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Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch - Specs and Video

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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Wow - What a Great Watch

I just picked up a Gear a few hours ago, and all I can say is WOW. After reading all the negative
reviews, I was expecting a quick look and then a return to the store, but after playing with this watch
for the last few hours, I have come away VERY impressed. This is the 4th smart watch I've owned,
and it's head and shoulders above the ones I used previously (MetaWatch, Wimm Labs, and Sony 2nd Gen).
Those watches all had their plusses and minuses, but this watch it a much more complete package. And it
should be, since it's not cheap. But still a lot cheaper than the Tag and Omega that I have
First off, the look is great. I got the jet black version, and it has a very understated tech look. It fits great on my wrist,
and is very light.
Second, everything I have tried so far works, and works the way I would expect it to. Calling, charging, s-voice, and all
the apps I have tried. The camera is great, and works well with the wine label app. The display is gorgeous, much
better than the displays on the previous smart watches I've tried.
My long term concerns will be battery life and sustained connectivity, which were 2 of the biggest issues I had with
other smart watches. If it can pass those tests, then it's a keeper.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if a lot of the reviewers that just destroyed this watch don't have a little heartburn
that Apple wasn't first to market. This watch will get very good very fast if they add apps quickly to the market.
I'll finish by saying that if you're on the fence on this watch, pick it up. If you temper your expectations (don't expect a DSLR
on your wrist, understand that 3rd party apps may be limited initially and sometimes buggy), you'll be very happy with it...

glad to hear your enjoying yours.
yes it does come off as weird why these tech sites are very eager to proclaim it as failure or DOA. we shall see though who is right but based on the reviews here its not as piss poor as they make it out to be.
theverge even called it samsung's worst product

j4falcons said:
I just picked up a Gear a few hours ago, and all I can say is WOW. After reading all the negative
reviews, I was expecting a quick look and then a return to the store, but after playing with this watch
for the last few hours, I have come away VERY impressed. This is the 4th smart watch I've owned,
and it's head and shoulders above the ones I used previously (MetaWatch, Wimm Labs, and Sony 2nd Gen).
Those watches all had their plusses and minuses, but this watch it a much more complete package. And it
should be, since it's not cheap. But still a lot cheaper than the Tag and Omega that I have
First off, the look is great. I got the jet black version, and it has a very understated tech look. It fits great on my wrist,
and is very light.
Second, everything I have tried so far works, and works the way I would expect it to. Calling, charging, s-voice, and all
the apps I have tried. The camera is great, and works well with the wine label app. The display is gorgeous, much
better than the displays on the previous smart watches I've tried.
My long term concerns will be battery life and sustained connectivity, which were 2 of the biggest issues I had with
other smart watches. If it can pass those tests, then it's a keeper.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if a lot of the reviewers that just destroyed this watch don't have a little heartburn
that Apple wasn't first to market. This watch will get very good very fast if they add apps quickly to the market.
I'll finish by saying that if you're on the fence on this watch, pick it up. If you temper your expectations (don't expect a DSLR
on your wrist, understand that 3rd party apps may be limited initially and sometimes buggy), you'll be very happy with it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree, I got my watch on Saturday and I have to say that I'm impressed and that's amazing considering I pair it with GS3 and some features still don't work! It was quite amusing today in the office with people couldn't actually believe it was real lots of iphone owners asking would it work with their phone ! I'm not sure why all those negative reviws, not sure what people expected, but if you take it for what it is - it's an amazing piece of technology! By the way, I charged it last night and got home tonight and it was on 70% battery - that's much better than what I hoped for!

