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Would really like some feed back from Note users. What is your average screen on time per charge on this device?
I'm sitting on the fence between getting another Galaxy Nexus (lost) or getting a Galaxy Note. I played with a Note today and while it's big I think I can just about overlook it's size. Anyway, I used to get about 3-4 hours with my Nexus. I'm sure you guys are getting a lot more with your Note's.
Please comment.
Over 70 views and not a single person can tell me their average on screen time? lol okay.
vapotrini said:
Would really like some feed back from Note users. What is your average screen on time per charge on this device?
I'm sitting on the fence between getting another Galaxy Nexus (lost) or getting a Galaxy Note. I played with a Note today and while it's big I think I can just about overlook it's size. Anyway, I used to get about 3-4 hours with my Nexus. I'm sure you guys are getting a lot more with your Note's.
Please comment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this really equates to the number of running apps etc.
But on an average Display accounts for almost 65-70% of battery drain and on a whole with moderate use my phone lasts more than a day ~ 28 hrs.
Samsung does have settings which optimizes the screen display to consume optimum power.
Cheers
Average 4-5 hrs. There are other people in this forum who have reported this too.
Also note: it would totally depend on the apps running, signal strength etc
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
I EASILY get 4 hours, I can MAYBE get 5 hours. But I'm always between there 3G always on, wifi when I'm at home. Screen brightness at auto.
Put in a fully charged battery (I have two), it was idle for about 10 minutes when I went to the loo. Other than that, I never put it down. Browsing, texting, tweeting, checking Facebook, scouring through Android Market, flipping through photos on Gallery, made two phone calls, Angry Birds, read an eBook...
Finally gave me the "connect your charger" warning after five hours.
my daily use
on stock rom KK1, rooted, some bloatwares are frozen in Titanium backup
screen auto brightness
3-3.5 hrs screen on time, mostly for internet data streaming app, like XDA, Gearslutz, FML, Engadget, IGN, youtube , internet browser
3G always on(HSPA+ 21mbs)
30 - 60mins phone call
2 - 3 hours music.
few photos
LOADS of whatsapp texting
some emails from gmail app
some facebook checking
syncing are ALL on, (google, whatsapp, facebook)
my phone battery go from 100 to 0 % in around 11 to 12 hours.
Thanks for all the replies guys.
I've decided to go back with the Nexus.
As much as I want it to, the Note simply wouldn't fit as well with my lifestyle.
Thanks again.
Rounding 5 hours screen time now. I've played way too much Wordfeud!
Sent from my iPad GT-N7000 using xda premium
vapotrini said:
Thanks for all the replies guys.
I've decided to go back with the Nexus.
As much as I want it to, the Note simply wouldn't fit as well with my lifestyle.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not to totally derail from the topic here, but why? i'm quite curious because i'm on the Note now but thinking of making the switch to Nexus...
4-5 hours with browsing YouTube forums. If trolling it gets less jk. But can't say exact because all this is done at work so i am putting it on charge when it is near 20-30% so when i leave from work it is fully charged no need to spend electricity at home that's why we have the work place. So i charging it from every 12 hours or day depends if i will see a movie when going home a 1 hour trip from work or i will be listening tiesto's live cast. 3g always on automatic sync is off, sync is on, Samsung push off, weather app with 3 hour sync. Brightness at low till medium or automatic depends of the mood.
Charge it when you can a Samsung original battery costs 30€ GG
Hope it will help a bit.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
anakin1979 said:
not to totally derail from the topic here, but why? i'm quite curious because i'm on the Note now but thinking of making the switch to Nexus...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbh, it's only because of my job and the size of the device. I make a good 20-50 calls a day at work, and since I don't use BT headsets I imagine it would just be awkward having to pull a device that large out all of the time.
Don worry about battery life. 2500mah battery is not for fun
You can always get a portable charger if you are afraid the juice will run out
vapotrini said:
Tbh, it's only because of my job and the size of the device. I make a good 20-50 calls a day at work, and since I don't use BT headsets I imagine it would just be awkward having to pull a device that large out all of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fair enough.
I get about 10/12 hours a day, usage is heavy, I hardly ever put my phone down, talking, browsing, and refreshing anything from corporate mail account to twitter every 15 min (auto) and every 30secs when i´m waiting for something... now if you play reckless driving (love it) you´ll get about 2 hours...
vapotrini said:
Tbh, it's only because of my job and the size of the device. I make a good 20-50 calls a day at work, and since I don't use BT headsets I imagine it would just be awkward having to pull a device that large out all of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually find it to be more comfortable to hold to my head than my previous smaller phones. I can grab and hold it for extended periods without any finger cramps, since it's a good size for the hand. The included headset is actually really nice, IMO, for longer calls.
Works great with my Note 3 using BajaRom. I work for Samsung. Best Buy has had a delay in their deliveries but they are fairly easy to get in many ATT stores. I really like it. Really good deal at $199. Of the 3 watches i feel that this gives the most features at the best price point. I'm not posting screenshots as they are everywhere by now. A few quick things to note. I haven't tried the sleep tracker or pedometer yet but the heart rate monitor has been spot on for me. I loaded about 50 songs on it. Bluetooth music streaming sounds awesome on this. Not sure why but i expected less but was super happy with the sound quality and volume. Speaker during calls is louder than i anticipated. Not tested battery life much yet. Very light and comfortable. There are quite a few settings that can be changed via gear manager. I'm sure some work better than others but essentially notifications can be set for all installed applications on your phone. Watch On remote is limited obviously but works great on my Mitsubishi TV with Dish Network. I also noticed that you can allow unknown apps so side loading apps will not be an issue. I will update how the sleep tracking and pedometer goes after tonight and tomorrow. Overall in a non biased way i really am impressed with the job they did and the future of smart watches in general.
