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Samsung filed a design patent in korea and some specs about the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch have leaked now.
Samsung Exynos 4212 dual core clocked at 1.5GHz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU
320 x 320 resolution Flexible OLED display
Camera (integrated into strap)
NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Accelerometer
Decent battery life
Android 4.3 (developer units had Android 4.1 or 4.2)
Check the source link for the drawing pictures from the patent and a 3D video based on those drawings.
This looks quite promising.
Source
np231 said:
Samsung filed a design patent in korea and some specs about the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch have leaked now.
Samsung Exynos 4212 dual core clocked at 1.5GHz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU
320 x 320 resolution Flexible OLED display
Camera (integrated into strap)
NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Accelerometer
Decent battery life
Android 4.3 (developer units had Android 4.1 or 4.2)
Check the source link for the drawing pictures from the patent and a 3D video based on those drawings.
This looks quite promising.
Source
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Click to collapse
I must admit, I'm somewhat of a purist, I usually wear a stainless steel waterproof Fossil when not donning my MotoACTV, but that thing is pretty damn ugly from my perspective. It's very futuristic looking, but also looks like it'd be easy to break.
For me I found the device quite attractive. It looks great.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I think it looks dreadful and the design is absolutely terrible. Given the size of the screen, i could only imagine how easy that thing would scratch.
Seems a little big, doesn't it? Like the specs though =P
No WiFi so not cetain how interested I am in owning it. I really should sell the I'M watch and maybe the motoactv if the Neptune pine works out.
ronaldheld said:
No WiFi so not cetain how interested I am in owning it. I really should sell the I'M watch and maybe the motoactv if the Neptune pine works out.
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Click to collapse
Including wifi will drain the battery faster. I still have no idea how they will be able to pull "decent battery life" with all the features on the list already. There hasn't been any groundbreaking battery improvements to claim higher capacity in a smaller footprint, unless they can stash some battery cells inside of the bracelet?
In general, until Sept 4th it's all speculations about how exactly it's going to look and what exact features its going to have. So I would take all these T3 renderings with a grain of salt Samsung could be clever with their patent pictures to mislead general outline.
Just from my own personal experience of using MetaWatch (designed by Fossil guys) smartwatch, which in my opinion doesn't get enough credit, you DO NOT want to carry a gadget on your wrist but rather a watch with smart functionality. All these "cool" features are OK for a few minutes of play, but for every day use you only need to get phone/sms/email/calendar notifications in order to know when you need to pull out your main weapon of choice - your smart phone. Remote music control is great too, for example in a situation when you want to control your wireless bt speaker playlist from a distance. I have Sony LiveView MN800 (got it brand new for $19 off ebay), so I got a taste of "smartwatch" with apps. It's OK to play for 5-10min, and that's all. For practical use - who cares. I have read a lot about MotoACTV roms and how you can turn that watch into mini-android gadget. Definitely cool, but wouldn't you rather run your apps and play games on smartphone instead? I'm Watch - sorry, but most of the reviews about that smart watch refer to it as a giant failure. What else is available right now? Pebble and MetaWatch. Pebble has an advantage of a better screen and huge hype that enabled them to $ecure fund$ thus being able to have more developers working on software to support it; but other then display and better battery life - the design is cheap. MetaWatch in my opinion has a lot better design between sporty STRATA and business FRAME (refer to my review link), but lower resolution, worse battery life, and limited sw resources are dragging them down, although they have been making some nice sw development progress lately. Martian and Cookoos - I don't even count those in the same category as other smart watches, those are more like feature-watches. Everything else "to be announced" such as Kreyos, HOT, Agent - look good on the paper, but until we see these out with proper hands'on reviews and comparison, it's all speculation and hype they are building to get pre-orders.
With all that said, I'm very excited to see what September 4th going to reveal, and how soon Samsung Gear and Note III going to be available for purchase
vectron said:
I have read a lot about MotoACTV roms and how you can turn that watch into mini-android gadget. Definitely cool, but wouldn't you rather run your apps and play games on smartphone instead?
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The point isn't to replace your phone with it, it's to be able to customize it to do what you want, and without having to be tethered to your phone. Having super quick access to my Notes app, calculator app, calender app etc. is handy. Live backgrounds are entertaining, other things like playing Pokemon on a GBC emulator are fun to do when waiting in line or something. I find I use certain apps on my watch because it's convenient, and the rest on my smart phone.
speedyink said:
The point isn't to replace your phone with it, it's to be able to customize it to do what you want, and without having to be tethered to your phone. Having super quick access to my Notes app, calculator app, calender app etc. is handy. Live backgrounds are entertaining, other things like playing Pokemon on a GBC emulator are fun to do when waiting in line or something. I find I use certain apps on my watch because it's convenient, and the rest on my smart phone.
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How about battery life running all that stuff on MotoACTV?
vectron said:
How about battery life running all that stuff on MotoACTV?
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I average 3-4 days with bluetooth enabled and connected to my phone for texts and caller id. Obviously lots of games and videos will yield lower results.
vectron said:
How about battery life running all that stuff on MotoACTV?
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With bluetooth on, and live wallpapers running constantly. I get same results as speedy ink (3 - 4 days). However turning the motoactv off at night I get a weeks worth of battery life.
How can the resolution be 320x320 if the display is not a perfect square?
atrix4g18 said:
How can the resolution be 320x320 if the display is not a perfect square?
