Testing Samsung Gear S2 - Review of a smart watch with a beautiful design and updated features. Testing Samsung Gear S2 - Review of a smart watch with a beautiful design and updated features Proprietary operating system

Samsung has already made five attempts to conquer the mass market of wearable devices, constantly experimenting, which can be seen in the five models of Gear. The sixth model goes its own way again. We are getting a round display for the first time. In our tests, we will see what other innovations await users of the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic besides the round display.

Apple does not disclose the level of Apple Watch sales, so it's hard to talk about success. But even according to the most pessimistic forecasts, the company managed to become the market leader from scratch. Samsung, meanwhile, is unlikely to be content with second roles. Unlike Android Wear watches, Tizen models cannot be used with an iPhone. And it is unlikely that users will choose a smartphone platform based on existing smartwatches. So Samsung had to make the watch "open". For the first time, the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic can work with Android smartphones from other manufacturers, so they have a potential market comparable to Android Wear. So smartwatches can be considered as an interesting alternative along with LG, HTC or Sony smartphones.

Gear S2 or Gear S2 Classic?

The choice between Gear S2 or Gear S2 Classic is a matter of taste. The differences between the models are cosmetic. Gear S2 is made in a sporty style, the design is quite simple. The situation is different with the Gear S2 Classic. Samsung has chosen a more delicate design, this version is closer to the classic wristwatch.

	Samsung Gear S2	Samsung Gear S2 classic
Display	1.2", 360 x 360 pixels, Super AMOLED
Battery	250 mAh
Dimensions (housing, in mm)	49.8 x 42.3 x 11.4	43.6 x 39.9 x 11.4
Weight	47 g (with strap)	42 g (with strap)
Sensors	Acceleration, pulse, lighting, positioning
RAM	512MB
Built-in memory	4 GB
Housing material	Stainless steel, glass, plastic
Bracelet material	Elastomer	Leather
Products webpage	Samsung

There are two consequences of the choice. If the classic model supports regular straps with a width of 20 mm, then for the standard version you will have to use only branded bracelets. In addition, the body of the Gear S2 is slightly larger and 5g heavier.

Almost the same toppings

Measuring 42.3 x 49.8 x 11.4 mm and 39.9 x 43.6 x 11.4 mm (Gear S2/ Gear S2 classic), the Samsung Exynos 3250 processor is hidden inside the case. The dual-core processor is based on the ARM Cortex architecture. -A7 and operates at up to 1 GHz. Part of the CPU is complemented by a Mali-400 MP2 GPU with a frequency of up to 400 MHz. The MP4 variant is known, for example, from the Galaxy S5 Mini smartphone. The SoC is manufactured using a 28nm process technology, although modern Samsung chips have already switched to a process technology with structures that are half the size. In terms of the number of cores and clock speed, the SoC is inferior to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (four cores up to 1.2 GHz), which is used in many Android Wear watches. In terms of memory configuration, Samsung has chosen the same path as its competitors. The new models work with 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory. However, about half of the memory is available to the user, it can be used not only for applications, but also for music.

The built-in radio module is used to communicate between SmartWatch and smartphone. In addition to Bluetooth 4.1, it supports WLAN (802.11n) so that the watch does not depend on the short range of Bluetooth. There is also support for NFC, although Samsung focuses this protocol on its own payment service Samsung Pay, which is not yet available to us. Gear S2 version with built-in UMTS modem is not yet planned in Russia or Europe. In the watch case, there was a place for a vibration motor, a microphone and the usual sensors: acceleration and positioning, heart rate and barometer.

Unfortunately, there is no GPS receiver, which is somewhat disappointing for the sporty Gear S2. When jogging or cycling, I would like to receive accurate location information without a connected smartphone. There is no speaker, so the SmartWatch, unlike the same Apple Watch, cannot be used for hands-free calling. Unless on the clock you can accept an incoming call or beat it off.

The last important component is the battery. But the 250mAh capacity is pretty low even for a smartwatch. The watch is charged wirelessly through the included docking station. As with almost all smartwatches, battery life depends on usage scenarios. At medium brightness and without an always-on display, the watch lasted almost three days (about 66 hours), with a moderate heart rate. Switching to full brightness reduced this result by about six hours. Significantly greater losses will be with frequent heart rate measurement or training monitoring. In the worst case, the clock will not last even a day. The situation will be no better with moderate use, but always-on display: Gear S2, with luck, will last all day on a single charge.

Small display with deceptive automation

The Super AMOLED panel measures just 1.2 inches in diameter, meaning the Gear S2 has one of the smallest round displays on the market. The new Moto 360 watch, depending on the version, received a diameter from 1.37" to 1.59". On the Watch Urbane we get 1.38". At least the pixel density at a resolution of 360 x 360 can be called average, at the level of the Apple Watch. As a rule, the pixel density is sufficient for a detailed picture, except if you look closely, then on moving elements, such as second hand, ladders will be visible.

The display has a small diagonal of 1.2", the resolution is 360 x 360 pixels - the average level

The display brightness can be adjusted in ten steps, and there is an ambient light sensor for automatic adjustment. But not everything is good here - additional options would obviously not hurt. The sensor only works in very bright environments. But the maximum brightness is still not so high, only about 220 cd / m². In direct sunlight, the display is no longer readable.

Color reproduction is not much better. We got about 7.800 K, that is, the white areas have a clear bluish tint. But at least AMOLED technology gives rich colors

Leather or plastic?

Samsung approached the case conservatively. The case is steel, the screen is protected by Gorilla Glass, only the bottom of the case is made of plastic – in addition to design and dimensions, there are no other differences between Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic. The choice of case in this case is a matter of taste. The workmanship of both models is at a high level, except that we did not really like the visible transition between the base and the rest of the body.

Otherwise, Samsung did not make any mistakes, two buttons on the right side and a rotating bezel are available for control. The buttons are neatly integrated into the case. We also have no complaints about the comfort of wearing, the base adheres well to the skin and does not irritate. Due to their compact size, the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic will fit well even on thin wrists, in which case the relatively short bundled bracelet can be seen as an advantage. The same can be said about the relatively low weight.

The choice of a suitable model can also be affected by the strap. Samsung opted for leather for the classic version, but the standard model comes with a black or white (depending on case color) elastomer strap. The leather bracelet looks more elegant, but the elastomer strap is more comfortable for sports. The quality of both options is good, the standard model with an elastomer strap fastened easily and securely. This strap will last longer in high humidity conditions. Both versions of the Gear S2 are IP68 certified, making them water and dust resistant, but the classic watch's leather band showed signs of aging typical of the material after a few days of use.

First look at the hot new

Judging by the name, the Samsung Gear S2 smart watch should continue the tradition of the model presented, by the way, at the same IFA exhibition, only a year ago. However, in reality, there is almost nothing in common between these models. Neither the form factor, nor the interface of the operating system, nor other details allow them to be perceived as representatives of the same family. The Gear S featured a large screen (perhaps the largest of any smartwatch) that was also curved but rectangular. The novelty has a small, flat and round screen. Yes, both models run Tizen OS, but the interface of the operating system has been radically redesigned for Gear S2, that is, from the user's point of view, this is a completely new OS, and programmers will also have to write applications specifically for Gear S2 - obviously, applications for Gear S are unacceptable on a round screen.

In this regard, Samsung's original intention (at least, there were rumors) to call the new watch Samsung Gear A, thus marking a new offshoot of the Gear family, looks much more logical. Why in the end they decided to choose the name Gear S2 is a mystery. And even more interesting is whether Samsung plans to develop the Gear S model, which, we recall, differed in addition to having a large curved screen and also support for Nano-SIM cards. However, this is a matter for the future. Now our task is to consider the Samsung Gear S2 and understand, as far as possible from a cursory acquaintance, whether the device turned out to be successful.

