well as the amount of coffee and water drunk.

It is convenient that the watch automatically determines the user's activity level, and if you do not move for a long time, they offer to walk.

In addition, they also automatically detect running or cycling, so you don't have to do it manually. But when it comes to running, it’s better to use the Nike+ Running app preinstalled on the Gear S2, which is just tailored for running tracking.

It determines the distance, pace and can track the heart rate through the built-in Gear S2 heart rate monitor. The latter works like a watch, very well, the main thing is to tighten the strap tighter while jogging so that the sensor fits snugly on your hand.

Alarm

The current firmware version of the Gear S2 does not have the ability to track sleep, it is promised to be added in future updates. But there is a quiet alarm clock in the clock, it can wake you up with a slight vibration. This is a very useful feature, especially if the family, as in my case, has a small child.

Navigation

The Gear S2 has an app with HERE maps, as well as a separate app for navigating public transport, driving or walking. The maps have a nice section with points of interest, which allows you to find, for example, the nearest cafes or attractions.

Gear S2 is not particularly needed for car navigation, in the car it is easier to do it from a smartphone, but for public transport and walking they are just fine.

Finance

On Gear S2, from financial applications, in addition to the calculator, I used Privat24 and Exchange Rates, which shows exchange rates.

The Privat24 app for Gear S2 is useful because it allows you to view your account balance without taking your smartphone out of your pocket.

And with the help of Exchange Rates, you can see the interbank rate, rates in banks and exchangers.

How often do you need to charge?

Built-in Samsung Gear S2 battery has a capacity of 250 mAh, and . But in the latest update, the developers seriously optimized something, and the watch now holds up to 15% charge for almost 3.5 days, with fairly active use, but without navigation. As a result, I started charging them not at night, but once every three days during the day in the office, when I work at my desk. As a result, the charge level of the watch simply stopped bothering me and I didn’t even check it, I just charged it every three days.

Does your smartphone drain faster?

I used the Gear S2 with the Galaxy Note 5, and since the devices are connected via Bluetooth 4.0, this practically does not affect the autonomy of the smartphone. However, in the Gear S2 it is possible, in the event of a Bluetooth connection failure, to connect to a smartphone via Wi-Fi if they are on the same network, and in this situation, the watch itself starts to discharge faster.

Eventually

The functions described above Gear S2 I used almost every day. Already out of the box, the watch offers a large set of features, which in the future can be expanded with third-party applications. Unfortunately, at the moment there are not as many of them as we would like. For example, I would not refuse such applications on the Gear S2 as Wunderlist or the Uklon client. Hopefully, Samsung's smartwatch platform can attract more developers this year. After all, the Gear S2 itself came out good, they have an excellent design, display and they work quickly. As for the very concept of smart watches, today it is quite viable. Charging the watch once every few days is not a problem, you quickly get used to it. But their functionality is incomparably higher than that of any other wrist watch. Of course, everyone will choose based on their preferences, and classic wristwatches will not disappear. But if you are an active smartphone user, then be sure to take a closer look at the new smartwatch models, and especially the Gear S2.