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Good point, maybe the display size is 320x320 but the top and bottom bezel is used for other notifications?
The first week of September is going to be crazy good!
Update: check the source for leaked screenshots, confirming NFC and 'Locate my Watch' features.
Sure but the watch may be available in the US at the same time as the N3.
ronaldheld said:
Sure but the watch may be available in the US at the same time as the N3.
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N3 is what?
Note 3.
With smartphones it's different because AT&T always like to play an upper hand with introduction of latest Samsung phones a month a head of other providers. I have no idea how Verizon ends up being the last. So a lot of politics involved with N3 intro. Smartwatch intro should be independent of carrier, but could be limited due to supply'n'demand. Can't wait for Sept 4th, and hoping not to get disappointed when it will come to battery spec of Gear.
Verizon is last because of all of the fiddling they do to the OS and bloatware.
ronaldheld said:
Verizon is last because of all of the fiddling they do to the OS and bloatware.
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Just heard from someone Verizon might get N3 only in November
Yes it might be November or December if release time is similar to that of last year.
My first smartwatch ever was the original Sony Smartwatch 1. First of it's kind widely available, it was a pretty good product (if you compare the features to it's price). I bought Galaxy Gear few weeks ago shortly after startup for it's original price of 300 euros. I had it for few days and decided to return it, as this is a beta product with no support at all (at that time). So I returned the Gear and got Smartwatch 2 from Sony.. and that watch is really cool. It's waterproof to some point, it's very VERY light, super comfortable and you can even change the wrist stripe if you don't like the original one. It costs 150 EUR for silicon version, and 200 EUR for metal version here in Netherlands. So it's up to 50% cheaper than the Gear. Out of the box, you only have to install few applications to get messages, and notification to work. Installation is super easy and it works with nearly all devices running android 4.0 or higher. It's a nice device, but lack any kind of customization - and so far there haven't been any tools to change anything in the watch at all. Lately I got a chance to get a Gear for less than 200 EUR so I decided to give it another try, and here it is..
1. After using Smartwatch 2 for a while Gear feels more solid, but it's way more bulky. It doesn't rest nicely on my wrist, and I'm not a huge guy. I could survive uncomfortable top, but the metal bottom (where speaker and mic are located) is catastrophic. I can't stand having the watch on my wrist if I'm working on my desk, as it's touching the desk all the time and leaves scratches. Very annoying.
2. Installation. I had to change my custom ROM to original TouchWiz on my S3 to get Gear to work. Maybe it can work on custom - but there would be more troubles with it than stock so.. To get the full functionality, and don't run into endless troubles, you have to be stock, where SW2 works on custom roms without a single issue.
3. Out of the box experience.. it's a tragedy. The 'main menu' is really slow to operate, and even switching between apps can take few precious seconds. Notifications do not work properly. I have to use 3rd party app to get more notifications. No SMS forwarding to your watch. No replying to messages. No Gmail support. No keyboard. Simply nothing! Out of the box this is just a bluetooth headset with a clock. I don't know anyone who is really using S Voice on a daily basis. Samsung promised us making calls straight from our wrists, and Samsung did deliver that but..
4. Speaker quality - if you are using more than 50% of volume level, you can clearly hear a lot of buzzing. Sound is far from being clear. Not a huge issue though, it's a watch after all.
5. Hardware. Builtin camera that takes decent pictures and videos (as for a watch). Big plus! Loudspeaker so you don't have to hold your wrist to your ear - nice, although sometimes I would prefer to be the only one who can hear the other side (and look like an idiot, I don't care). AMOLED display with 320x320 resolution. Looks really sharp and vivid. Love it! Smartwatch is running a real Android 4.2.2, and that's great. You can root it, sideload apps and so.. but...
6. Usability - but it's pretty useless. There is no bluetooth tethering so you can't use any internet on your wrist (smartwatch 2 has a working internet browser!). You can install app like Tablet Talk to have messaging ability but it's really cumbersome, doesn't display your contact list, only the numbers are visible and generally, you can clearly see that it just wasn't designed for a wrist. I guess runninng Tablet Talk on Gear AND phone uses more battery which results in shorter battery life...
7. Typing. I can easily imagine typing short sentences/messages using Swype-like keyboard, or T9 styled. Display is big enough to send few words within seconds. Unfortunately that is not possible at the moment.
8. Future? There is definitely a future in smartwatches. This device is great, but Samsung tottaly ****ed up the software side. Nothing is working as it should, and if it does - it's cumbersome, and far from being user friendly. You can't get apps from Play Store, you have to use Samsung App Store which is really poor. There are very few apps that are actually somewhat usefull, but they do suck. I tried app like speedometer, that takes ages to start and catch a signal, and if it finally does - it's really ugly. SW2 to compare was displaying current GPS speed within seconds. When I was done with it, all I had to is just go back to home screen, or turn on the clock face, then GPS was stopped. On Gear? You have to open notifications, click on Speedometer, and FORCE STOP it in order to be closed. WHAAAAT?
I love the idea, I like the features (AMOLED, speaker, mic, touchscreen) but there way more wrong things with it than positive.. Media Controller doesn't always work properly, so you can't really shuffle songs etc. There is no SDK available to the publicity, so there won't be any dedicated apps from community anytime soon. Samsung didn't say anything that they will release it anyway so... if you buy the Gear, don't buy it cause it's gonna be "great in the future once XDA devs hack it". It didn't happen, noone knows if it's going to happen and what will come out of it...