Video review

We invite you to watch our video preview of the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch from IFA 2015:

Now let's look at the specifications of the novelty.

Specifications Samsung Gear S2

CPU @1 GHz (2 cores)
Touch round display 1.2″ Super AMOLED, 360 × 360, 302 ppi
Random access memory (RAM) 512 MB, flash memory 4 GB
Bluetooth 4.1LE, NFC
WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Microphone, speaker
Gyroscope, accelerometer, heart rate sensor, light sensor, barometer
2G, 3G (e-SIM support for Sport variant), call transfer to smartphone via Bluetooth
Li-ion battery 250 mAh
Tizen operating system
Compatible with Samsung devices running Android 4.3 and later
Degree of protection against moisture and dust: IP68
Dimensions: 39.9 × 43.6 × 11.4 (Classic version) / 42.3 × 49.8 × 11.4 mm (Sport version)
Weight 42 g (Classic version) / 47 g (Sport version)

For clarity, we decided to make a table with the characteristics of other top smartwatches (including the previous version of Gear S), adding to it those parameters that are currently key when choosing a device of this type.

	Samsung Gear S2	Samsung Gear S	Motorola Moto 360 2	Apple Watch
Screen	round, flat Super AMOLED, 1.2″, 360×360 (302 ppi)	rectangular, curved Super AMOLED, 2.0″, 360×480 (300 ppi)	round, flat, IPS, 1.65″, 360×325 (290 ppi) / 1.8″, 360×330 (304 ppi)	rectangular, flat, AMOLED, 1.5″, 272×340 (290 ppi) / 1.65″, 312×390 (304 ppi)
Protection	yes (IP68)	yes (IP67)	yes (IP67)	No
Strap	removable, leather / silicone	removable, silicone		removable, leather/silicone/metal
SoC (CPU)	2 cores @1 GHz	2 cores @1 GHz	Qualcomm Snapgragon 400, 4 cores @1 GHz	Apple S1, 1 core @520 MHz
Connection	3G (Sport version only), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	3G, WiFi, Bluetooth	WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth	WiFi, Bluetooth
Camera	No	No	No	No
Microphone, speaker	eat	eat	microphone only	eat
Compatibility		Samsung devices with Android 4.3 and later	devices with Android 4.3 and later / iOS 8 and later	devices running iOS 8.3 and later
Operating system	Tizen	Tizen	Android Wear	watchOS
Battery capacity (mAh)	250	300	300 / 400	not reported
Dimensions* (mm)	40×44×11.4 / 42×50×11.4	40×58×12.5	∅42×11.4 / ∅46×11.4	39×33×10.5 / 42×36×10.5
Weight (g)	42 (Classic version) / 47 (Sport version)	83	not communicated	25 / 30 (Sport version)*

*according to the manufacturer

The table shows that the new Samsung watch has the smallest screen among competitors, not to mention its predecessor. However, it is in the case of the Samsung Gear S2 that this parameter does not seem to be a minus. But a less capacious battery than the second generation Moto 360 is already alarming. Although we will be able to say which model has more battery life only after a full test of both models.

Please note that all models are equipped with Wi-Fi, while the first generations of smartwatches did not have Wi-Fi (for hardware or software reasons). In addition, the Samsung Gear S2 Sport supports 3G, but the new Moto 360, as well as the classic version of the Samsung Gear S2, do not support 3G.

As for performance, at first glance, the new Motorola is the best here, but it is in the case of watches that software optimization and the correct use of SoC capabilities are much more important. But Android Wear had problems with this: the operating system used only one core out of four (it is possible that this has already been fixed, but in the case of the previous Moto 360 model and the current version of Android Wear at that time, this was exactly the case).

Equipment

Since the watch has just been presented, no one has seen the retail packaging. However, we were able to get acquainted with one element of the package: it is wireless charging.

It looks a bit like the Moto 360 charger - a similar shape, apparently the same material and color, but the Moto 360 charger has a more massive "back" to which the watch is attached. In addition, here the charging is magnetic, that is, when we put a watch on it, they are magnetized to the back. And the Moto 360 did not have magnetization.

We add that charging the Samsung Gear S2 is much easier than that of the Moto 360. And in general, this solution seems to us to be very successful, but it still has a minus: it is impossible to charge the watch without it, so if the charge is lost or damaged, you will have to look for a new one, which, apparently, will not be easy to do.

Design

Now let's take a closer look at the watch itself. Samsung Gear S2 will be available in two versions: Classic and regular (conditionally called Sport, although the manufacturer simply writes Samsung Gear S2). We were able to hold both in our hands, so we will share here our impressions of both, and we will start with the Classic.

In our opinion, she looks great. Really round, without any "dead zones" (like the Moto 360 of both generations) screen, steel case (except for the inner surface adjacent to the hand), narrow bezel with a ribbed circumference, metal loops, elegant leather strap... From Of all the smartwatches we've seen, this one is arguably the sleekest and most stylish. Even the newer Moto 360s, with their smaller screen size, were less to our liking.

Here is how they sit on the hand. Note that the author's hand is thin, so large models look bad on it. This watch is the perfect size. True, the leather strap seemed to us not elastic enough - in the photo above you can see that the watch does not fit snugly on the hand, so this is precisely because of the strap.

The main design element is, of course, the rotating bezel. It can be rotated around the screen, thus controlling the watch interface and navigating through the menu. The bezel rotates very nicely, you really enjoy this action! The move is quite soft, but there should be no accidental rotations due to touching the clothes. Although, of course, this should be checked already in practice.

Thanks to the ribbed surface of the bezel, the fingers do not slip during rotation, and this decision looks very interesting, it adds charm and originality to the watch. In addition to the bezel, the watch can be controlled using the touch screen and two physical buttons located on the right side of the case (the left side is free from any elements). The location of the buttons and their shape is the same for both versions of the watch. The photo below shows the sports and classic versions of the Samsung Gear S2 from the side of the buttons.

The buttons are pressed with a slight effort, we have no complaints here. The top button allows you to exit to the home menu, and the bottom button allows you to return to the previous menu or screen. A small hole between the buttons is a microphone, it is needed for voice input.

On the back surface of the case, we see a heart rate sensor (it was the same for previous models of the Gear line), as well as information about the watch. The surface is plastic, the material is quite pleasant to the touch, it does not cause discomfort. Here we can consider the fastening of the strap. It is clearly seen that it is quite traditional, on a metal needle. To detach the halves of the strap, just press the small levers on this spoke.

The strap is leather, has a width of 20 mm. This is less than the most common value of 22 mm, but it’s not a problem to find straps on sale with such a width. Since the mount is standard here, there is no problem using third-party straps that were not created for the Samsung Gear S2 at all. As for the branded version, it makes a good impression. This is genuine leather, with a beautiful texture on the outer surface and a pleasant, suede inner surface. The stitching adds sophistication to the strap. And as disadvantages, we can only note the already mentioned stiffness of the strap (however, perhaps this will be leveled over time).

Samsung Gear S2 (Sport)

Now let's see the Sport version. It makes a completely different impression - not to say that it's bad, not at all, but instead of the classic look of a wristwatch, here we see a more minimalistic and futuristic design.

There are no loops as such in the Sport version, the case simply tapers smoothly to the width of the strap, and the halves of the strap themselves are connected using the original fastening. In the photo below, the clock itself is a little out of focus, but you can get an idea from it.

To detach the strap, press the button on the edge of the strap and pull down. At first, this does not work, so you can decide that the strap is not removable. But, nevertheless, it is not so. However, it is obvious that third-party straps for such a device are no longer suitable. So you have to choose from the options presented by Samsung. All of them are silicone - this is, in fact, another important difference between the Sport model. But the colors are available different, like the colors of the watch case.