I also think the watch is much better than how major tech reviewers are rating it in their reviews.
Pros:
1. Good looking design with some choice material- Sapphire glass, brushed stainless steel and high quality band
2. Very nice display
3. Smooth and lag-free operation
4. Nice and tight integration with smartphone
5. More than acceptable phone and camera capability
6. Limited to Note 3 for the moment ( this pro is applicable to me as a Note 3 user for a while~ )
7. Great to have the event and message reminder via a gentle vibration on the wrist!
8. Built-in pedometer and health apps
Neutral:
1. Battery performance- acceptable for a day's operation but could use a bit of margin.
2. Wrist band- acceptable but would be nice to have the flexibility to change the color
Cons:
1. Insufficient notification support for Gmail and Facebook apps (SW)
2. No calculator! (SW)
3. No compass (SW, HW?)
4. No on-screen keyboard (They could've put together a creative keyboard layout to fit the wonderful screen for sure ) (SW)
5. High price
6. Limited choice of phone models (only if Samsung wants this product to succeed on its own merit, that is. With Samsung selling twice as many smartphones as Apple now, I don't see any reason why they need to make the watches compatible to other brand phones necessarily, as it can be yet another reason to buy a Samsung phone for those on the fence.) SW
So, really, other than the relatively high price, I don't see critical shortcomings of this watch that can't be fixed by software updates and apps support down the road. The knock-on feature of G2 would be nice to have on this watch to wake it up and shut it down as necessary, in addition to the motion sensor-based wake on feature that it already has.

they should hurry with the updates, I can see this gaining more traction with more phones

Lets not forget what the critics said about the original Note 1. The press hammered that mobile yet it went on to give birth to a whole new generation,, the 'phablet'. Many brands have tried to copy the idea but non have come even close to selling the amount Samsung has and the note is now in its third year and on the third iteration having sold millions.
Smart watches in general have not yet been taken to by the market. This is in reality the first truly smart watch. Other brands will now rapidly try to play catch up as they have with the Note 1
In terms of Android devices Samsung appear to date to be the innovators in terms of technology.
Regards

Only issues are small software related ones. I am getting great battery life. Give it a little time for some developers to fill the gaps on the notification side.
Heck, the pebble is only really useful with 3rd party apps like Pebblify, so I don't know why people are so hard on the Gear.

I agree, it is a great product and a keeper here. (Had a Sony 1st gen. before.)
Battery life is better than expected. Keeps running for 2 days easily (brightness 2 / sound off).
Screen is excellent, performance sufficient.
More apps wanted now.

One of very few better-written reviews of the Gear:
http://www.zdnet.com/galaxy-gear-re...companion-watch-for-note-3-owners-7000021316/

Razer Phone 2 purchase advice: Razer Phone 2 in 300€ promo for a non-gamer

Hello, folks!
I'm a humble xda forums lurker. I've been resorting to xda forums for all sorts of helpful tips and advice for my devices. However this time, I must ask instead of googling xD.
I've been a long time Samsung user. First the S3, then the S7 and now ... Well that's my issue right now. I can't decide on my next device. Looking to upgrade from my S7 to a better device, even though the Galaxy S7 is still a respectably good device. I came across the big promo for Razer Phone 2 and I've become tempted to purchase it. I had never heard about a gaming smartphone nor am I a mobile gamer. I don't play mobile games at all and I don't plan to in the near future. I'm looking for a device for media consumption like Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, podcast listening on commutes, ebook reading and overall as a sort of mobile, always with me, computer. As such, I value more good specs in terms of CPU, GPU, RAM, available storage (including expandable via microsd) than a camera phone which is what other competing phones tend to in terms of overall design. Despite being aware it is a smartphone "by gamers, for gamers", the special focus on specs not related to camera quality that the Razer Phone 2 seems to have is what made it more appealing to me than the competition, including the Oneplus 6T.
I have already purchased it within the promo available from Razer. However, I'm currently second-guessing my purchase, because I read a detailed review from gsmarena (Razer 2 Phone Review) that praises this phone, especially for the innovation it brings to the smartphone market, but made me wonder ... In their conclusion, they say "If you are simply looking for a great daily driver and simply stumbled here out of curiosity, our best advice is to keep looking. As a 2018 flagship Android smartphone, the Razer Phone 2 simply lags behind the competition in more than a few key aspects." Would you all agree with this assessment? For a non gamer even if a smartphone power user, another more well rounded device like the Oneplus 6T might be a more suitable purchase as a well-performing daily driver?

I'm not a big gamer, not in the slightest. I have used the OnePlus 6 T and saw dreadful battery drain! I previously had a Mate 10 Pro, fantastic battery, not the best performance.
Am I unhappy? No. Not in the slightest
Is this a good daily driver, yes.
I'm completely stock without root. The audio is incredible, battery life is great, and frankly I see no issues with the camera quality, but then again I am not expected DSLR quality from a phone like many other people.