I would really suggest waiting for next generation. But if you have spare cash, and can get the Gear cheaper than original price - go for it...
I don't think you would any of these problems if you use a samsung supported phone (N3, or S4 with latest update.)
skyline23 said:
I don't think you would any of these problems if you use a samsung supported phone (N3, or S4 with latest update.)
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I'm using official Android 4.3 firmware provided by Samsung. S3 is officially supported.
hurdlejade said:
I'm using official Android 4.3 firmware provided by Samsung. S3 is officially supported.
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To each his own. I'm sure the camera, mic and speaker and ability to use S Voice to respond to messages all work wonderfully on the SW2.
mhoepfin said:
To each his own. I'm sure the camera, mic and speaker and ability to use S Voice to respond to messages all work wonderfully on the SW2.
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Click to collapse
out of the box, SW2 beats Gear in every aspect, if you forget the camera/mic/speaker. S Voice? i guess it's only widely used in USA. i see a lot of people on the internet asking how to actually turn this thing off. it's one of the first things i did when i installed official 4.3 rom.
this is not a hate post. i just tried both products, they are both far from being perfect, and although gear seems to be superior, it lacks the software. and we shouldn't wait months for basic functionality that hardware is fully capable of.
It's all personal choice. I have both Sony s2 and the gear and in my opinion the gear is far better.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
ardsar said:
It's all personal choice. I have both Sony s2 and the gear and in my opinion the gear is far better.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
may i know why is it better? besides the camera/speaker/mic/svoice thingy.
It's my opinion and personal taste. .. It looks more like a watch rather than a big Square thing on your wrist. The Sony is only a second screen and is like a dumb terminal in that it can't run anything ( the Internet app you mention runs on the phone and relays the image to the watch) and you can't ignore the fact that it has a camera speaker Mike and svoice.
It's best to drop this thread like I said it's all personal opinion.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
ardsar said:
It's my opinion and personal taste. .. It looks more like a watch rather than a big Square thing on your wrist. The Sony is only a second screen and is like a dumb terminal in that it can't run anything ( the Internet app you mention runs on the phone and relays the image to the watch) and you can't ignore the fact that it has a camera speaker Mike and svoice.
It's best to drop this thread like I said it's all personal opinion.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
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i just wanted to find out why you prefer gear over SW2, that's it.
i do realise that the internet browser on SW2 works more or less on screenshots.. but it works! and there is no possibility to do so on Gear, although it's capable of real rendering.
Owning 2 Galaxy Gear I guess you can tell I like it. With more and more things being added to the ability of the Gear such as ATN and launchers, etc it is growing leaps and bound sans Samsung. There are 2 versions of Sony out there and this has been out weeks. I say write this after February when it has been thru a few updates. I don't need my watch to do everything the phones does or i wouldn't have bought a 5.7 inch phone. The great things is competition is great and I'm sure Apple is gearing up for theirs and then someone will come and beat theirs and so on and so on. Consumerism at it's best.
Oh yeah, it's not consumer ready at all. But for the hacker/maker crowd out there, it's by far and away the best.
Phone calls.. you can make phone calls from your wrist!!! Come ON that's so cool. You can hack out the click sounds and take super secret spy photos from your wrist....
I have a freakin' game boy emulator .. I can play pokemon on my watch!
HELLO this is like the dream
YES .. the speaker scratching is a problem on my mac book pro, I have to pull up my long sleeve shirt over the bottom to keep it from scraping across the laptop which annoys me as well.
Not sure how they're going to fix that.
There are already enough of these threads here...
The watch des exactly what it says. It is a companion to phone, not a replacement (Why does a watch actually need software?)
it also has mic/speaker/cam which all work surprising well. Didn't take long to adjust to bulky speaker when resting palm on flat surface (mind I wear it a little loose)
There are several default notifications that are sent that everyone has - sms, email, etc. Granted they could do with more detail (html emails, all text in notification), however that will have to come when apps start supporting it - 4.3 helps a lot here
it is waterproof enough - that whole thing seems to be a scare campaign. All the watches available can survive water, just not to the extent of swimming/diving
Gear looks the best out of the watches available and once you use it for a few weeks, then the chance of wanting to return is much lower. I'd say my Pebble does more currently (especially tasker integration!), however, I've not touched it since getting gear a month ago
It only supports 4.3 and Touchwiz, but if you look at the percentage of s3, note2, s4, note3, and future phones, there is no need to support others. Will people complain when apple come out with a watch and it only supports two devices like pretty much everything else they do? (latest and previous model)
Samsung really need to get a move on with releasing sdk though
Plus it is first gen, so it can't have everything. Just be thankful you aren't with Apple and have to wait years for stuff everyone already has
Still going to try out Neptune Pine when it is released, but it is a replacement not companion
blazespinnaker said:
Oh yeah, it's not consumer ready at all. But for the hacker/maker crowd out there, it's by far and away the best.
Phone calls.. you can make phone calls from your wrist!!! Come ON that's so cool. You can hack out the click sounds and take super secret spy photos from your wrist....
I have a freakin' game boy emulator .. I can play pokemon on my watch!
HELLO this is like the dream
YES .. the speaker scratching is a problem on my mac book pro, I have to pull up my long sleeve shirt over the bottom to keep it from scraping across the laptop which annoys me as well.