We saw black, white, red and yellow strap options. In our opinion, the most stylish is white, although black is probably more versatile, and yellow and red are more fun and original. In the photo below - a variant with a red strap and a white case. Let's pay attention to the fastening of the strap to the watch.

It is important to emphasize that despite the Sport name, this version also uses steel: in the bezel. But it is in the case of the bezel that there is one important difference from the Classic version: it is smooth, not ribbed. To be honest, we liked this solution less than with a ribbed bezel, but it should not affect functionality in any way. Its rotation is no less easy and comfortable than that of the Samsung Gear S2 Classic. At the same time, if you look at the watch from the side and do not know that there is a rotating bezel here, then you will never think. It seems to be just a static bezel.

Summing up the above, we praise Samsung for the design of the watch (mostly for the Classic model, but also for the regular version) and especially the rotating bezel - a real find! And also note that the watch (both versions) is not perceived as thick, although technically their thickness is no less than the Moto 360, and more than the Apple Watch. And the last thing: despite the attractive design, both versions of the watch have moisture and dust protection corresponding to the IP68 class. This means that you can safely take a shower with them, and they will also withstand short-term immersions under water.

Screen

As already mentioned, the watch screen is completely round, without dead zones (unlike Moto 360). The matrix is Super AMOLED, which makes blacks look really deep here, and when displaying black, electricity is consumed minimally, so dark dials are more economical.

Under the conditions of the exhibition, we, of course, did not have the opportunity to test the watch screen according to our method and we hope to do this as soon as the Samsung Gear S2 gets into our test laboratory. But to the eye, the colors seem bright and juicy, and the screen as a whole makes a very good impression. Note that it is in the case of wearable devices that the shortcomings of Super AMOLED technology (oversaturated colors, too wide color gamut) seem to be advantages, since the issue of plausible color reproduction is not worth it (you won’t be watching videos and photos on your watch!), but it is very important that the color was bright, juicy and did not lose its qualities in the sunlight.

Interface and functionality

The Gear S2 runs on the Tizen operating system, just like the Gear S, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit. Recall that this is the brainchild of Samsung and Intel, based on the Linux kernel and working with applications in HTML5. Tizen traces its pedigree from the MeeGo operating system, which, in turn, is rooted in Maemo (you can read the history of these projects and). Although more and more manufacturers are now betting on Android Wear (for example, Sony, which abandoned its own shell used in SmartWatch 2 in favor of Google OS), Samsung is stubbornly betting on Tizen. The new flagship of the watch line only confirms this.

However, it is important to note that the OS interface has been radically redesigned specifically for the round screen, which is a big plus. All icons are now round. In the main menu, these icons are also arranged in a circle. In general, Samsung beats the screen format in every way.

Among the applications and widgets there is a traditional set, including a calendar, weather, messages, S Voice voice assistant, as well as a set of fitness applications. In the case of the 3G version, it is also possible to make calls, send SMS and surf the Internet without a smartphone. Recall that Internet access is available only in the regular Gear S2 (Sport) model, and it is implemented using the built-in e-SIM (embedded SIM), unlike last year's Samsung Gear S, where you had to install a regular Nano-SIM.

However, it is too early to talk about pre-installed software, because by the time the watch appears on sale, the set may still change. In this case, just note that all the applications that we saw on the Samsung Gear S2 are really optimized for the round screen and look very nice. Navigation through the interface is convenient, although the abundance of options for how you can go from one screen to another (through the main menu, through auxiliary menus, etc.) leaves a feeling of some congestion.

A very important point: according to unofficial information received by us from trustworthy sources, the Samsung Gear S2 watch will be compatible not only with Android, but also with iOS. For the first time, Samsung watches will work with iPhone! However, when used with an iPhone, only a fraction of the functionality will be available. Thus, Samsung made a very cunning move: firstly, it made the device available to many iPhone owners, secondly, it deprived the Android Wear platform () of an undoubted competitive advantage, and thirdly, it created momentum to change the iPhone to a Samsung smartphone. Let's say a person used an iPhone, bought a watch that he really liked and that is compatible with his smartphone, and then found out that its functionality is truly revealed only in conjunction with a Samsung smartphone. Why not a reason to switch?

conclusions

So far, the Samsung Gear S2 makes an impression of one of the most successful models in the Samsung watch line, and this gadget looks very good against the background of devices from other manufacturers. In addition, Samsung promises a battery life of 2-3 days, and if this is true, then Gear S2 will be the longest-lived smartwatch with a round screen.

However, this, as well as the properties of the screen and the nuances of functionality, of course, must be checked already during full testing. So far, we have been able to really appreciate only the design - and we were impressed. The Classic model is generally fine, the regular version (or Sport) is also not bad. A big plus is the presence of many straps for the standard model and the ability to connect standard watch straps with a width of 20 mm to the Classic model.

Finally, the main innovation - the rotating bezel - seems to us extremely promising and more interesting than the rotating Digital Crown wheel on the Apple Watch. But it is very important that not only Samsung, but also third-party software developers get the opportunity to use the bezel in their applications. And also, of course, to have more of these applications. So far, Samsung promises several thousand applications by the time the watch launches. Let's see if it will!

The start of sales is scheduled for October, and in Russia the watch will arrive on the shelves at the same time (or almost simultaneously) with Western Europe. The Russian price has not yet been announced, while in Europe the watch will cost 400 euros. A lot, but quite comparable with the same Apple Watch.

For the superior design of the Samsung Gear S2 Classic and the development of a new way to control your smartwatch, we give Samsung our Original Design Award.

The smart watch market appeared a long time ago, but devices of this class received at least some mass character only with the advent of Pebble. A young start-up spinning the flywheel pushed the tech giants to explore a new niche. Many companies have already made a mark in this segment, however most of them have not done anything interesting with this type of device. However, the products mature and take on an increasingly finished look. The Samsung Gear S2 is in that adult league.

Samsung has been dabbling in wearables for a long time, and the Gear S2 is actually the company's sixth smartwatch. Let's figure out what the Koreans managed to do right on the sixth attempt, and where the engineers still have serious work to do.

Characteristics

touch round display 1.2″ Super AMOLED, 360 × 360, 302 ppi
RAM: 512 MB, ROM: 4 GB
Bluetooth 4.1 LE, NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
microphone, gyroscope, accelerometer, heart rate sensor, light sensor, barometer
battery: 250 mAh
protection against moisture and dust: IP68
dimensions: 42.3×49.8×11.4 mm, weight: 47 g (without strap)

Appearance

Samsung Gear S2 for the Ukrainian market comes in a round box, thus hinting at the shape of the screen. In the box, the user will find the watch itself, a charging dock, as well as a smaller interchangeable strap.

The watch itself “to the front” looks minimalistic: a display, a corrugated edging and a metal bezel that can be twisted in any direction. The watch case is metal, made of stainless steel (316L) with matte anodizing. I like the overall simplicity of the design, because the eye does not "stumble" over the frilly elements, and you can wear this watch under any outfit.

The device contains two control keys ("Back" and "Home"), located on the right. If you are used to wearing a watch on your right hand, this is not a problem - the interface can be turned upside down, and the buttons are still easy to feel and press.

The rubber strap, complete with a silver watch, received a white color, the material does not feel cheap to the touch, as it was with the first generation Pebble. Of course, the strap gets dirty, but it is elementary to clean it - we did it with wet wipes, but running water can also be used.

Samsung claims to meet the IP68 standard, which says: Gear S2 is not afraid of dust, and immersion in fresh water for one and a half meters for half an hour will be transferred without consequences. We didn’t look for the mark at which the watch would fail, but periodically “accidentally” washed it from the tap when we washed our hands, drowned it in a basin a couple of times, and once even took a shower with it (this was really accidental). No hints of failures were found.