Please keep us updated on the pedometer aspect. I'm looking for a replacement for my fitbit force. And I like seeing what I walk everyday.
Sent from my SM-N900V using xda app-developers app
bckrupps said:
I loaded about 50 songs on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who still loads songs onto devices? Get Spotify, Pandora, or some streaming service.
Novakingwai said:
Who still loads songs onto devices? Get Spotify, Pandora, or some streaming service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The idea for it is that you leave your phone in the locker, and use BT headphones so you not carrying your phone around the gym/work out.
Shame its still not 100% waterproof and still unable to swap out bands. If only those two last items were met, I would of bought one.
Instead I will stick with my pebble.
I purchased the neo and then returned it for the gear 2. There is a rubber coating on the outside of the neo and even with the slightest scratch it will scrape off and the scratches are way more obvious. The button on my neo was the first thing to show a scratch within the first couple of days so I spent a little more and I don't regret it at all. The neo is perfect for a females hand also due to its weight, so if you like a heavier watch but not as heavy as the original then stick with the Gear 2. Love it except for all the initial bugs with the software.
---------- Post added at 11:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 AM ----------
Trigster said:
The idea for it is that you leave your phone in the locker, and use BT headphones so you not carrying your phone around the gym/work out.
Shame its still not 100% waterproof and still unable to swap out bands. If only those two last items were met, I would of bought one.
Instead I will stick with my pebble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The mp3 player on the watch is sick. I never listen to mp3s anymore but the option of not having to have your phone at times is excellent. Just to clarify YES you can swap out different bands. also its not waterproof but its water resistant. No bathing or swimming with it but who does that?
.
wroder84 said:
The mp3 player on the watch is sick. I never listen to mp3s anymore but the option of not having to have your phone at times is excellent. Just to clarify YES you can swap out different bands. also its not waterproof but its water resistant. No bathing or swimming with it but who does that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dropped my Neo into a bowl of water over 10mins it still works and also I've showered with it on. But I didn't try to scrub it or put soap on it. One down fall is that the water on the screen will make the device to have a mind of its own kept acting like I was pressing random buttons.
Also does anyone know how to install non Samsung apps into the device and how to get Flesky sms to my Neo? I've seen for the original gear but not the gear 2.
Trigster said:
The idea for it is that you leave your phone in the locker, and use BT headphones so you not carrying your phone around the gym/work out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still, 50 songs will be repeated really fast. I don't know what's wrong with just getting a armband for your phone.
Novakingwai said:
Still, 50 songs will be repeated really fast. I don't know what's wrong with just getting a armband for your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has about 2.3gb of storage available. I have added 128 songs so far. Another guy at work has 361 so far so you can load way more than 50 with lots of room to spare lol. I used the sleep tracker last night and it works great. i will try the pedometer out tomorrow weather permitting. we have a track by my house exactly a mile long so we will see how accurate it is.
ktnguyen93 said:
I dropped my Neo into a bowl of water over 10mins it still works and also I've showered with it on. But I didn't try to scrub it or put soap on it. One down fall is that the water on the screen will make the device to have a mind of its own kept acting like I was pressing random buttons.
Also does anyone know how to install non Samsung apps into the device and how to get Flesky sms to my Neo? I've seen for the original gear but not the gear 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at this point because it runs Tizen there isn't much available yet but you will be able to side load stuff when it comes out as there is an option to allow unknown sources.
bckrupps said:
It has about 2.3gb of storage available. I have added 128 songs so far. Another guy at work has 361 so far so you can load way more than 50 with lots of room to spare lol. I used the sleep tracker last night and it works great. i will try the pedometer out tomorrow weather permitting. we have a track by my house exactly a mile long so we will see how accurate it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.3GB is not a lot when you have songs in a high quality. even more so when you start installing apps and other stuff on it.
Borderpatrol1987 said:
2.3GB is not a lot when you have songs in a high quality. even more so when you start installing apps and other stuff on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. These smart watches seem like a cool idea, but at $200 for 4GB or less of memory and only about 100 apps available, they seem like only a must-have for the extreme geek.
Borderpatrol1987 said:
2.3GB is not a lot when you have songs in a high quality. even more so when you start installing apps and other stuff on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like more than enough to serve the purpose. Its a watch with some nice features. You can transfer songs on the fly with your phone. Im not sure why anyone would need more as its used to stream some songs during a workout and its kinda small to have a 1tb hard drive built in. I cant imagine needing much storage for apps as they will be smaller and basic apps to accomadate a watch
Trigster said:
The idea for it is that you leave your phone in the locker, and use BT headphones so you not carrying your phone around the gym/work out.
Shame its still not 100% waterproof and still unable to swap out bands. If only those two last items were met, I would of bought one.
Instead I will stick with my pebble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's ip rating is good underwater for 30 minutes up to 1 meter in fresh water
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using xda app-developers app
Hello, .
Got my Neo yesterday, I can trully say that it is much better than I expect, looks and feel really good. The main purpose to buy it was the heart rate sensor, I am fade up with my polar RS800CX, it consumes too much baterries and the chest trap is a pain in the ... to wear.