Not sure how they're going to fix that.
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Click to collapse
I'm enjoying my Gear paired with Note 3. Still completely stock, and I can see how some might think the price is steep for what it currently does. But again, I am ok with what I paid for it, knowing what it does so far and knowing what lays in store for it in the future.
I need to read up on rooting and side loading. How effective is a gameboy emulator on the small screen? Seems like there wouldn't be enough room
Awesome
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
hurdlejade said:
I would really suggest waiting for next generation. But if you have spare cash, and can get the Gear cheaper than original price - go for it...
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Click to collapse
Snipped For Space!
At 73, I cannot play the waiting game. With smartwatches, women, and fastazz motorcycles..
I want and need it NOW!!
About you comments, they seemed to be like the case of one man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter..
BTW, can you answer and call from the SW2?? :fingers-crossed:
I also have a Sony Smartwatch 2. It's a great watch and the SDK support is superb. I recently bought the Gear and my first impression was
1. Wow, smaller than I thought. Because of the design less bulkier than the SW2. Way more stylish (up to a point even my gf thought that i didn't look like a total nerd)
2. Much better resolution and much clearer display
3. Touch response is so much better than the SW2
4. Awful charging method..
5. Miss the always on mode that the Sony has. The magical movement thing to wake up the Gear does work in say 75% of the time for me. The other 25% makes it a bad experience as a watch. Maybe I still have to get the hang of it and learn to make the movement work.. or maybe I have to adapt myself. Have the watch for 2 days now, I'm still learning and not ready to give an overall conclusion.
6 Apps.... yep the Sony has a lot more apps and yes there's a browser out there. But it also has a lot of weird amateuristic apps in the Play store (not made by Sony). I somehow am appreciating Samsung's approach now after a couple of days of using the Gear. They've teamed up with some good third party developers (a few not so good also) and seem to be very careful about what they release on the market right now. Seems like a good thing to me. I bet you can trash a potential goood product that still has to prove itself as a thing that could work by opening it for badly written and designed apps. Good thing to go easy on this. Nevertheless as a developer I love to jump on the bandwagon... But I understand that somehow one needs to direct the experience of a new product. Too many apps that do just half of what you can do can ruin the experience totally. (That said, they might have released the watch too early. On the other side, by releasing it early they now can work on a lot of feedback. It's a decision they've made and it is a decision that comes with a trade off (bad reviews), but in the end it might be the best decision. Nobody knows and nobody will know)
mike208 said:
I'm enjoying my Gear paired with Note 3. Still completely stock, and I can see how some might think the price is steep for what it currently does. But again, I am ok with what I paid for it, knowing what it does so far and knowing what lays in store for it in the future.
I need to read up on rooting and side loading. How effective is a gameboy emulator on the small screen? Seems like there wouldn't be enough room
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Are you kidding me! It's AWESOME ... well I have long thin fingers though. I use gameboid.
They could probably optimize the control setup on gameboid for the watch a bit more.
Sideloading is easy to do, don't need to root. I highly recommend it.
1. Wow, smaller than I thought. Because of the design less bulkier than the SW2. Way more stylish (up to a point even my gf thought that i didn't look like a total nerd)
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Agreed. People have commented that the watch looks great. Sony with it's geeky logo and buttons... come ON.
That being said, there are pros/cons to them all. I'd *love* the battery life of the pebble on the Gear, but I can't go without having Android on my watch. That's just a non starter (for me), but I'm a developer so my opinion is entirely unreflective of the market at large .. but I love it, so who cares.
The one huge problem with the gear, in my opinion, is the lack of compatibility. That's what is really pissing 99% of the world out there that doesn't have a Note 3, frankly. This bundling nonsense is so deeply arrogant. It's monopolistic and completely unnecessary.
It's what makes you root against a company and pray they fail as an enterprise. It's the same sort of arrogance that makes me despise Apple and why I take every opportunity I can to root against them even though my career is tied up with their technology.
I agree with you on the speaker buckle being annoying, but otherwise, it's not THAT bad.
I'm debating between the Samsung Gear 2 Neo and the Sony Smartwatch 2. The Sony is only $140 on Amazon right now and it appears to most of the features I would actually use. The one big concern about the Sony is that it doesn't have the IR blaster, so the remote is out (but meh, I've got my S5 set up with my TV, so no big deal). My big concern with the Samsung is that when I get ready to upgrade my phone under T-Mobile's Jump, who knows if I'll get another Samsung (who am I kidding, I'll probably get another Samsung, but just in case I didn't...).
I'm having trouble finding a good comparison of the two that would sway me one way or the other. It would be nice to save the $60 on the Sony, but at the same time I really like the Neo look over the Sony. Any thoughts? I don't care that the Sony lacks voice commands. I'd probably never use it, and obviously I don't care about the camera or else I wouldn't be considering the Neo.
Thanks!
It's too bad you couldn't jump in on the AT&T deal when it was 25% off with two other accessories. Saving $50 would have swayed you instantly. I am 100% glad I purchased this, as it provides exactly all of the functionality I need it to...
Vibrating alarm so I don't wake up my wife on her days off.
Notification and full text of SMS
Notification and full text of work Emails
Notification and full text of Appointments from my work calendar
Notifications are with just enough vibration so those around me don't know it went off
Don't show notifications until I look at the watch
Customizable watch faces depending on my mood for that day
Won't be overly susceptible to dings/scratches - it's got Gorilla Glass 3!