This phone is perfect as a daily driver. Front facing speakers rock. Don't have any lag issues at all. Being in IT myself, I don't really game either, but it keeps up with how I multitask. My only negative is that the theme engine sucks, and can't use substratum yet. Otherwise, great Android experience being mostly stripped down.

Dominor said:
Hello, folks!
I'm a humble xda forums lurker. I've been resorting to xda forums for all sorts of helpful tips and advice for my devices. However this time, I must ask instead of googling xD.
I've been a long time Samsung user. First the S3, then the S7 and now ... Well that's my issue right now. I can't decide on my next device. Looking to upgrade from my S7 to a better device, even though the Galaxy S7 is still a respectably good device. I came across the big promo for Razer Phone 2 and I've become tempted to purchase it. I had never heard about a gaming smartphone nor am I a mobile gamer. I don't play mobile games at all and I don't plan to in the near future. I'm looking for a device for media consumption like Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, podcast listening on commutes, ebook reading and overall as a sort of mobile, always with me, computer. As such, I value more good specs in terms of CPU, GPU, RAM, available storage (including expandable via microsd) than a camera phone which is what other competing phones tend to in terms of overall design. Despite being aware it is a smartphone "by gamers, for gamers", the special focus on specs not related to camera quality that the Razer Phone 2 seems to have is what made it more appealing to me than the competition, including the Oneplus 6T.
I have already purchased it within the promo available from Razer. However, I'm currently second-guessing my purchase, because I read a detailed review from gsmarena (Razer 2 Phone Review) that praises this phone, especially for the innovation it brings to the smartphone market, but made me wonder ... In their conclusion, they say "If you are simply looking for a great daily driver and simply stumbled here out of curiosity, our best advice is to keep looking. As a 2018 flagship Android smartphone, the Razer Phone 2 simply lags behind the competition in more than a few key aspects." Would you all agree with this assessment? For a non gamer even if a smartphone power user, another more well rounded device like the Oneplus 6T might be a more suitable purchase as a well-performing daily driver?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This Phone is absolutely a monster, One PLus 6T is not near, for the price is a great deal!

It's a great phone and you can greatly appreciate the 120hz display outside of games, and if you run the screen at 90 hz and turn off the chroma logo it has fantastic battery life.

Ty so much for the input, addressing most of the points I expected. I was especially concerned for the expectable battery life.
Btw, since I'm here how do you feel about outdoor use. I'm asking this, because in some reviews I read, it was mentioned that, despite the improvement in max brightness to its predecessor, Razer Phone 2 still is worse than competitors regarding use under direct sunlight. It's not decision-changing most likely, but I'd like to know what to expect.

Dominor said:
Ty so much for the input, addressing most of the points I expected. I was especially concerned for the expectable battery life.
Btw, since I'm here how do you feel about outdoor use. I'm asking this, because in some reviews I read, it was mentioned that, despite the improvement in max brightness to its predecessor, Razer Phone 2 still is worse than competitors regarding use under direct sunlight. It's not decision-changing most likely, but I'd like to know what to expect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In terms of brightness after the pie update I keep my phone at 10% brightness (auto disabled) for indoor use. In direct sun I push the slider to about 50% and the screen is perfectly viewable to me. The rare times I up the brightness to about 100% is when I have to have a barcode scanned off the device for in-store pickup orders.
The only thing that matters is that the device bright enough for your eyes if so and you like the rest of the device and get a good deal on it keep it.

janjanrex said:
In terms of brightness after the pie update I keep my phone at 10% brightness (auto disabled) for indoor use. In direct sun I push the slider to about 50% and the screen is perfectly viewable to me. The rare times I up the brightness to about 100% is when I have to have a barcode scanned off the device for in-store pickup orders.
The only thing that matters is that the device bright enough for your eyes if so and you like the rest of the device and get a good deal on it keep it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your helpful input. Sadly, I'm not going to be able to test it in person, because I live in an island and no store has this phone, so I'm going to trust you all on this.
Cheers,
Hope I can be the one helping one-day.