Build quality and fit are top notch, as you'd expect from a flagship device. The proprietary fastening of the straps perfectly fixes the bracelet, and the latch design itself eliminates even the slightest backlash. If you do not know that the straps can be removed, it will seem that the engineers fused the silicone straight into the case.

Convenience

The rotating bezel around the display is the main control element of Samsung smart watches: it is used to navigate menus, lists, and also acts as a tool for adjusting various sliders and serves as a controller in a number of games.

All competitors in the wearable electronics market use two control options: either a touch screen and keys, or only keys. Samsung has added a new control method that solves several problems at once: there is no need to smear sebum on the screen and then clean it, the content is constantly in front of the user (which means that the display can be made a little smaller, this will not affect the final convenience ), on cool days you don't have to take off your gloves to interact with gadgets.

This shell interaction tool is the best on the smartwatch market

The ring rotates almost effortlessly, but its movement is so clear that there are practically no accidental jumps through the desired menu, you just need to understand how much you need to scroll the bezel to get to the desired screen. The round interface was initially adjusted to the new principle of interaction, which was made possible thanks to the Tizen OS, the development of which is fully promoted by the gadget manufacturer.

The movable element allowed the company to install a small display without sacrificing convenience - 1.2 inches seems small compared to competitors, but since the user does not need to constantly poke at the screen, the shown surface is enough for comfortable operation. The small display also allowed the company not to produce huge boilers, but to make quite a neat gadget that looks good on a graceful female hand, and it also suits guys whose brushes do not look like logs.

The regular version of the Gear S2 received a non-standard strap attachment - a dubious decision that Apple also sins. Of course, one could assume that the manufacturer is simply planning to make extra profit on the straps (at 1599 UAH apiece, for a second), but this conspiracy theory does not stick with the Gear S2 Classic, which received a standard 22mm mount, and only - only presented use universal bracelets.

Release an adapter for 22mm straps, don't torment consumers

For the past two and a half years, I have been actively using the first generation Pebble, the body of which is made of plastic. In this unusually hot summer, it turned out that my skin reacts to the material of the pioneer of the smart watch market with allergies. And in three weeks of testing the Gear S2, there was no hint of irritation, despite profuse sweating in the midst of running around the city. But do not forget that this is individual for each person, so pay attention to the reaction of your body in the first days of using such devices.

What devices does it work with

Samsung says its Gear S2 smartwatch supports any Android smartphone version 4.4 KitKat or later, as long as it has 1.5GB of RAM or more. Our testing on 6 devices, ranging from the Samsung Galaxy S6 itself to Chinese ones, showed that the manufacturer is not cheating.

The stability of the Bluetooth connection can be called satisfactory: the connection periodically disappeared and automatically returned, and auto-switching to Wi-Fi worked well only when close to the access point (up to 10 m), otherwise the watch constantly reported connecting/disconnecting from the network.

Functions and software

The Gear S2 is a gadget first and a watch second. Therefore, their capabilities are at the head of the table when choosing a device.

Pedometer

The step counter is one of the most useful features of any portable device - it forces you to walk more in an attempt to achieve higher and higher results (achievements!). With the Gear S2, this will not be difficult, since our testing has shown that the watch consistently adds steps - on average, we are talking about an additional 10% for every 10 thousand. Considering that we are not measuring the dose of the drug here, then this level of error is quite acceptable, but pedants will be disappointed.

A set of sensors allows you to automatically detect whether you are walking, running, cycling or sitting still. If the latter is done for a particularly long time, the clock will remind you that it is time to break away from the chair and take a few steps.

Pulse

The pulse sensor works mediocrely - the watch periodically cannot calculate this parameter, while there is no logic in the failures: the skin is light on the arm tightly, there are no tattoos, but sometimes the reading works perfectly, and periodically gives out an alert that information could not be obtained. I am glad that 9 out of 10 attempts work correctly.

The watch is able to track data on a regular basis, as well as in manual mode. If you monitor your heart rate during sports activities, we recommend that you tighten the strap tighter to avoid disruptions.

Sleep tracking

Sleep tracking works no better (or worse) than that of specialized competitors in the face of Misfit or Jawbone - the watch captures the time to fall asleep more or less correctly, but with the rise they often add extra, which is associated with the desire to "still lie in bed." The accuracy of deep sleep tracking is difficult to evaluate, but the results are consistent with the competition.

All data is synchronized with the proprietary S Health program, where you can not only see the progress of training, heart rate, sleep time and the number of steps taken, but also enter other data related to your body and health. The application is close in capabilities to competing Google Fit and Apple Health, there are no particular advantages or disadvantages over them, at least for the vast majority of users.

Smartphone and watch search

Smart watches can activate the sound signal on the smartphone (the melody set for the call is played), and in the Gear Manager application you can search for the watch from your smartphone (suddenly you lost it on your wrist). Since the device does not have a speaker, the watch will diligently vibrate.

If the smartphone is set to silent mode, then the search from the watch will ignore this restriction, and the sound will be forcibly activated.

Alarm clock and timer

Smart watches can wake up with vibration. This is extremely convenient both for some activities (for example, when boiling an egg), and for getting up in the morning without the risk of disturbing the sleep of a soulmate or a small child. By the way, since the Gear S2 lasts more than a day on a single charge, the alarm clock is likely to become a sought-after feature if you are used to sleeping in a watch.

A small negative - the vibration of the watch is rather weak, if you are fast asleep, the Gear S2 may not reach you. We recommend checking the effectiveness several times paired with a traditional alarm clock, on which you set a later rise time.

Notifications

The most important functionality that smart watches bring is the display of notifications and the ability to somehow respond to them. Gear S2 is all right with this: the user not only sees the pushes and can reject them (on the watch and smartphone at the same time), but also gets the opportunity to fully respond. The latter is implemented in three ways: templates and emoticons, keyboard (telephone and qwerty), and voice.

The dictated answer turns into text, S Voice is responsible for this function. In practice, it is almost impossible to use it - it recognizes short phrases (3-4 words) well, but as soon as the user tries to dictate a sentence, success awaits him only in 20% of cases, the rest of the time, incidents happen. The program can generally ignore what you said there and ask you to dictate the message again. And then he will misunderstand what you said. In English, the success rate is higher, somewhere around 40%, but how often do you reply to relatives and friends in English?

Despite the presence of a built-in microphone, you cannot answer calls from the Gear S2, since there was no place for the speaker in the design. However, with an incoming call, you can press the green tube, after which the call will be answered on the smartphone. Is it helpful? It is unlikely, because in a car the call answer button when connected to a headset is usually located on the steering wheel, and in other scenarios you still have to take the device in your hand.

A proprietary smartphone application allows you to choose which programs to receive notifications from and which ones to ignore. In general, nothing new, everything is like that of competitors.

dials

The Samsung Gear S2, though smart, is still a watch, which means it can display the time in style, thanks to the support for a huge number of skins available in the app store. Many watch faces support a wide variety of settings, from the color of the hands to the information on the watch face itself.

You can also use your own images as a background for the watch, which must first be downloaded to the Gear S2 through a proprietary application.

Navigation

Standard navigation is implemented on the basis of Here maps; for its operation, the appropriate application must be installed on the smartphone. The principle of operation does not differ from what we saw with competitors: we set the route, then follow the prompts. When the user is within 20 m (when navigating on foot) of the turn, the watch vibrates slightly and a pointer appears on the screen which way to turn.

Navigation is a little annoying at startup: the application takes an incredibly long time to load (it takes 20–30 seconds from clicking on the icon to the start of walking!), and picking up GPS data does not always happen the first time. But if you managed to start turn-by-turn navigation, then everything works fine.

NFC

The Gear S2 smart watch contains a built-in NFC module, which, among other things, allows you to make contactless payments. Ukrainian consumers can use this function with the Privat24 application: in the program on the smartphone, we activate payment via NFC, install the branded application on the watch, follow the instructions in the program. Then we simply pay for purchases in any stores or trips in the Kiev metro (terminals for payment must support PayPass).