It also adds some things I didn't need, but use nonetheless
Pedometer (wish the pedometer allowed you to enter your stride length instead of estimating off height)
Heart rate monitor (a little wonky sometimes)
Exercise tracking
Tracks my sleep (when I remember to turn it on...or sometimes OFF...lol)
Backup Remote w/ the IR Blaster (need a way to add a Roku so I don't need either remote)
I can answer the phone and talk if I'm busy
I can reply to text messages with canned quick text responses
I can skip tracks and pause Pandora with my phone charging in the other room
If I had to pick a couple negatives...
Battery power is okay. I have to charge it every other day or at least top it off every day.
It would be nice if I felt more comfortable showering with it. Some people say it's possible and they have had no issues. I would rather not at this point.
All I know is I love it and I'll be using it for a while. I also have 3 coworkers who have Pebbles and they've all commented on how great it looks/acts. One of them is waiting for the LG G Watch to drop. I'll probably wait for the second gen of Android Wear before committing.
Best of luck to you in figuring out what it is you want/need. ;-]
EDIT: Just thought of a more significant con...
If you spend time at a desk typing, you may end up scuffing the clasp against the desk. This will cause wear on that clasp as well as metal transfer to the desk itself. It wipes off fairly easily, but the wear is very evident on the watch.
I purchased the Sony SW2 to save money and had regretted it the whole time. Some of what I am about to say can be fixed with some modifications (Sony SW2) and apps but not out of the box. Not being able to raise my arm to active the watch was a negative. Not being able to take a simple phone call was a negative. The positive at the time was being able to change watch bands that is solved with the Gear 2 and Neo being able to change bands. The health monitoring of the Gear is nice as well.
The negative for Gear 2/neo is the limited app market. Since changing to Tizen not a lot of apps out there.
I am 100% happier with the Gear 2 Neo than I was with the Sony. For what that is worth.
admiral70 said:
The negative for Gear 2/neo is the limited app market. Since changing to Tizen not a lot of apps out there.
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+1!!!
I also looked at the Sony before buying the Gear 2 (AT&T deal)...
What I did not like about the Sony is that besides watch functionality it only seems to be able to push notifications. If indeed true, the Gear 2 has much more potential to be used offline (running apps locally on the watch), once they are available of course...
The screen looks better on the Gear, but I like the Sony to be reflective (always on). Not sure if it suffers from the same issues as Pebble, such as the fact that with polarizing glasses you cannot see anything on it....
Also, I think the Gear 2 looks better overall, but that is just my personal opinion of course....
Sent from my GT-N5110 using xda premium
I'm also debating between two of them right now. Seems like if I choose to save some money I should buy SW2, but I can also buy a used Neo so.
Because I was collecting information only about sony's watch, I'd like to ask a couple of questions to the Neo's owners.
1. Can I make (root,rom, hack,etc) the Gear 2 Neo to work with sony xperia z1c? And will all the functionality remain(for example, if sw2 is connected to a phone rather than sony, you cannot answer calls) if connected to sony instead of samsung. This is the main question.
2. Is the screen always on, like on sony sw2, so I can check the time.
3. Can it control the music being played on a phone, or is there an app for that.
4. Can it answer phone calls
5. How long does the battery last
I'm even thinking not to buy any smartwatches at all, because all of them seem imperfect. What I really would like is SW2's functionality in a better screen from samsung. On the other hand, I don't want to spend money on useless(for me) features like IR blaster or pedometer, or even heart rate sensor. I just need a smartwatch to control music on the phone, check notifications, and to answer calls with a headphones on. and maybe an alarm, if its really so useful. Maybe those are not the watches i'm looking for, so sorry for the off-topic.
Thank you in advance.
necr0manser said:
1. Can I make (root,rom, hack,etc) the Gear 2 Neo to work with sony xperia z1c? And will all the functionality remain(for example, if sw2 is connected to a phone rather than sony, you cannot answer calls) if connected to sony instead of samsung. This is the main question
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I have no experience on anything other than a Galaxy phone with this watch, but I do know there are some threads out there about getting the Gear 2 working on other phones. You may have to do some investigation.
necr0manser said:
2. Is the screen always on, like on sony sw2, so I can check the time.
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No, but you can set it to turn on when you look at the phone (as well as determine whether you want it to display the clock or the last screen you had up)
necr0manser said:
3. Can it control the music being played on a phone, or is there an app for that.
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There is a music player app for playing files on the watch itself. There is also a Media Controller app to control media players on your phone. Both of these are on the device out of the box.[/quote]
necr0manser said:
4. Can it answer phone calls
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Yes. it actually works really well. The person I tested it with said they couldn't tell it was anything other than a phone.
necr0manser said:
5. How long does the battery last
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This answer really depends on settings and what you have sent in terms of notifications. I get about 2½ days out of mine, but I typically charge it in the evenings when I'm on the PC and again in the mornings while I shower.
Please use this thread to discuss devices other than and any comparisons with other devices on or about Gear Live in this thread and any other off-topic issues that are not needing a new thread.
Post with respect, this is a helpful community, hope we all learn from this stuff in here.