Everything is perfect except the hearing issue. I owned 6T Pixel 3 XL Note 9 ane non is over hearting. I have to reduce the screen resolution to 1080 FullHD instead. It seems better but not the best among flagship categories.

keaheng said:
Everything is perfect except the hearing issue. I owned 6T Pixel 3 XL Note 9 ane non is over hearting. I have to reduce the screen resolution to 1080 FullHD instead. It seems better but not the best among flagship categories.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, what do you mean by over hearting?
Too loud?

keaheng said:
Everything is perfect except the hearing issue. I owned 6T Pixel 3 XL Note 9 ane non is over hearting. I have to reduce the screen resolution to 1080 FullHD instead. It seems better but not the best among flagship categories.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only time that I feel like the phone is hotter then it should be is if I have the chroma logo on all the time, but even that has stopped with Pie. Additionally if you do want to reduce your settings to help with it, changing the refresh rate to 90hz and completely turning off the chroma logo should be first before turning down your screen resolution. Also pay close attention to your battery life when it gets hot. If your battery life is very bad then you should be looking into what apps you have installed to see if any of them are constantly using a bunch of your battery. If none of these work, then you should really contact Razer about the problem.

I'm a big gamer, but I don't play mobile games. I love the high refresh rate and stock Android after coming from the Samsung S8. I really like the phone in general, my only complaint is the lack of LDAC which is noticeable with my headphones.

Well, I've just picked up the Razer Phone 2. Waiting till I get home to power it up. Thank you all for your input. Really decisive.

Talk Me Off The OP7P Edge!!!

I've been a Note Officianado for YEARS...and suddenly I'm being tempted by the One Plus 7 Pro 5G as a possible replacement!! I feel so guilty for even THINKING it...but I can't seem to shake that nudge of curiosity and temptation to have that "next new thing"! Somebody please talk me down. Tell me I'm insane for entertaining the sacrilegious notion of leaving the Note Family! TALK ME OFF THE LEDGE!!!

Give it a shot. If you're like me you'll come back at some point anyway (see my signature). Nothing bad in giving other manufacturers a shot from time to time, it's a good opportunity to understand where Samsung is lacking/needs improvement, and to realize all the things they get right and the Samsung features you're missing
I'm not a OnePlus fan, but the 7 Pro seems to be a pretty great device. They finally seem to take care and give importance to the small details and refinement their phones were lacking in the past imho (finally a great display, a better vibration motor, better build quality, the cameras seem better too, etc.)
If you really need a reason to not switch: The Note 10 will be an even better phone when it launches this fall

Phazonclash said:
...If you really need a reason to not switch: The Note 10 will be an even better phone when it launches this fall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DITTO that...look out and hold out for the Note 10 rather...

S-Pen. That's the number 1 difference-maker for me. As far as a daily phone goes. It's always going to be a Note. Using an S-Pen to interact with my display has always been the most efficient and fastest way.

Im in the same boat after watching the reveal of the OP7P. The only reason i womt switch is because i know i will definitely going back to get the Note 10. The camera is essential and it still looks like the OP7P isnt better then the Note 9 camera.

I watched the launch, got all excited, then found out it doesn't have wireless charging and it's not waterproof rated!
Can anyone else say, DEAL BREAKER?!?!
'Cause I sure can!

dugryce said:
I watched the launch, got all excited, then found out it doesn't have wireless charging and it's not waterproof rated!
Can anyone else say, DEAL BREAKER?!?!
'Cause I sure can!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC OnePlus were avoiding getting it rated because of the costs involved, but were still going to make it waterproof anyway.

dugryce said:
I've been a Note Officianado for YEARS...and suddenly I'm being tempted by the One Plus 7 Pro 5G as a possible replacement!! I feel so guilty for even THINKING it...but I can't seem to shake that nudge of curiosity and temptation to have that "next new thing"! Somebody please talk me down. Tell me I'm insane for entertaining the sacrilegious notion of leaving the Note Family! TALK ME OFF THE LEDGE!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YouTube videos have hyped you up! How is it better than a Note 9? Only the screen's 90 Hz refresh and fills more space. Compared to the Note, screen is not as bright and run-time between battery charges is terrible! Then there is no wireless charging or waterproof. If you have come to like a lot of the features you get with a Samsung UI/apps, you will lose that too.... and no s-pen. You won't get Dark Mode until Android Q, while Samsung OneUI is doing integrated themes now. The Note 9 is about $635 right now, so the OPSP is not cheaper either.