An important detail is that if your smartphone does not have an NFC chip, then you will not be able to activate contactless payment, there are no ways to get around this problem today, the PrivatBank employee specified on the website.

Music

Smart watches can store on the built-in storage (4 GB) not only applications, but also photos (it is not clear why), as well as music. The latter makes sense for those who, for example, do not want to take their smartphone for a run or to the gym - we connect wireless headphones or an external speaker via Bluetooth and enjoy our favorite songs.

Important: if the music player closes data from indexing (the same "Play Music"), then it will not be possible to transfer such files to the watch. That is, you need to download files to the smartphone drive directly from a computer or through a browser. It would be possible to get around this problem with the presence of proprietary service applications, but Google, as well as other competitors, are in no hurry to release software for Tizen.

Games

The app store for smartwatches contains a (small) number of games of different levels of interest and with the obligatory mediocrity of the visual component. Of course, games on smart watches are not needed, but for a queue where you have to stand for just a minute, it will do. We recommend Bezel Reflex, the screen displays a ball that jumps up and down and changes color, and your task is to rotate the platforms, substituting tiles of the corresponding color under it.

Most games from the store seemed completely pointless due to decent loading times - some projects require the user to wait 15 seconds before the start of the gameplay, which does not fit into the general concept of instant use in a queue at all. For more expectation, you can also get a smartphone out of your pocket, enjoying a much larger display and advanced graphics.

Branded application and software store

Samsung traditionally makes high-quality pieces of iron, which either impress with their manufacturability, or please with exceptional accuracy. However, with the company's software, as a rule, everything is not so rosy. And this is true not only for older versions of the proprietary TouchWiz shell, but also for Gear Manager, an application that serves as a watch companion.

The basic functionality (firmware update, connection to the watch, notification permission management) is well implemented, although not obvious in places. The application looks more like a website than native software, but this is more of an aesthetic perception than a real negative.

But the company's programmers seem to have made every effort to make the most problematic software store on the planet. And, honestly, there is a suspicion that they succeeded.

The jambs of the store are not permanent, they occur a couple of times a week, but when they are, you want to throw this device, which is excellent from a technical point of view, out of the window

What's wrong with program screenshots? Why in some of them only one frame is loaded, although five frames are attached in the description?

By what logic does clicking on “Installed” under a previously downloaded program launch, sorry for the tautology, re-downloading the application? What for? For what?

Oh, and also this:

Above you see an example of how the S Health application not only needs a SIM card for activation to synchronize your activity, it is also necessary to insert it into the first slot!

Add to this the inability to view all programs from one developer (even Samsung itself or the same Yandex - there is no such heading as “other developer programs”), the amazing slowness of the interface (a web program, not otherwise) and just the most ingenious limitation - downloading programs from the store are interrupted on some smartphones (for example) if you leave it! No, seriously, how could you do that?

Technical problems are annoying, but not for long - you don't have to constantly return to the store, because new software does not appear often.

Tizen

Samsung Gear S2 is running proprietary Tizen OS, which has a positive impact on decent battery life. In addition, the manufacturer managed to achieve a high smoothness of the interface, which pleases. More precisely, smoothness occasionally disappears, you literally see a slide show on the screen, but this happened only twice during the entire testing period, so let's write it off as an exception.

However, the proprietary solution has its own problems: the number of third-party programs is small, and most of what is in the store is generally useless. It's good that the platform is closely integrated with Android, making it easy to respond to notifications in the same Telegram even without a proprietary program for Tizen.

Things are not so smooth with iOS

Smart watches are not a competitor to Apple Watch at all - the Koreans have not released Gear Manager for iOS (although they promised back in January 2016), which is why iPhone owners simply cannot use this gadget (or rather, all functionality will be limited to get push to the clock in the amount available in the notification shade). And this is Samsung's mistake, since the accessory itself turned out to be extremely interesting, some Apple users would definitely try round watches from Koreans instead of expensive Apple Watches. Or is it Apple itself that did not allow the program to appear in the App Store? (Actually not, right now, but when the app will appear in the app store is unknown).

Working hours

Of course, during the initial setup and loading of the software, as well as a detailed examination of the possibilities, the battery was handed over in less than 10 hours, but as soon as our sample began to be used in normal mode, everything immediately became much better - the average autonomy was two days and another 10-15 hours for the third. For 10 hours of sleep, the device loses about 12% of the charge, while sleep tracking is active.

The charge rate from 8% to 100% through the stock memory took 2 hours 43 minutes, which is not very good at first glance if you want to always track your sleep. On the other hand, an hour of charging is enough for a full day and night, so the long energy recovery time is more of a specific feature than a disadvantage.

The flagship of Samsung is far from the reference Pebble, which work with our load for about 6 days, but these devices are not competitors to each other - the Korean device should be compared with solutions on Android Wear and watchOS, which work less on a single charge. It turns out that Gear S2 in its class belongs to the centenarians.

Competitors

Samsung Gear S2 is the flagship device running Tizen, which does not prevent them from competing with manufacturers of smart watches running Android Wear. Now there is a clear leader on this platform - Huawei Watch. Chinese smartwatches offer maximum features designed for the OS, a great 1.4-inch screen and a nice appearance. At the same time, the size of the display does not allow us to call them compact, and the price is threatening - 9999 UAH. The unequivocal advantage of Huawei Watch is only the number of programs written for Android Wear.

Apple Watch

Huawei Watch

Apple Watch, as the only device that fully interacts with iOS, is available in several options, starting from just over 10 thousand UAH for a compact model. This device will have a difficult fight with the much more affordable Gear S2, as soon as the company releases the program for iOS. Of course, this will still not be full-fledged support at the system level, but a noticeable difference in price and appearance will certainly play into the hands of the Koreans.

The best on the market, with a lot of problems

The Gear S2 smart watch is officially available in Ukraine for UAH 6999, which is almost the cheapest accessory of its kind in the country. At the same time, even if the choice were wider, the Samsung device would still need to be compared with the flagship platforms: Apple Watch (from UAH 10,399) and Huawei Watch (UAH 9,999).

What we have? Samsung Gear S2 work longer than the named competitors, although they do not differ functionally, they also contain premium case materials, and they don’t lose outwardly (and for me they even win by a serious margin). Moreover, the rotating bezel and mechanical buttons allow you to perform most trivial actions without touching the screen, that is, the glass remains unstained, and with the onset of cold weather this will bring another bonus - Gear S2 owners will not have to take off their gloves to see new notifications. Today, no company has a better clock management solution.

The size of the display, coupled with the “bezel”, remains sufficient for comfortable control of the gadget, and the dimensions themselves make the device universal, especially against the backdrop of massive Huawei Watch, which not every girl will be ready to put on her elegant wrist, fearing that huge boilers are simply break her arm.

All the advantages of the Samsung Gear S2 are countered by the proprietary fastening of the straps (this is not Apple, the Chinese counterparts for Korean smart watches are disappearing a little), inferior software for the smartphone, as well as a meager application store. And if the mount is more of a claim to “find fault”, then the software is very frustrating.

Without activity in the store, it will be bad in the future, especially with the release of new services and messengers, which will continue to appear first of all for the more popular and already known watchOS developers with Android Wear, while Tizen will continue to be kept afloat by a group of enthusiasts, unofficial customers and developers, which Samsung millions in royalties.

Is it worth buying

The lack of software will be important only for active users who constantly want to install something new, for the rest, the existing set of software will be more than enough. In reality, a branded smartphone application is used extremely rarely (ideally, once at all, to set up the device and download the necessary software from the store). There are fitness functions, a decent working time, an amateur appearance, but those who like the round display will be satisfied even after months of use. And in practice, the bezel turned out to be not a far-fetched excess, but an extremely logical and convenient way to interact with the interface.