What made everyone choose this over the LG G watch?
i went for gear live because it has amoled display and the silver thing on the two side makes the watch look a bit premium
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
big_b0sss said:
i went for gear live because it has amoled display and the silver thing on the two side makes the watch look a bit premium
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Don't forget it's also $30 less as by the end of the year we ALL know we will be owning superior devices anyways.
enko420 said:
Don't forget it's also $30 less as by the end of the year we ALL know we will be owning superior devices anyways.
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i actually paid £10 more as its priced higher than lg g watch in uk
I absolutely cannot believe they did not include a speaker! I just returned the gear neo 2 because it was running Tizen and not Google wear. making phone calls on it without pulling my phone out of my pocket was the absolute greatest feature.I ordered the gear live because it was running Google wear, thinking of the future. Now I find out it does not have a speaker so I can not make phone calls from the watch. I'm going to return the gear live and go back to the gear neo 2. Wrong decision Samsung.
chumboy said:
I absolutely cannot believe they did not include a speaker! I just returned the gear neo 2 because it was running Tizen and not Google wear. making phone calls on it without pulling my phone out of my pocket was the absolute greatest feature.I ordered the gear live because it was running Google wear, thinking of the future. Now I find out it does not have a speaker so I can not make phone calls from the watch. I'm going to return the gear live and go back to the gear neo 2. Wrong decision Samsung.
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I honestly don't care for making phone calls on my Gear 2 Neo. If you aren't in a quiet room its near impossible to hear what they are saying.
enko420 said:
I honestly don't care for making phone calls on my Gear 2 Neo. If you aren't in a quiet room its near impossible to hear what they are saying.
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To each their own.
But it's fascinating to know you don't like it.
I had the Gear 2 Neo for about a week and had good results when not standing in Time Square.
Gear Live 2!
I would like the ability to turn off the motion sensor, sense everytime I move my wrist a certain way my watch just turns on.I look at my watch ocassionally and notice that the screen is on I have indavertenly been touching the screen selecting things. I prefer to touch the screen to turn it on. I have already turned off the screen always on option, but would like to turn off motion as well. Would extend the battery life alot further.
chumboy said:
To each their own.
But it's fascinating to know you don't like it.
I had the Gear 2 Neo for about a week and had good results when not standing in Time Square.
Gear Live 2!
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i'm 100% in the not taking phone calls on a watch camp for the same reason i don't use speakerphone when not in a car.
but i would have liked a speaker simply for alarms and stopwatch/timer funcionality. nothing crazy, just a simple beep/chirp would have been enough
adiliyo said:
i'm 100% in the not taking phone calls on a watch camp for the same reason i don't use speakerphone when not in a car.
but i would have liked a speaker simply for alarms and stopwatch/timer funcionality. nothing crazy, just a simple beep/chirp would have been enough
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See, we can find common ground here! A speaker would make us both happy.
Surprised that Sammy decided to remove a hardware feature rather than adding them (to a point).
Their research must have shown that the cost/benefit was upside-down.
So it goes.
They should have stuck with Gear 2 features and gwear os. I'm sure it will be ported.... I love my Neo 2
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
I have a feeling that Samsung was forced to make the watch according to Google specifications. (No Speaker, No WiFi, Single Button for turning the device on) There is also a WiFi antenna in the Gear Live that is not being used according to iFixIt.
StevenMattera said:
I have a feeling that Samsung was forced to make the watch according to Google specifications. (No Speaker, No WiFi, Single Button for turning the device on) There is also a WiFi antenna in the Gear Live that is not being used according to iFixIt.
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antenna but they couldn't confirm if there is a wifi controller on the mobo, could just be the cheapest way to order that part for assembly.
i agree that samsung was probably told to stick to the reference design which i'm fine with, but it's curious that google decided not to include a basic speaker for alarm use in the reference design for android wear.
i am however much happier (so far) with the watch than i expected to be. if moto prices the 360 out of what i'm willing to pay, i'm actually satisfied enough to hang on to the gear live until i can get the moto for a reasonable price (i won't pay more than $250 for the 360)
---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 AM ----------
hashcheck said:
They should have stuck with Gear 2 features and gwear os. I'm sure it will be ported.... I love my Neo 2
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
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i like the general design of the gear 2, but i am so glad that android made wear, i see adoption for this from a developer standpoint to be much much better than any proprietary garbage os that samsung puts out. and personally, i dislike samsung devices (read: touchwiz) and plan to stay away from them for the foreseeable future.
adiliyo said:
i like the general design of the gear 2, but i am so glad that android made wear, i see adoption for this from a developer standpoint to be much much better than any proprietary garbage os that samsung puts out. and personally, i dislike samsung devices (read: touchwiz) and plan to stay away from them for the foreseeable future.
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I don't know, I've been reading about the gear watches and android wear all day and I still just don't see it. Anything that's on there I would normally pull up my phone for, and the small watch screen version and limited functionality (no speaker, small screen, etc)... I think if I get any notification I'll end up pulling out the phone and responding there anyway... Is this stuff just a lazy persons solution to a problem that doesn't exist?? If wear devices were more like little phones with built in wifi, IR (I think some gear watches had this?!), etc at least you could use it to control your movie watching experiences...
I'm probably just getting old and wanting stuff to stay how I'm used to it
peaklabs.net said:
I don't know, I've been reading about the gear watches and android wear all day and I still just don't see it. Anything that's on there I would normally pull up my phone for,
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I think that IS the point, so you don't have to pull your phone 100 times a minute for every notification, it is trying to "change" the way we use the phone and not trying to replace it. For all that "extras" (Wifi, Speaker, etc, etc) you have the phone.