Op7p has most of N9 problems such as curved screen, mediocre battery life and average camera. It also lacks some good N9 features such as headphone jack, wireless charging or spen. I doesn't make sense to swap unless you are bored and just want a new toy.
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Not gonna lie normally I go for the latest tech. But nothing in the op7pro or even the s10plus makes me want to leave my beautiful device. And I shall be honest not even the note 10 will make me want to upgrade. Don't see the point no more. If it is working why break it.

No notification LED! That killed it for me!

Smart watch

What do you guys suggest? Anyone here or the T1 Tacital watch? Sorry to part question [emoji41]
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Space Technology

I use my Galaxy S3 Classic with it without any issues. It's an older smartwatch but in the world of Android smartwatches still one of the best available options. I briefly owned the newer version of Samsung's offering, the stainless steel variant of the Active2 watch, but I found that it didn't offer much if anything in terms of improvements to the S3 Classic, while sacrificing a lot in design and practicability of the UX.

For Android you'll want to go with one of the new offerings with the gig of RAM, makes a huge difference in the GUI where they are vastly more smooth in operation. I'd set my sights on either the Gen 5 or TicWatch Pro. The Samsung devices work better with Samsung phones but still work ok with other android phones and have much better battery life but you give up all the options Wear brings with it. There are often big sales on smartwatches, often enough I'd consider it worth defining which one I wanted and waiting for a good sale to pick it up.

krabman said:
For Android you'll want to go with one of the new offerings with the gig of RAM, makes a huge difference in the GUI where they are vastly more smooth in operation. I'd set my sights on either the Gen 5 or TicWatch Pro. The Samsung devices work better with Samsung phones but still work ok with other android phones and have much better battery life but you give up all the options Wear brings with it. There are often big sales on smartwatches, often enough I'd consider it worth defining which one I wanted and waiting for a good sale to pick it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious - what options is he giving up because my understanding is that Wear watches are literally the worst wearables out there with the least useful features. Samsung devices are regarded as only second to Apple and work with any Android device. Genuine question.

Nah, the feature set was never the problem, it was the performance and poor battery life. I haven't owned an Apple watch and I'm not going to as the iphone is an answer to a question I never asked. Being as it's not a part of this discussion or going to be used on this phone I think we can set it aside. The Sammy offerings have much better battery life, it's not even close, and that is their primary benefit. They did also have far better performance but that has changed so long as you get one of the new offerings with a gig of RAM. Now the performance is much closer although I'd still give the nod to the Samsung devices. It is close enough however that it becomes a matter of features and available apps to my mind unless you have a Samsung phone and use their apps, in that case I'd go all in with Samsung. Now that wear can legitimately make it through a long day of use before it needs to go on the charger and the sluggish performance has been fixed wear becomes much more compelling than it once was. You have many more apps, watch faces, etc. Integration with Google maps is much better which is a big plus if you travel.
There was a reason why I mentioned both, Google essentially gives you options that you cant get with Samsung, the Samsung still has much better battery life and it's tight integration makes it better on Samsung devices but still good on other android phones if you're not missing any apps that you could have had on wear. It's something a user needs to make some calls on in terms of what they want. The only absolute mistake you can make here in my opinion is getting an older wear device without the extra ram, you want the 3100 and the 1 gig; that's a must have.

mobgod said:
What do you guys suggest? Anyone here or the T1 Tacital watch? Sorry to part question [emoji41]
Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Space Technology
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a Fitbit Versa 2 & have been very satisfied with it.
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krabman said:
Nah, the feature set was never the problem, it was the performance and poor battery life. I haven't owned an Apple watch and I'm not going to as the iphone is an answer to a question I never asked. Being as it's not a part of this discussion or going to be used on this phone I think we can set it aside. The Sammy offerings have much better battery life, it's not even close, and that is their primary benefit. They did also have far better performance but that has changed so long as you get one of the new offerings with a gig of RAM. Now the performance is much closer although I'd still give the nod to the Samsung devices. It is close enough however that it becomes a matter of features and available apps to my mind unless you have a Samsung phone and use their apps, in that case I'd go all in with Samsung. Now that wear can legitimately make it through a long day of use before it needs to go on the charger and the sluggish performance has been fixed wear becomes much more compelling than it once was. You have many more apps, watch faces, etc. Integration with Google maps is much better which is a big plus if you travel.
There was a reason why I mentioned both, Google essentially gives you options that you cant get with Samsung, the Samsung still has much better battery life and it's tight integration makes it better on Samsung devices but still good on other android phones if you're not missing any apps that you could have had on wear. It's something a user needs to make some calls on in terms of what they want. The only absolute mistake you can make here in my opinion is getting an older wear device without the extra ram, you want the 3100 and the 1 gig; that's a must have.
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This is really good feedback. Maybe I should look at some Android Wear options again. I extended the life of my S3 by replacing the battery, and it is still a stellar option but one thing I always disliked was poor integration with Google Maps (relies or 3rd party app). It would be much better to have something native, closer to what one would encounter on an Apple Watch.