So, this morning I went for a 150 minutes walk with my wife, she was wearing a fitbit one. In the end both devices had the same distance (+- 300 meters) and a diference of 400 steps, We were walking side by side with a sincronized step, The good thing was that I had my heart rate checked all the way, the bad is that some of the readings were sometimes wrong, some picks at 155bpm (too high) and an average of 122 bpm, which is a bit too much. But i´ll try some more on that to be certain.
the other bad thing for me is that I am not abble to sync with s-health, only Fitness with gear app, available on Samsung store, but everything is new I hope that in the near future things will improve.
Regards.
PS: forgot to mention that my phone is a Note 3
Got my Neo as well. love it so far but disappointed about the lack of apps!!! need more watch faces at the very least!!!!
Got it synced with my Note 2, no problems.
Long shot but it would be great if the Slacker folks did a Gear 2 app and let you download music to it.
I would be more then happy to get android wear on it and to play with more options
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using xda app-developers app
Aduarte said:
Hello, .
So, this morning I went for a 150 minutes walk with my wife, she was wearing a fitbit one. In the end both devices had the same distance (+- 300 meters) and a diference of 400 steps, We were walking side by side with a sincronized step,
PS: forgot to mention that my phone is a Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pedometer on mine appears excellent, after wearing it at the same time as my fitbit force today. At the end of today it tells me 13355 steps, compared to 13669 on my fitbit and 12823 on my Note 3. Overall very happy with this.
Aduarte said:
Hello, .
Got my Neo yesterday, I can trully say that it is much better than I expect, looks and feel really good. //cut//. . . The good thing was that I had my heart rate checked all the way, the bad is that some of the readings were sometimes wrong, some picks at 155bpm (too high) and an average of 122 bpm, which is a bit too much. But i´ll try some more on that to be certain. the other bad thing for me is that I am not abble to sync with s-health, only Fitness with gear app, available on Samsung store, but everything is new I hope that in the near future things will improve. Regards. PS: forgot to mention that my phone is a Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, too, got my Neo yesterday -and did pretty much what you did! The pace count seems ok. . .Actually I kind of thought my phone (S4 running GoldenEye or Shostock roms 4.4.2) might be more accurate! The heartrate monitor works great -except if you are in motion. While at rest on the Gym machines this morning I compared readouts from the workout machine monitors and the phone -pretty much exactly the same. However, while trying to measure while doing the elliptical or biking machine --the machine was able to deliver a pulse, but the neo either failed or gave a very low reading (my pulse was not 59 while biking the hill climb routine!)
I spent about an hour on the S Health sync thing yesterday -very annoying. The "old" S Health (2.5 I think) did not sync, the Fitness gear app DID sync. I got the Galaxy S5 S Health (ver 3.0) and loaded it on the phone and it DID/Yes sync. However, I can't find a way to get my old S Health data on the new S Health app. The ver 2.5 would present a back up restore menu when in the account window. The new 3.0 versions don't seem to have a restore option anywhere --at least I could not find it. I kind of hate to lose my old data --it's not that important, but it helps for reference and comparison.
EDIT: SLEEP.APK OK I had to manually update the Neo's rom via Kies3 (after DL/Installing Kies3, plugged in the Neo and Kies discovered a software update. I went from Neo Rom NCD to ND8.) After the update, I had the Sleep app in apps!
markbc01 said:
I, too, got my Neo yesterday -and did pretty much what you did! The pace count seems ok. . .Actually I kind of thought my phone (S4 running GoldenEye or Shostock roms 4.4.2) might be more accurate! The heartrate monitor works great -except if you are in motion. While at rest on the Gym machines this morning I compared readouts from the workout machine monitors and the phone -pretty much exactly the same. However, while trying to measure while doing the elliptical or biking machine --the machine was able to deliver a pulse, but the neo either failed or gave a very low reading (my pulse was not 59 while biking the hill climb routine!)
I spent about an hour on the S Health sync thing yesterday -very annoying. The "old" S Health (2.5 I think) did not sync, the Fitness gear app DID sync. I got the Galaxy S5 S Health (ver 3.0) and loaded it on the phone and it DID/Yes sync. However, I can't find a way to get my old S Health data on the new S Health app. The ver 2.5 would present a back up restore menu when in the account window. The new 3.0 versions don't seem to have a restore option anywhere --at least I could not find it. I kind of hate to lose my old data --it's not that important, but it helps for reference and comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello,
I am having the same problem with shealth, version 2.5 is not compatible, version 3.1 works great until i reset my phone, then I loose all data, it happened 3 times. So far the only one working is Fitness with Gear, but it is very poor, no weight management, no food, no maps of the exercice, it is really poor. So, I am expecting a new version of shealth for note 3.
About the heart rate, I noticed that during the exercice the precision is not always good, but at the end the average is ok. Let see further with some more experience. meanwhile I will hold the polar retirement.
Come on Samsung, We are expecting an update, our phones are not so old.
Regards
I'll be the first to admit that a large part of my rationale for purchasing the LG G Watch R was gadget lust as opposed to a logical cost/benefit evaluation.
Here's what I've learned:
1) I don't use the notifications nearly as much as I thought. Why? Because honestly it isn't that hard to pull out my phone and look. While the watch interface is cool, it is just too small to "do anything" with as with a small effort I could do that same thing much better on my phone.
2) A large reason I got this was to reduce distraction of looking at my phone while driving. Well again, the problem is, the text is so small and cannot scroll without two hands that it may actually be MORE distracting, not less. Also, I wear glasses to drive. Since I am near-sighted, I cannot see whats on my watch while wearing my glasses. So if I get a notification while driving I need to take off my glasses and take my eyes off the road to look. Hopefully while doing all this I don't hit a school bus full of somebody's babies.
3) Much of the notification work the watch does is already done by my small but powerful bluetooth headset. Text messages read, check. Turn by turn navigation read, check.