You don't use an iPhone or a Windows Phone smartphone as your main device, don't like to fill up all your desktops with programs that are good if you launch it once, and also experience aesthetic pleasure when you look at the Samsung Gear S2? Take it without hesitation, especially since this is the cheapest flagship among smart watches.

Do you fundamentally not use Samsung appliances? Is your house full of appliances with an apple on the logo? Are you in dire need to roll out a fresh beta version? Pass by, the Gear S2 won't deliver a tenth of the fun you can get with a smartwatch running watchOS or Android Wear.

4 reasons to buy Gear S2:

great build, nice look
the rotating bezel is an almost perfect way to control smartwatches
compact dimensions without compromising the information content of the screen
decent battery life

4 reasons not to buy Gear S2:

a small amount of software
you have an iPhone or smartphone with Windows Phone
you want to buy a much more expensive Gear S3
you have convinced yourself that a smart watch is a useless toy

P.S. Gear S3

Samsung at IFA 2016 a new generation of watches, Gear S3. Current models are slightly larger, their appearance is more brutal. They are, by the way, significantly more expensive (one and a half times). The manufacturer assured at the presentation that Gear S2 will be sold and developed in parallel with the new product, which means that if you are more inclined towards the hero of the review, you can buy them without fear that the Koreans will not release updates and will stop supporting the device in the near future.

The South Korean giant unexpectedly presented an official press release of its new Gear S2 smart watch, and 3 models are presented at once, including those with 3G support. What matters to us is that Samsung has finally shown a smart watch with a round Super AMOLED display. Feeling and seeing the watch will be presented only at the IFA in Berlin, so for now we can talk in detail about the characteristics of the watch. By the way, judging by the characteristics, Samsung is releasing 2 versions of the Gear S2. And in many ways they will differ from all competitors produced by other manufacturers.

Specifications of Samsung Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic:

Tizen OS operating system
4GB internal memory
512MB RAM
WLAN 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC
Battery 250 mAh (enough for 2-3 days of work without the need to charge)
Gear S2 dimensions: 42.3 × 49.8 × 11.4mm, weight 42g.
Gear S2 Classic dimensions: 39.9 × 43.6 × 11.4mm, weight 47g.

Specifications of Samsung Gear S2 3G:

1.2 inch Super AMOLED display with 360 x 360 resolution
Dual core 1GHz processor
Tizen OS operating system
4GB internal memory
512MB RAM
Support for Samsung Gear Apps Store
WLAN 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1 as well as NFC and e-SIM (3G)
Battery 300 mAh (enough for 2 days of work without the need to charge)
Sensors: heart rate monitor, barometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor
Gear S2 3G dimensions: 44.0 × 51.8 × 13.4mm, weight 51g.
Features: Nike+ Running, S Health, Maps & Navigation, IP 68 certification (water and dust resistant), S-Voice support, Weather, find smartphone, view notifications, emails and more.

Visually, there are significant differences between the presented variants of Samsung smart watches. For example, the Samsung Gear S2 Classic variant received a leather strap and a black case. The Gear S2 and Gear S2 3G will come in dark gray and silver with a white strap. In addition, Gear S2 has a rotating bezel.

There is no word yet on the Gear S2 price and watch availability.

In September, at IFA 2015, Samsung introduced the Gear S2 smart watch. At the same time, we prepared the first review of this model, telling you in sufficient detail about the design and key features. Now, on the eve of the start of watch sales in Russia, it's time to take a closer look at those aspects of the novelty that could not be recognized and studied at the exhibition.

We outlined the history of the Gear S2 and information about the Gear family as a whole in the already mentioned material, so we will not repeat ourselves and recommend that you read before reading this text. However, at that time it was not yet known when the watch would be available in Russia and at what price. Now Samsung has made this information public: sales should start this month (although the exact date has not yet been announced), and the price will be 21 thousand rubles for the regular version and 25 thousand for the classic one.

The pre-order, opened on the Russian Samsung website, was closed quite quickly due to the exhaustion of the first batch of devices, and at first the more expensive Gear S2 Classic was sold out, but by the time the article was published, the regular Gear S2 had also ended. This, of course, indicates a high interest in the new product, so it's time to study it closely.

We tested the standard version of the Samsung Gear S2 with a dark gray case and gray strap.

Let's look at the specifications of the device.

Specifications Samsung Gear S2

CPU @1 GHz (2 cores)
Touch round display 1.2″ Super AMOLED, 360 × 360, 302 ppi
Random access memory (RAM) 512 MB, flash memory 4 GB
Bluetooth 4.1LE, NFC
WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Microphone
Gyroscope, accelerometer, heart rate sensor, light sensor, barometer
2G, 3G (e-SIM support for Sport variant), call transfer to smartphone via Bluetooth
Li-ion battery 250 mAh
Tizen operating system
Compatible with Samsung devices running Android 4.3 and later
Degree of protection against moisture and dust: IP68
Dimensions: 39.9 × 43.6 × 11.4 (Classic version) / 42.3 × 49.8 × 11.4 mm (Sport version)
Weight 62 g (Sport version, our measurement)

	Samsung Gear S2	Samsung Gear S	Motorola Moto 360 2	Apple Watch
Screen	round, flat Super AMOLED, 1.2″, 360×360 (302 ppi)	rectangular, curved Super AMOLED, 2.0″, 360×480 (300 ppi)	round, flat, IPS, 1.65″, 360×325 (290 ppi) / 1.8″, 360×330 (304 ppi)	rectangular, flat, AMOLED, 1.5″, 272×340 (290 ppi) / 1.65″, 312×390 (304 ppi)
Protection	yes (IP68)	yes (IP67)	yes (IP67)	No
Strap	removable, leather / silicone	removable, silicone		removable, leather/silicone/metal
SoC (CPU)	2 cores @1 GHz	2 cores @1 GHz	Qualcomm Snapgragon 400, 4 cores @1 GHz	Apple S1, 1 core @520 MHz
Connection	3G (Sport version only), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	3G, WiFi, Bluetooth	WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth	WiFi, Bluetooth
Camera	No	No	No	No
Microphone, speaker	eat	eat	microphone only	eat
Compatibility		Samsung devices with Android 4.3 and later	devices with Android 4.3 and later / iOS 8 and later	devices running iOS 8.3 and later
Operating system	Tizen	Tizen	Android Wear	watchOS
Battery capacity (mAh)	250	300	300 / 400	not reported
Dimensions* (mm)	40×44×11.4 / 42×50×11.4	40×58×12.5	∅42×11.4 / ∅46×11.4	39×33×10.5 / 42×36×10.5
Weight (g)	62 (Sport version)	83	not communicated	25 / 30 (Sport version)*

*according to the manufacturer

We commented on this table in the first review of Samsung Gear S2, so we will not repeat ourselves, but we note that there will be no 3G version of the watch in the official sale in Russia. The fact is that the Gear S2 uses the format of virtual SIM cards - e-SIM, but it is not yet supported by Russian operators. This, of course, is a minus compared to the Samsung Gear S, which used a regular Nano-SIM.

As for the comparison with the Apple Watch, here we note the lower price of the Samsung Gear S2 in Russia (if we compare the sports model with the Apple Watch Sport, and the classic one with the Apple Watch). But the Apple Watch has many more watch and band combinations available. That is, even if you have an Apple Watch Sport, you can buy a leather or metal strap for it, and vice versa, you can attach a silicone strap to the Apple Watch, while Samsung has a strictly fixed “watch / strap” ratio (silicone - for Samsung Gear S2 , leather - for Samsung Gear S2 Classic).

Well, let's move on to getting to know the device.

Packaging and equipment

The watch comes in a medium-sized square grey-blue box.