I love it, I hardly touch my phone now, the battery life on my phone had gotten so much better and I am more interactive responding to all SMSs and facebook/Whasapp messages than before. :laugh:
peaklabs.net said:
I don't know, I've been reading about the gear watches and android wear all day and I still just don't see it. Anything that's on there I would normally pull up my phone for, and the small watch screen version and limited functionality (no speaker, small screen, etc)... I think if I get any notification I'll end up pulling out the phone and responding there anyway... Is this stuff just a lazy persons solution to a problem that doesn't exist?? If wear devices were more like little phones with built in wifi, IR (I think some gear watches had this?!), etc at least you could use it to control your movie watching experiences...
I'm probably just getting old and wanting stuff to stay how I'm used to it
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Maturola said:
I think that IS the point, so you don't have to pull your phone 100 times a minute for every notification, it is trying to "change" the way we use the phone and not trying to replace it. For all that "extras" (Wifi, Speaker, etc, etc) you have the phone.
I love it, I hardly touch my phone now, the battery life on my phone had gotten so much better and I am more interactive responding to all SMSs and facebook/Whasapp messages than before. :laugh:
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the watch essentially becomes a (more useful) implementation of notification triage, i can see what's important and respond to many things without taking out my phone.
it comes down to the user and their daily flow of usage. the big difference with this vs a very limited and closed off system (like samsung's system, or sony's for that matter) is that it leverages two things.
1. android itself as the platform (no seperate market, no need for seperate apps and figuring out how to make sure the apps work with the phone versions)
2. google now, which i think in the long run is going to be the real centerpiece of the platform. as it gets smarter you really will need to use your phone less for basic things since it will offer up the information you need when you need it with even less interaction necessary from the user.
the biggest deal breaker for the samsung system (for me) is the need for a crappy galaxy smartphone. i can't stand touchwiz and the lag samsung's software developers can't seem to get rid of in the many iterations they've had of their software.
i also enjoy the freedom of leaving my phone at my desk, or at home on the charging pad and just checking things on my watch as i go about my day.
i think i like android wear more as i don't want a tiny phone on my wrist to look awkwardly at and speak to people on. i want a companion device that lets me get on with my day and look at my phone less. it's a change in mindset and workflow that pulls you out of your phone and lets you get back into the world.
Yeah ... I'm constantly having to refer to my phone, more with this than I had to with my Galaxy Gear ... After two weeks with it, I feel like I'm done and ready to go back to the Galaxy Gear for good.
But I don't want to give up on it for some reason. I think because what it does do it look better than my Galaxy Gear, in terms of UI. And the always on is very nice.
I dunno ... Maybe I should have just gotten a Gear 2.
sbrownla said:
Yeah ... I'm constantly having to refer to my phone, more with this than I had to with my Galaxy Gear ... After two weeks with it, I feel like I'm done and ready to go back to the Galaxy Gear for good.
But I don't want to give up on it for some reason. I think because what it does do it look better than my Galaxy Gear, in terms of UI. And the always on is very nice.
I dunno ... Maybe I should have just gotten a Gear 2.
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As I said in my previous post...I went from the Gear 2 Neo to the Live.
Found out it didn't have a speaker after I ordered it.
Tried it out for 3 days and (same as you) had to refer to my phone more.
Called Google to send it back and the Rep said "yea, surprisingly we're having allot of returns b/c of no speaker and many going back to Gear or Gear 2."
They sent me an email for to fill out stating why I'm returning. She said they're interested in feedback for the next model they release. I hope they listen.
I went back to my Gear 2 Neo and am patiently waiting for the next model (with speaker I hope).
They had the same with the Gear 1, made some changes and launched the Gear 2.
Don't waste your money on something you won't use and be happy with.
Wait for the Gear Live 2.
I think I'm going to suck it up though. When the next one comes out I'll gift it or sell it for $100 or so to subsidize the new one.
I have a Note 9 and an iPhone X.
I don't need two phones but the one thing that is keeping me on iPhone as my "daily driver" is the Apple Watch Series 4. (Because although the iPhone X is nice, I much prefer the freedom and customization of Android)
The Apple Watch S4 is such an awesome piece of technology that provides a very polished and pleasant user experience. Quality hardware, smooth OS, beautiful display and absolutely fantastic haptic feedback for notifications and various interactions with apps and elements of the OS.
I really wish Apple would open up the AW for use with Android phones. I'm sure the product would sell like hot cakes.
If I were to choose one primary feature from the AW that I am looking for in an Android watch, it would be the haptic feedback. This feature is so underrated but it makes a big difference to the entire experience when you consider that every notification, alert, alarm and interaction with the watch uses the haptics to enhance the experience.
I also own a Huawei Watch GT which has a beautiful display and fantastic battery life but the vibration feedback is absolutely rubbish and feels so cheap in comparison to Apple Watch.
What smartwatch are you using with your Note 9? Is there any Android compatible smartwatch on the market at this time that offers quality vibration/haptics?
On a side note, do you think its possible to develop an app for Android that allows pairing with Apple watch for basic functionality like notifications? Why has nobody done this?
The Samsung Galaxy Watch is a good choice, which should work perfectly with the Note 9.