Funny thing is that most of the time what I find myself using the watch for is telling the time, temp and battery levels of my devices. Granted I don't go to a lot of meetings so getting texts surreptitiously on my wrist is not a benefit for me while it may be for others.
The #1 drawback (besides the price) of this watch is simply that I have to wear a watch. I have a $6,000 Rolex that I never wear for work because it annoys me when typing. The LG G R has the same issue.
So anyway, if I had to do it all again, would I? No, probably not. What does intrigue me is the new idea of a small curved LCD notification attachment for the wristband of your current mechanical watch. Now that would be useful.
I'm slowly gearing up to sell mine. The novelty has worn off and I really don't wear it as much as I thought I would - it just doesn't DO anything useful aside from having a customizable colorful watchface and showing me notifications, for which I have to take the phone out anyway to respond.
Also, I constantly worry that I'll damage it by hitting or bumping it somewhere, and that only stresses me out.
I got it for $210 with tax and shipping when T-Mobile had that 30% off coupon (along with 5% cash back from my Discover card), so I'm going to probably break even since it's in pristine condition.
I bought mine to replace my old Sony Smartwatch2. It's a great device and I found that I cannot live w/o a smartwatch to my wrist. Thanks to this little buddy, I'm barely touching my phone which leads to great battery life. Watch on the wrist, bluetooth handsfree in the ear, phone in the pocket ... no need to touch it unless I have to send a message.
So my answer is YES ... definitely.
Today I will buy it again hands down, in fact if I lost it or break it I will buy another one as soon as I get Internet access. I've had a Smartwatch (meaning a watch connected to your mobile by bluetooth) since 2009 and I can't understand how did I manage to have a mobile phone without these watches before.
Yes, I've worn a wristwatch since I remember, never had a problem typing or anything else, I'm used to it.
I love a vibration in my wrist rather than in my pocket/backpack/table while charging... (I like my mobile making sounds just when I intentionally play that sound)
I love notifications with no vibration or noise as well, it just stays there on my watch waiting for me.
I check temperature, possible rain, wind speed and direction, just with a quick look, I know what to wear faster than before.
I read and archive non-important emails faster than before, I read messages that doesn't need to be replied faster than before.
I can switch my Wi-Fi light in the garden easily while riding my bike when I'm getting close to my house.
I can check my shopping list while shopping, leaving my hands free to grab things and avoiding the risk of my mobile hitting the floor.
I could keep writing reasons for a while more, but you get my point, I love it, I need it and yes, I'll buy it again and again (until there's one better out there for me to buy)
I hope I didn't do too much harm to English language BTW.
Cheers!
Yes, I would buy again. Especially since I got mine for just $210, when T-Mobile had a discount code.
I replaced a Samsung Gear Live. I'm very happy going from square to round. The only thing the Gear Live has over the "R" is that it does not have screen burn in as easily. But I'm change my watch face all the time with my "R", so burn-in has not been an issue for me.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
One of the things which has lessened my enjoyment is that when I walk away from my phone and the Bluetooth disconnects, often it takes forever to reconnect if it does at all. Weird that my $30 bluetooth headset reconnects instantaneously but my $300 smartwatch cannot.
I guess I was hoping for a smarter "smart" watch.
mitchellvii said:
One of the things which has lessened my enjoyment is that when I walk away from my phone and the Bluetooth disconnects, often it takes forever to reconnect if it does at all. Weird that my $30 bluetooth headset reconnects instantaneously but my $300 smartwatch cannot.
I guess I was hoping for a smarter "smart" watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect that would cost much more battery. It's probably just a matter of the polling rate.
I also think it may depend on how long things are away from each other. To me, when I'm away a short period of time it reconnects faster, than when I'm away a longer period of time. So it's possible the polling rate adjust to wait longer when, it seems you'll be away from the phone for a while.
I have never had a case where the "R" failed to reconnect, but sometimes it takes longer than other times.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Darnell_Chat_TN said:
I suspect that would cost much more battery. It's probably just a matter of the polling rate.
I also think it may depend on how long things are away from each other. To me, when I'm away a short period of time it reconnects faster, than when I'm away a longer period of time. So it's possible the polling rate adjust to wait longer when, it seems you'll be away from the phone for a while.
I have never had a case where the "R" failed to reconnect, but sometimes it takes longer than other times.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think battery life has anything to do with it. My tiny Bluetooth headset reconnects instantly and it has 11 hours talk time. I think its just bad engineering. Its unreasonable to expect the user to accept a disconnected smart watch for any more than a millisecond.
You should not compare a bluetooth handsfree with a smartwatch. The protocols used are different as well as the transferred content and amount of data.
And, because the protocols are different, it is also a matter of hot the phone is behaving with the bluetooth pooling of the clients. Don't jump into blaming bad engineering.
Anyway, my watch is reconnecting in a matter of seconds after I get back in the range of the phone (Z1 Compact).
I'm not using my smartwatch all that much simply because I don't get too much notifications
Would I buy it again? Definitely
I have been and would be wearing a regular watch (which was more expensive than the LGWR) anyways and I love the little “extra” I get from a smartwatch
Most importantly, for me the watch is a fashion statement and that’s where the LGWR does an OK job, which makes it feasible to me (looks good and you can’t immediately identify it as a smartwatch). Are there better looking watches out there? yes, but to me the smart is worth it
I would buy again, But i am typically an early adopter of alot of things. I want to run the face full time on but havent yet. Still nervous. Ive had it since released at TMo. Coming from the Pebble Steel, Id like the watch to always be on.