We open the box - and we see the watch inserted into the mold of thin white plastic. It should be noted that although there are no complaints about the packaging, Samsung nevertheless approached this task formally. Unpacking Gear S2 does not give any emotions (unlike Apple Watch).

Under the plastic form are located: an additional strap of the same color, but a different size, wireless charging 5 V 0.7 A, a charger with the same parameters (however, you can use any other smartphone charger), a small warranty booklet and a fold-out instruction sheet ( we had it in French, but it is obvious that the Russian-language version will be sold in Russia).

We were very pleased with the presence of an additional strap - moreover, there are both halves here, and not just the one that has a different size. So if something happens to the main strap, one of the two halves can be replaced without any problems.

As for wireless charging, it is good for its compact size and the presence of a magnet inside the wall, against which the watch leans against the back of the case. Thanks to this, the watch does not hang out and does not fall out of this miniature charger.

On the back side of the round charging base there is a Micro-USB connector, to which you need to connect the cable. Alas, there is no way to connect the watch to a computer through this charge. On the front of the base, you can see an LED indicator showing that the device is charging (red) or that the device is already charged (green).

In general, the package can be assessed positively: wireless charging and an additional strap are what was missing in the case of previous Gear models.

Design

Our first impressions of the design of the Samsung Gear S2, we told you in the material from IFA 2015, and in general, they have not changed even after a closer look at the device. The watch looks minimalistic and moderately strict. In our opinion, they lose the comparison with the Gear S2 Classic, but the design itself leaves a pleasant impression.

The streamlined shape of the case and its smooth transition into the halves of the strap evoke associations with something futuristic - the “coolish” design of the watch would fit perfectly into the interior of some space station. In a more realistic way, the Samsung Gear S2 is quite suitable for different types of clothing (from casual to business style), but it cannot be said that they will attract attention or become the highlight of your appearance. The design is too neutral, or something.

However, the watch sits well on the wrist, and their case does not look thick. This is a plus. Here is a photo of the watch in profile. Here it is worth paying attention not only to the thickness, but also to the presence of two buttons. The larger one is “Back”, the smaller one is “Home”.

Between the buttons you can see the hole of the built-in microphone - it is needed to work with the S Voice voice assistant, however, alas, there is no way to answer calls directly from the watch (there is no speaker in the watch). This is a disadvantage of the Samsung Gear S2, both compared to previous models of the Gear line, and compared to the Apple Watch.

On the back of the watch case, you can see the heart rate sensor (in the center) and the clips for attaching the strap. To detach the halves of the strap, you need to slightly bend the clip from the case with your fingernail and pull the strap down. At first, it’s unusual, and it’s far from immediately possible to understand how to disconnect the strap, but when you finally understand the essence of the fastening, then it’s quite easy to disconnect and reattach. And yet, this mechanism cannot be called intuitive and elegant (unlike, again, from the Apple Watch).

Well, the main design feature (common for both the regular and the classic version of the Gear S2) is undoubtedly the rotating bezel. A bezel in the watch industry is a bezel on which traditional watches usually have notches for easy reading of time. The Samsung Gear S2 has no notches on the bezel, but it is possible to rotate it around the screen, thus either flipping through the screens or doing vertical scrolling (if it is supposed to be in the application).

In our first article about the Samsung Gear S2, we praised this decision, and after more thorough testing, our opinion has not changed. This is incredibly convenient, elegant both in concept and in appearance, and besides, it becomes an additional weighty argument in favor of a round screen, since, obviously, such a solution would be impossible on a rectangular case. And here we again recall the Apple Watch, but not in favor of the product from Cupertino. It can be said that despite such methods of interaction with the Apple Watch as Taptic Engine, Force Touch and Digital Crown, Samsung engineers have been able to achieve more in facilitating control of the watch. Although, of course, the rotating bezel also takes some getting used to.

At the same time, the optimal combination of smoothness and elasticity of the bezel movement was found: the bezel rotates very smoothly, softly, without much effort, but its accidental turns are almost excluded, and during rotation we clearly feel divisions (“steps”).

Screen

The watch screen is completely round, without dead zones (unlike Moto 360). The resolution is 360x360, which gives a fairly high density of 302 pixels per inch, close to the main competitors. Detailed testing of other parameters of the Samsung Gear S2 display was carried out by Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the Projectors and TV section.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. There is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating on the outer surface of the screen (effective, noticeably better than Google Nexus 7 (2013)), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a slower rate than in the case of ordinary glass. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 2013 screen. For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the off screens:

Below on the right is the Samsung Gear S2, and on the right and above is the Apple Watch in the sapphire crystal version with a 42mm case. The screen of the Samsung Gear S2 is slightly lighter (brightness in photos is 131 versus 125 for the Nexus 7). Note that there is a slightly bluish halo from bright objects reflected on the screen. There is no reflection doubling, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. With manual brightness control and with a white field displayed in full screen, the maximum value (10 on the scale) of brightness was about 330 cd / m², the minimum (1 on the scale) - 9.5 cd / m². In the presence of non-switchable automatic brightness control by a light sensor, which is supposedly located under the screen. With some difficulty, but it was possible to establish that in a very bright environment (corresponding to illumination on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more), the brightness rises to 495 cd / m². That is, given the good anti-glare properties, on a sunny day outdoors, the readability of the screen will remain at a good level. In the graphs of brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis), for high, medium and minimum brightness, you can see only a slight modulation, so there is no visible screen flicker:

This screen uses a Super AMOLED matrix - an active matrix on organic light emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B) in equal amounts, which is confirmed by a fragment of a microphoto:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

We observed a similar "structure" of the screen, for example, in the case of . The spectra are typical for OLED - the primary color areas are well separated and have the form of relatively narrow peaks:

Accordingly, the coverage is noticeably wider than sRGB, and there are no attempts to reduce it:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut without proper color correction, normal images optimized for devices with sRGB screens look unnaturally saturated. The color temperature of the white and gray field is approximately 7600 K, and the deviation from the black body spectrum (ΔE) is 10 units. Color balance is acceptable. Black is just black from any angle. So black that the contrast parameter in this case is simply not applicable. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is excellent. The screen is characterized by excellent viewing angles with a much smaller drop in brightness when looking at the screen at an angle compared to screens on LCD matrices. However, at large angles, the white field acquires a certain blue-green tint. In general, the screen quality can be considered very high.

Smartphone connection and compatibility

All previous devices in the Gear line only worked with a limited number of Samsung smartphones (mostly top models). This was perhaps the main drawback of Samsung watches and the Tizen OS used in them. And when it became known that the Android Wear operating system would work not only with Android devices, but also with the iPhone, the limited compatibility of Gear devices became an obvious weak point.

Samsung apparently figured this out too, which is why it was announced that the Gear S2 will work with all Android smartphones running Android 4.4 and up. That's what was said on . But is it really so?

We first tried pairing the watch with the fairly new Huawei P8 Lite smartphone. There is a link on the watch box and on the start screen where you can download the application: . Going through the browser to this page, we see two buttons: Galaxy Devices and Other Devices. Click Other Devices, the application page in the Google Play Store opens and...

We read the inscription "Not supported on your device." How so? Samsung representatives told us that in addition to Android 4.4, the smartphone must have at least 1.5 GB of RAM. This is already quite strange, since Android 4.4 works even on devices with 512 MB of RAM, which means that not all Android 4.4 smartphones are actually supported! But even this does not explain why the Huawei P8 Lite is not supported by the Gear Manager app, because it has 2 GB of RAM. Okay, try number two: Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Everything has already been downloaded here, and it seems like the connection process even went on, but in the end we saw such an amazing screen (see the right screenshot).

That is, at the top it says that the Gear S2 are connected, and at the bottom it says that the Gear is not found. Obvious flaw! Multiple attempts to still make friends between the two devices did not work. We will not bore the reader with a detailed description, but let's just say that the Gear S2 could not be connected to either the LG G4 Stylus (the clock started to configure, and the process hung on this), or to the Elephone P8000, or even to the Samsung Galaxy Xcover 3.