The Gen 5 is pretty good especially if you can get it for less than regular. It was $172 a few weeks ago on Amazon. I've had it since August and it's not perfect but I think very good. Battery isn't an issue for me as I just top off in the morning while getting ready and when I get home from work, a good 14-15 hours later with usually 40% or so to spare.
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I've had the Sammy s2 and s3, and I DID like them a lot, at least at first. They were smooth and the battery life was good, but, the OS and features seemed pretty basic. I hated the workout app, and the only other offerings were terrible. Also, Samsung support suuuccckkks... It was like talking so someone who was just hired and had no idea what they were talking about.
Anyway, I have a Fossil Q Explorist 4 HR and I love it. It IS a little jittery sometimes, so you should definitely go with a gen 5, but it's great. Tons of apps to choose from, it looks great (I wear it to the office even), and battery life is almost on par with the s3. I take it off the charger at around 6:30am and at 10pm I typically have 40-ish% left. It would certainly last a full day.

One word of warning if someone might be setting their sights on a Ticwatch Pro: Get the LTE even if you don't want to use LTE because it has the extra RAM, the older version that is not LTE does not have it and it suffers from the sluggish GUI problem that all Wear watches had up until the recent offerings with the upped RAM. I know it's tempting because the LTE version is more expensive but you really, really, want that RAM, it completely alters the user experience while manipulating the GUI. Much, much smoother, apps load faster, etc.

Pebble Time Steel in Gold! Until a watch that can match the battery life (10 days!) + features comes along, I'll be sticking with my Pebble. Recently picked up another Gold, because my 4 year old one finally had the battery worn out too much, and also got a black one too.

krabman said:
One word of warning if someone might be setting their sights on a Ticwatch Pro: Get the LTE even if you don't want to use LTE because it has the extra RAM
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Yes definitely this. 1GB RAM makes the difference. I believe it has the old 2100 processor but that's not really much a factor for performance as RAM is.
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---------- Post added at 08:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ----------
ryandanger said:
Pebble Time Steel in Gold! Until a watch that can match the battery life (10 days!) + features comes along, I'll be sticking with my Pebble. Recently picked up another Gold, because my 4 year old one finally had the battery worn out too much, and also got a black one too.
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Classic. I got the original Pebble when it was on Kickstarter.
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I bought the Fossil Carlyle on sale and it's really been great and it came with 3 watch bands that swap out easily. I had a Moto 360 Gen 2 that fell apart a few months ago so I was in the market. I just looked at the new Moto 360 and it looks really nice. The price tag is a little over the top at $350 but it should come down. I'm a little gun shy when it comes to Moto since the support was horrendous previously. Hopefully, it's gotten better.

Yep, the old Ticwatch pro uses the 2100 so it doesn't have the co-processor for ambient mode like the 3100. In their case they have the second display which also uses little power so it negates some of the loss but not all of it as the ambient isn't as efficient as it can be with a 3100 and lacks the 16 colors, adaptive brightness on ambient, etc. Still it doesn't change the performance when manipulating the GUI where both are using the same A7s so the felt performance is similar to a 3100 when the extra ram is in the mix.

The 3100 offers nothing in terms of a performance increase. It is literally a 2100 then Qualcomm slapped on the coprocessor and called it a day. The major difference will come from the extra gig of RAM which WearOS desperately needs. When you compare a 512 MB device to a 1GB device the performance difference is quite staggering. I have the TW Pro 4G using the JanJan rom and I couldn't be happier with the performance. Ball is still in Google's court to make something out of WearOS and for Qualcomm to stop being lazy scumbags.