I had a normal Pebble before. I dont want miss this watch anymore. I wont sell it. I knew how the system is before I got it. So I knew what it can do and what it cant do.
Im very pleased.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
I definitely would buy a smartwatch, but not now.
I love my G Watch R, but I think there are a lot of important things the watch still misses, such as NFC, a speaker, and a better version of Android Wear, and as a student, I wouldn't be able to buy another GWR + the next generation.
So I think that, if I lost it or if I broke it, I would probably wait for the next generation, if I'm able to wait.
I think before being a Gadget, the smartwatches are watches, and it has to be bought as a watch.
I use my smartwatch all the time, to read notifications, mails, messages ... But also as a sleep tracker, and even to read my shopping list when I go to the supermarket. I used to read my shopping list with my phone, and I have to admit that it's a lot better with the watch ! It's very usefull to make simple calculs with the calculator app as well.
All these extra things doesn't justify the price, but comparing to the price of a normal watch, it worth it as a watch for sure !
mitchellvii said:
Don't think battery life has anything to do with it. My tiny Bluetooth headset reconnects instantly and it has 11 hours talk time. I think its just bad engineering. Its unreasonable to expect the user to accept a disconnected smart watch for any more than a millisecond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery is the exact issue at hand here. It's your phone thats making the reconnect request, not the watch. The Android Wear app is designed to request a reconnect at certain intervals (I believe it's 16 seconds a couple of times, then 32, 64, 128, then finally topped out at 256). This is used not to destroy your phones battery life. I'm suspecting they designed it this way KNOWING that we will walk away from our phones a lot more often with a watch, as compared to a bluetooth headset.
So, for the record, it's quite the opposite of bad engineering. Maybe in time someone will figure out how to mod the app to change the intervals.
Anyways reading your OP, it sounds like a lot of the issues with this watch are pertaining to personal issues/preference. To each is their own of course, I actually have none of the issues that you describe (besides the longer 128 and 256 reconnect intervals), so I would definately buy this watch again. Works like a dream, a lot better than the Pebble Steel I previously owned and sold. Working in the public safety sector, this watch definitely helps me out.
Yes. I love it. It's great at work in the business world
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Bad user experience means bad engineering, period. You can spin it all day and the result is the same. For whatever reason my $800 bleeding edge phone struggles to connect to my $300 (supposed to be bleeding edge) smartwatch while my $30 Bluetooth headset connects and reconnects instantly.
I mean how much battery life is failing to reconnect in a timely manner saving me and why should I care since my long lived smartwatch won't connect to my phone?
Good intentions don't make good engineering. Good results do and this sucks.
mitchellvii said:
Bad user experience means bad engineering, period. You can spin it all day and the result is the same. For whatever reason my $800 bleeding edge phone struggles to connect to my $300 (supposed to be bleeding edge) smartwatch while my $30 Bluetooth headset connects and reconnects instantly.
I mean how much battery life is failing to reconnect in a timely manner saving me and why should I care since my long lived smartwatch won't connect to my phone?
Good intentions don't make good engineering. Good results do and this sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, I am not trying to "spin" anything. I am not a hardcore fanboy, I am just giving simple facts, and you're entitled to your opinion just as I am with mine. I have no problems with my watch "struggling" to connect to my Nexus 5 AT ALL (regardless of their value), what I do notice is the polling taking awhile to connect if I am away from my phone for any extended period of time. You can say its "bad engineering," or software development all you want, but what they are trying (and succeeding) in doing is preventing the Android Wear and Bluetooth apps from popping up in your battery stats with a large amount of battery usage. There would be a lot of people crying here if the watch was sucking up battery because your phone is trying to connect to your watch in 1 second intervals every time you walk away (and for some people who aren't attached to their phones, this would be a big battery drain).
"Bad" user experience as you put it doesn't always mean poor engineering or software development, it just means there's no better way of doing it at the moment. What would have been smart of them to do is have a setting where you can change the polling rate if the user, like yourself, so wanted. Like I said, if your away from your phone for extended periods of time (like an hour at a time per se), that can actually add up to big battery drain if your phone is trying to send the same packets over and over every second.
@mitchellvii : in your case (yes, I read the other topic too) is a problem generated mostly by the phone, not by the watch. Samsung is known to have software issues and a bloated operating system. More than that, if you are on Lolipop with your Note4 this only adds a new layer of uncertainty, especially coming from Samsung.
Don't blame the engineers because they did their job beautifully. From my point of view, this watch delivers very good results.
Then, there is the other possibility: a faulty unit. Nevertheless, my watch is bought in the same day when it arrived in stock here, in Sweden (so I assume is one of the early units) and I did not had any issues with it.
doubleohseven said:
So, for the record, it's quite the opposite of bad engineering. Maybe in time someone will figure out how to mod the app to change the intervals.
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Click to collapse
completely agree - but it should be user-configurable
xposed would be the way to go (at least for the non-Lollipop users), hopefully someone can come up with something that makes everyone happy
First 24 hours with the G Watch R after returning a Moto 360 and I couldn't be happier. The heart rate monitor works better, battery life much better, and it is working better with Google Fit. Last night, for the first time, Google Fit was able to detect that I was riding my stationary bike when I was working out as opposed to other activities I had logged previously. Sleep monitoring using Sleep As Android resulted in 85% battery left this morning where the 360 would be dead half of the time. I love being able to have the screen always on and get through a full day with battery to spare. I find it more responsive than the 360 and actually prefer the look of it over the 360.