According to Samsung representatives, everything was supposed to work by October 16, that is, by the start of global sales of Gear S2. But - it didn't work. Therefore, if you are going to buy a watch, be sure to go to apps.samsung.com/gear before buying and try downloading Gear Manager on your smartphone. This still does not guarantee anything, as we were able to see, but at least at the time of purchase you can immediately check whether the watch is connected to your smartphone. But in general, it is surprising that Samsung could afford such a flaw!

In the end, we managed to connect the watch only to the Samsung Galaxy Note5 smartphone, and here everything went like clockwork. Although here, too, there are oddities.

Smartphone applications

The Gear Manager application required for operation was already installed on our test instance. However, in the process of connecting to the watch, the smartphone also wanted to download a certain Gear Plugin, apparently designed specifically for the Samsung Gear S2. All further work was done in this application (it is not clear why Gear Manager is needed then).

The application menu is quite simple and generally familiar to us from previous watches in the Gear line. Here you can view and select watch faces (the same can be done right in the watch, but it is, of course, more convenient to choose on a large smartphone screen). If you're not satisfied with the selection (we'll talk more about pre-installed watch faces), you can go to the Gear store to choose paid watch faces.

The next Gear Plugin menu item is Notifications. Here we see a number of settings related to notifications: the choice of applications from which you can receive notifications, display features ... In general, everything is standard. Next - "Manage Applications". Here we see a list of applications installed on the watch, and we can change their order, including the distribution on screens.

In the following paragraphs, we see options for sending a media file to the watch (audio or image), as well as settings for some applications (as a rule, these are purely auxiliary settings).

Among the settings, the possibility of sending an emergency message is interesting. You can specify contacts who, when pressed three times on the button on the Samsung Gear S2, will receive an alarm message with your coordinates.

Watch interface and preinstalled apps

Now let's look at the interface and applications of the watch itself. Let's start with what the user will see most often: watch faces. In total, 14 dials are installed on the watch, and all of them are designed specifically for a round screen (that is, these are not cropped square dials from other watch models on Tizen).

The dials, in our opinion, are beautiful. We will describe only a few of them, while the rest are also very good, there are practically no unsuccessful ones. So, first of all, let's note the minimalistic dials: on a dark neon background, as well as on a black background with a spectacular green circle (see screenshots above this paragraph). In addition, animated dials are very good: neon sparkles float on one, and a conditional image of the heart on the other, the color shade of which depends on the last pulse measurement using the watch (the higher the pulse, the more saturated the color).

Of course, there are also all kinds of chronometers and digital menus. And from the unusual options, we were pleased with the dial with two circles, one of which displays the amount of time spent in a sitting position, and the other - your activity. Accordingly, the longer the activity lasted during the day, the longer the second circle will be. Clear and very motivating! At the same time, the minimalist style of the watch is not violated.

To change the watch face without using a smartphone, just make a long press on the current watch face - and a tape of all available watch faces will open, where you can select the one you need. If we swipe the dial from right to left, we will see the main menu from which we can get to the settings, open contacts, launch the S Voice voice assistant and open a list of all installed applications.

If you scroll further, there will be widgets of various applications: information on the number of steps per day, calendar, weather, music playback control (this screen looks like an elegant stylization of a vinyl record), the results of the last pulse measurement (by clicking on this widget, you can start a new measurement) and a summary of different types of activity during the day. The last screen is adding widgets for other applications.

You can switch between widgets not only by swiping, but also by rotating the bezel. It's incredibly convenient! You can return to the watch face from any widget by pressing the Home button. And the back button is very useful in the application menu - in order to move from one screen with icons to another.

Of course, in this menu, the rotating bezel is also very useful: with its help, we can quickly move from one icon to another, seeing the name of the application. And here we note a very important point: as you already understood from the appearance of the screenshots, the interface of the Tizen operating system, on which all watches of the Gear line run, has been completely redesigned for a specific model. That is, if a round watch on Android Wear (LG G Watch R, LG G Watch Urbane, Moto 360) actually uses the same OS version as regular applications (see our articles), then the entire interface of Samsung Gear S2 was specially designed specifically for a round screen, taking into account the advantages and limitations of this format. And it should be noted that it turned out very well: the interface is convenient, intuitive, beautiful.

What else can a watch do and, conversely, can't do? They are able to show information about traffic jams and speed of travel to the selected address using Google Now.

They can show the current location and search for nearby objects (for example, parks) using Here maps. They also allow you to find the nearest public transport stop, but, frankly, the latter takes a long time and is actually of little use for real use.

There are also quite ample opportunities for working with SMS. In particular, you can send a response using one of the templates (you can edit templates using a smartphone application), or send emoji. The most interesting thing is that if you wish, you can even type the answer on the virtual keyboard, although it is difficult for me to imagine a person who will actually do this.

In general, sometimes we had the feeling that the functionality of the watch was even redundant - in addition to the examples given, this is, say, the ability to dial a phone number on the watch. Are you seriously? Why, if you can't call them anyway? Why not immediately dial on your smartphone if you still have to use it to talk?

However, excess is not a deficiency. Moreover, the presence of these features does not overload the interface at all. In general, a set of pre-installed applications covers all the main tasks that are assigned to smart watches today. There are no revelations here, but there are no such things that would be sorely lacking for those users who are familiar with other models of smart watches. Is that the ability to answer calls right on the clock.

If you still need something beyond the existing set of applications, you can turn to the assortment of the Samsung Gear Apps store. Alas, the choice here is small, mainly watch faces, and as for useful applications and games (the latter is very few), there are a lot of paid ones. Third-party applications must be installed through a smartphone.

Nevertheless, it is worth a look into the store - even despite the modest assortment, here you can find useful and pleasant things. For example, a calculator from Samsung (yes, not all Samsung apps are pre-installed!) or a cute game made in the image and likeness of Flappy Bird (but a little easier, which is good).

Let's hope that the number of apps in the store optimized for the Samsung Gear S2 will continue to grow. It is clear that there is almost no chance to catch up with the Apple Watch and even Android Wear, but it’s too early to talk about anything. Perhaps, if the model is successful, the developers will pay more attention to it.

conclusions

Well, after a more detailed acquaintance with the Samsung Gear S2, our first impression only intensified: this is really a very interesting, worthy device, which can rightly be called one of the most successful smartwatches on the market. Among the main advantages are an interesting appearance, ease of use, provided largely due to a great find (rotating bezel), an interface fully optimized for a round screen, a large set of pre-installed applications and excellent dials.

It is evident that they tried; It looks like a lot of detail has been worked on. It is all the more strange that by the time the product was released, Samsung did not have time to provide the promised wide compatibility, which should have become another trump card of the device. We have not been able to connect the watch to any third-party Android smartphone, and we have some doubts that Samsung will be able to solve this problem quickly and completely. That is, for example, there will be compatibility with the most famous flagship models, but with different “Chinese phones”?

Plus, it's not very clear how much the functionality of the watch will differ when used with third-party devices. S Voice will not work, this is already known, but what else? When the Samsung Gear S2 Classic version goes on sale, we will try to return to this issue - let's hope that then the connection problems will be resolved. At the same time, we will deal with the duration of the battery life of the watch. So far, we have not had the opportunity to get any real-life experience of using the watch in order to understand how long it will work in various usage scenarios (for example, with the screen always on or, conversely, in economy mode). Presumably, one charge will last from one to two days. But, we repeat, we will return to this later, since the model clearly deserves close attention.

One way or another, we congratulate Samsung on a really bright and original concept (which is important!) A product that we boldly award with our Original Design award (the Samsung Gear S2 Classic version already deserved it), and not only for appearance and control, but also for interface design.