I have amazfit BIP watch and i am quite happy with this. But you know, this is more like very very basic sport like watch than smartwatch. It has very limited functionality if you compare it with anything else, you have notifications from phone, weather and alarm, and this is it if you think about "smart" options. Pros is very extreme long time lasting battery, about 1 month. And HR sensor, and GPS... but now i`m missing this "smart" functionality at my wrist. I begin to look for new one - maybe newest samsung smartwatch? What do you think?
iceepyon said:
The Samsung Galaxy Watch is a good choice, which should work perfectly with the Note 9.
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Do you have a Galaxy Watch? Does it have high quality vibration/Haptic feedback?
Byte_76 said:
Do you have a Galaxy Watch? Does it have high quality vibration/Haptic feedback?
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I'm not sure what you mean by "high quality" I find the Galaxy Watch's haptic feedback to be subtle, on my wrist at least. If you want to go outside the Apple/Android wearable try a Garmin. Very good haptic feedback on their watches, not to mention my Fenix 5x gets about two weeks between charges.
I was in the same situation, certainly there is no smartwatch close to the apple watch in terme of haptic feedback, smoothness, hardware and features.
That said i bought a samsung watch to use it with my note 9, but the vibration motor is far away from taptic engine... but you can set long vibration in type of vibration if you don't want to miss certain notifications.
LG uses something similar to taptic engine in their latest phones, strating from the V30, but i don't know if they use the same hardware in their smartwatch
dr.guru said:
I was in the same situation, certainly there is no smartwatch close to the apple watch in terme of haptic feedback, smoothness, hardware and features.
That said i bought a samsung watch to use it with my note 9, but the vibration motor is far away from taptic engine... but you can set long vibration in type of vibration if you don't want to miss certain notifications.
LG uses something similar to taptic engine in their latest phones, strating from the V30, but i don't know if they use the same hardware in their smartwatch
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Thanks, that answers my question. The Galaxy Watch does not have comparable haptic feedback.
I have heard about the impressive haptics on the V30 and V40 but haven't had the opportunity to experience it because flagship LG phones are not available in my country.
The disappointing thing about the new 2018 LG watch is that its missing an HR sensor which for me is a deal breaker.
Has anyone tried the TicWatch Pro and Fossil Q Sport?
i'm using Samsung Galaxy Watch and a Note 9 (coming from XS Max and S4 44mm), no way to come back to apple
Byte_76 said:
Thanks, that answers my question. The Galaxy Watch does not have comparable haptic feedback.
I have heard about the impressive haptics on the V30 and V40 but haven't had the opportunity to experience it because flagship LG phones are not available in my country.
The disappointing thing about the new 2018 LG watch is that its missing an HR sensor which for me is a deal breaker.
Has anyone tried the TicWatch Pro and Fossil Q Sport?
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I think this haptic thing is a little OCD? So long as notifications arnt being missed what's the problem?
I'm using a gear 3 classic. Looks alot better round than an apple watch imho
I like the Amazefit Bip.
I can read text, HR sensor, Sleep tracker, steps. But my biggest thing is battery life. If I was going to have to charge a watch everyday or every 2 then I would skip it.
I can put this on and not worry about charge for weeks. I went 20 days on single charge and still had 45% left. but decide to charge it anyway.
clax6 said:
I think this haptic thing is a little OCD? So long as notifications arnt being missed what's the problem?
I'm using a gear 3 classic. Looks alot better round than an apple watch imho
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To each their own.
I appreciate a quality product with consideration for the finer details. It does matter and it adds up to a better overall user experience.
Why should we accept sub-par or second best in the Android space? If we don't expect better and make a fuss about it, why would manufacturers bother to make a true effort to improve? I mean realistically, how much did the new Galaxy Watch improve over the S3? (Basically just 5ATM water resistance, right?)
I have owned an S3 Frontier a couple of years ago and I do like the round design but otherwise it really wasn't particularly impressive and certainly nowhere near my AW S4.
Anyway not here to promote Apple Watch, as I said earlier, I want to get a decent smartwatch to use with my Note 9.
I am currently looking into the Fossil Sport. For the more budget oriented consumer, that seems to be a decent product and apparently the vibration feedback is quite good. Just missing a speaker unfortunately. Anyone here able to share their experience?
Byte_76 said:
To each their own.
I appreciate a quality product with consideration for the finer details. It does matter and it adds up to a better overall user experience.
Why should we accept sub-par or second best in the Android space? If we don't expect better and make a fuss about it, why would manufacturers bother to make a true effort to improve? I mean realistically, how much did the new Galaxy Watch improve over the S3? (Basically just 5ATM water resistance, right?)
I have owned an S3 Frontier a couple of years ago and I do like the round design but otherwise it really wasn't particularly impressive and certainly nowhere near my AW S4.
Anyway not here to promote Apple Watch, as I said earlier, I want to get a decent smartwatch to use with my Note 9.
I am currently looking into the Fossil Sport. For the more budget oriented consumer, that seems to be a decent product and apparently the vibration feedback is quite good. Just missing a speaker unfortunately. Anyone here able to share their experience?
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Click to collapse
depends on what you are striving for.
if you like the apple experience the you need to understand why you like it so much:
device integration depth. apple to apple
so logically to achieve something similar do the same thing: samsung to samsung, LG to LG ...etc.
the minute you 'crossbreed' between devices you'll loose the minutia of any additional options and seeminglessness that intercompany integration offers.
haptic feedback quality is useless if the device integration depth is shallow.