Snagged one online through Verizon and did overnight delivery. So I'm going to give 2 impressions here
1) Appearance
2) Usabality
For for the 1st impression on appearance the watch is exactly what I wanted, I love the silver, I love the roundness, I LOVE LOVE LOVE a true "always on" screen mode, and I like the leather band. I may actually keep the band for awhile before swapping it out with a silver one somewhere. The watch faces are pretty, the resolution is nice, and the overall appearance of elements is colorful and nice.
EDIT: Ok apparently there was even MORE updates after the initial update payload. I did check that I was running 5.1.1 but after about an hour another "system update swipe left to install" appeared. After that update completed I noticed what appeared to be a bunch more apps sync'ing, such as Maps, Keep, notification toggle, etc. FINALLY once all of these completed the watch appears to have returned to normal and is currently running GREAT. Smooth high fps screen transitions, responsive touch control, responsive voice recognition, etc. Make sure you let this watch sit for a good few hours before attempting to do much with it. Google does A LOT to it in the background at first boot.
For the 1st impression of usability the watch is complete garbage. Lots of "android wear stopped responding", lots of "little cloud indicator showing you have disconnected", and LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of LAAAAGGG!! Omg this watch feels borderline beta, completely unstable. Maybe it's because it has only been running for 15 minutes, and maybe it's because it took half an hour to update (I'm guessing Verizon did not ship it with 5.1.1). The thing took forever on first boot, but now that it's running it's just out of control. Totally unresponsive. You'd seriously think something is wrong with it. You tap the screen nothing happens, you tap it again you feel it buzz but nothing happens, you stop tapping and stare at it for 10 seconds and then suddenly 10 things happen. It's as if the watch is just completely clogged up with background CPU tasks that it's playing catchup. Pretty lousy. I'm hoping this will pass after a day of usage or so.
My only gripe right now is that this is really poor form and only furthers the bragging rights Apple users get. My buddy got an Apple Watch and that thing worked beautiful out of the box. Apple knows customers dont want a ****ty first impression and made sure their devices perform amiably the moment it is powered on. Google apparently doesnt give a **** and anyone is allowed to do whatever they want with their brand, such as crippling Android Wear with a clearly untested product launch.
Oh well, only time will tell.
RunNgun42 said:
Snagged one online through Verizon and did overnight delivery. So I'm going to give 2 impressions here
1) Appearance
2) Usabality
For for the 1st impression on appearance the watch is exactly what I wanted, I love the silver, I love the roundness, I LOVE LOVE LOVE a true "always on" screen mode, and I like the leather band. I may actually keep the band for awhile before swapping it out with a silver one somewhere. The watch faces are pretty, the resolution is nice, and the overall appearance of elements is colorful and nice.
For the 1st impression of usability the watch is complete garbage. Lots of "android wear stopped responding", lots of "little cloud indicator showing you have disconnected", and LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of LAAAAGGG!! Omg this watch feels borderline beta, completely unstable. Maybe it's because it has only been running for 15 minutes, and maybe it's because it took half an hour to update (I'm guessing Verizon did not ship it with 5.1.1). The thing took forever on first boot, but now that it's running it's just out of control. Totally unresponsive. You'd seriously think something is wrong with it. You tap the screen nothing happens, you tap it again you feel it buzz but nothing happens, you stop tapping and stare at it for 10 seconds and then suddenly 10 things happen. It's as if the watch is just completely clogged up with background CPU tasks that it's playing catchup. Pretty lousy. I'm hoping this will pass after a day of usage or so.
My only gripe right now is that this is really poor form and only furthers the bragging rights Apple users get. My buddy got an Apple Watch and that thing worked beautiful out of the box. Apple knows customers dont want a ****ty first impression and made sure their devices perform amiably the moment it is powered on. Google apparently doesnt give a **** and anyone is allowed to do whatever they want with their brand, such as crippling Android Wear with a clearly untested product launch.
Oh well, only time will tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using mine for about an hour and have not seen ANY lag. I have also not disconnected from the phone once. my R did it a few times a day. The first boot and connection did take forever, but mine has been working lag free and perfectly the whole time. I know it is early, but maybe you just got a lemon
Pretty much the same experience here. The initial boot and sync process (then subsequent update) take forever, but after that, this thing is butter.
So far, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the leather strap. Maybe it just needs time to be broken in, but I'm already eyeing replacements.
Did I mention this thing is GORGEOUS??
L_E_O said:
Pretty much the same experience here. The initial boot and sync process (then subsequent update) take forever, but after that, this thing is butter.
So far, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the leather strap. Maybe it just needs time to be broken in, but I'm already eyeing replacements.
Did I mention this thing is GORGEOUS??
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Click to collapse
Yes I am the same as you on the strap..... Maybe because it is just so new, it seem to make the watch hover above my wrist
Hello guys, may I ask you how does the watch work when is connected over WiFi? For example are you able to access to your play music library? Or in general are there some unknown tricks? Thanks and good buy
Korean version Vs US version?
Does anyone know if there is a difference between the Korean version that everyone is getting off ebay Vs. The US version say from Google, Verizon, att&t?
AnthonyTex said:
Hello guys, may I ask you how does the watch work when is connected over WiFi? For example are you able to access to your play music library? Or in general are there some unknown tricks? Thanks and good buy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I can tell, the best way to think of the WiFi functionality is "extended bluetooth". It doesn't seem to have any independent WiFI or network functionality. It still has to be talking to the phone, which does have to have some type of connectivity, but the phone doesn't have to be on the same network or on WiFI at all. I turned off both WiFi and BT on the phone, and it could still talk to the watch (through the cell data connection). That added flexibility probably only has a few practical uses, but I absolutely love being able to have the watch and walk more than 20 ft. away while still being connected.
L_E_O said:
As far as I can tell, the best way to think of the WiFi functionality is "extended bluetooth". It doesn't seem to have any independent WiFI or network functionality. It still has to be talking to the phone, which does have to have some type of connectivity, but the phone doesn't have to be on the same network or on WiFI at all. I turned off both WiFi and BT on the phone, and it could still talk to the watch (through the cell data connection). That added flexibility probably only has a few practical uses, but I absolutely love being able to have the watch and walk more than 20 ft. away while still being connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much
Ok I have had it for day and my initial impression of the Urbane is positive completely opposite of the OP, granted the initial set-up can take up-to 20-30 minute, I've also had the system updated to 5.1.1 .
It is fairly responsive far better than moto 360, not much lags and also the battery life is much better you could easily go through 12 hours of heavy usage or 15 hours for moderate usage. It may have the same innards as the G Watch R but I think LG have done a good job making it look more watch like and something that at first glance looks like a normal watch.
My negatives would be that as I have small wrist it is slightly too big and the strap could have been of better quality. I will go far as to say this is currently the best android smartwatch until moto 360 mk II, Huawei watch etc....
Bottom for line for the money I think it is worth it, cant complain.
How is the vibration on the notifications?
I tried a Moto 360 and I could barely tell when it vibrated.
Any chance of a system and boot dump guys?
pbelcomp said:
How is the vibration on the notifications?
I tried a Moto 360 and I could barely tell when it vibrated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vibrations good. I will side with Apple as far as being able to customize vibration intensity.
After mine was completely done with its startup I rebooted it and performance has been fine.
Hated the stock strap but I knew I would going in as I greatly dislike cheap leather straps and I had a nice SS bracelet here ready to be installed when the watch arrived. Tested the stock strap for about 15 seconds and went to the jeweler and had them put on the bracelet instead, better in every way. Honestly 22mm is a very common size and there are straps for every owner of all kinds, don't stick with the stock strap for one minute if you don't like it. You can do much better.
Someone paying attention will realize this is not a normal watch but for the most part I think you will have few people notice the watch, it manages to blend pretty well.
If you don't notice the vibration on this one then it isn't a problem, your corpse will not respond to the notification anyways.
tolust said:
Does anyone know if there is a difference between the Korean version that everyone is getting off ebay Vs. The US version say from Google, Verizon, att&t?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder that either...? If they are all the same I can consider buying from a South Korean seller in Ebay.
were can i purchase it what is this watch is it phone or bluetooth or what it is LG brand.
AnnaCook310 said:
were can i purchase it what is this watch is it phone or bluetooth or what it is LG brand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't understand clearly what you are asking but;
This is a smartwatch for phones running android platform.
It is not a phone. It connects to your phone through bluetooth.
This smartwatch's brand is LG.
You can purchase it from South Korea, USA, UK and some other places as well as from internet, for example from Ebay.
krabman said:
After mine was completely done with its startup I rebooted it and performance has been fine.
Hated the stock strap but I knew I would going in as I greatly dislike cheap leather straps and I had a nice SS bracelet here ready to be installed when the watch arrived. Tested the stock strap for about 15 seconds and went to the jeweler and had them put on the bracelet instead, better in every way. Honestly 22mm is a very common size and there are straps for every owner of all kinds, don't stick with the stock strap for one minute if you don't like it. You can do much better.
Someone paying attention will realize this is not a normal watch but for the most part I think you will have few people notice the watch, it manages to blend pretty well.
If you don't notice the vibration on this one then it isn't a problem, your corpse will not respond to the notification anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have my watch yet, but are you saying the vibration is much stronger than the Moto 360? If so, just that is enough to convince me to buy it! P.S. I have always preferred metal bands too.
I have not tried the 360 so I cant comment on its comparative vibration strength. I can say the vibrate on this one is more than strong enough to get my attention when I'm busy. Alarm vibes will continue until you cancel them at least in the near term, I haven't tried leaving it go and seeing if it stops vibrating after so many minutes. The only time I can see myself actually missing an alarm is if I was quite active but theimplication there is I would probably prefer to attend to the activity I was involved in rather than a notification on my watch.
I'm sorry I cant help more, if this is a very strong point you might consider waiting for the phone to be available for fondling in a retail outlet before purchasing.
I'm coming from a Galaxy Gear S and I have 2 small issues. 1st battery life I'm already down to 27% after 7 hrs of use (gear s after 14hr day would still have 70% left) hopefully this will improve after a few days of use. 2nd I wish the display was larger like the 360. Everything looks a little squished to me.
millerd79 said:
I'm coming from a Galaxy Gear S and I have 2 small issues. 1st battery life I'm already down to 27% after 7 hrs of use (gear s after 14hr day would still have 70% left) hopefully this will improve after a few days of use. 2nd I wish the display was larger like the 360. Everything looks a little squished to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... I'm on day 3 or 4 after a full reset post-update, and I'm only getting about 8-10 hours myself. That's with brightness set at 2 and "Always On" screen turned off. Not sure what the culprit is, but I'm going to try one more full reset and resync.
Intro
I'm a big fan of smart watches in general; the Gear Fit (GF) was my first true smart watch type device. I've owned a few Android wear watches as well including the LG G Watch, LG Urbane, and Huawei Watch. I really liked the idea of Android Wear it just lacked a lot of benefits for the price. Now, with Samsungs re-emergence into the fitness tracker world I'm hoping for a much improved product. I realized that what I really wanted was a solid fitness tracker with a nice screen, and dedicated GPS; unfortunately none existed until I read about the least fir the Gear Fit 2 (GF2). I'm excited to bring everyone my views as a long time smartwatch and fitness band user (also tried to the Fitbit and xiamoi mi band), so stay tuned for my review today.
Overview:
Samsung made a great looking device this year for people that want less of a smart watch, and more of a fitness band that doesn't look hideous. The Gear Fit 2 (GF2) is very light given how sizable it is compared to the first generation Samsung made. Samsung carried over their seamless band design used in the Gear S2 which is nothing short of fantastic looking. My GF2 does have a small defect on one side where the band meets the frame, but that is not characteristic of all GF2’s, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Unboxing Video
What’s in the box:
Samsung Gear Fit 2
Charging cradle
Documentation
Note: There is no wall adapter included in the box, so you can use any adapter from a reputable brand of course to charge the GF2.
Charging Cradle:
Band Removal & HR Sensor
Sizing and Fitment:
I originally purchased the large band size given how my wrists are 6.5in as I measured via a body tape measure. I found the large to be way too big overall; I had to use the second to last notch inward for it to even remotely not slide around my wrists. Now, if you look at Samsung’s sizing information that I took from their website below, you will see how that might be slightly off what most people would expect like myself. With the small size GF2, I have the band somewhere in the middle in terms of the notches. Since you want the GF2 to read your HR accurately (we can only hope), I would ensure that you can make it slightly tighter if you want to just in case it cannot read your HR correctly. I feel that Samsung made the device itself nearly the perfect size for the average person like myself. For reference I am 5’8” and weight 142lbs, and active daily.
Wrist Measurement:
Large 155-210mm (6.1-8.26in)
Small 125-170mm (4.9- 6.69in)
Build and Design:
Samsung opted to make their GF2 out of anodized aluminum (from the feel and my understanding after checking), which is a big step up from the plastic faux chrome Gear Fit (GF) that was released back in 2014. I really enjoyed all of my Android Wear watches, but I felt something was missing from them to make the purchase feel less like you’re buying a $3-400 notification machine. My Huawei Watch was a beautiful amalgamation of stainless steel, sapphire and modern design, but it couldn’t deliver the extra functionality to justify its price which is why I sold mine after 9 months. If you have very small wrists like my wife, the GF2 will look very strange, and most likely be uncomfortable for daily use (as my wife said). The band is made out of a elastomer type material that is both soft, durable and flexible, plus it is easily changed via Samsung’s proprietary connectors that are also used on the Gear S2. On the right hand side of the display you will find a set of buttons. Each button serves a different purpose, but unfortunately Samsung did not texture the power button like most companies do for phones. The smaller button is used for powering on/off the device, and can be programmed to do different things via quick double press while the bigger button’s main function is to go back.
On the front you will of course find a Super AMOLED panel curved to perfection and wrapped in Gorilla Glass 3 (too bad they didn’t use GG4) that bursts with the vivid colors, deep blacks and other great things you expect from Samsung. I am a huge AMOLED fan, in fact I don’t think I could use another phone (HTC 10 included) that uses a non AMOLED display because they are simply stunning to look at in any light. As for the brightness, you can see it in direct sunlight, but the brightness needs to be manually adjusted since there is no light sensor to be found. There are 10 conventional brightness levels, and 1 (level 11) that is only intended for outdoor usage as the popup notification states when you adjust it that high.
Buttons & Body
Software and Apps:
First, for those of you that don’t already know this device runs Samsung’s own OS called Tizen. This was done because the OS itself is more efficient for wearables than Android which seems to remain true still. My Android Wear watches had batteries 1.5-2x bigger and didn’t last as long as this is supposed to. Since I just got my Gear Fit today (6/10/2016), I cannot speak for how long it will last fully just yet, but my original gear fit lasted 7 days. Granted the original gear fit didn’t have automatic activity tracking, GPS, or HR monitor while working out; I would expect the GF2 to last 1.5-2 days with my usage. I will conduct a full drain test and post daily updates below with notes about what I did that day, brightness level(s) used, GPS on/off etc. (see Battery life test below)
The Gear Fit 2 is compatible with all Android devices running Android 4.4 Kitkat and above which is a good start for Samsung. I am glad they added support for non-Samsung phones because that’s why I stopped using my original Gear Fit. Everything can be managed from the Gear Fit 2 itself, but you need to first set it up on a phone before using standalone mode. Music is also transferred directly to the GF2 via the gear manager like many tasks. There is a little over 2GB free for music and other things which isn’t a huge amount; I wasn’t expecting a lot of storage anyway for music, so while 2GB isn’t ideal it is still enough for some workout music. When I installed the Gear Manager app on my Nexus 6P, the app prompted me to download 2 additional apps for the GF2 to work. I was not a big fan of being forced to install more apps just to use it on my non-Samsung phone, but the apps are not intrusive like some of Samsung’s other apps, so at least it’s not all bad. I haven’t experienced any issues using the GF2 via my Nexus 6P, but you do need to also download S Health if you want to sync your fitness activities. There is no Google Fit integration that I have seen, so I hope Samsung adds it in at some point because Google Fit is more streamlined. S Health does offer some things that Google Fit does not such as sleep tracking via the GF2, yet that isn’t a deal breaker for me.
I tested the GPS lock which seems to be nearly instant, and accurate as far as I could tell. The GPS location icon will blink during activities when you have it enabled (see my software hands on video) making it easy to know whether or not it’s on or off. For notifications you will get a nice little “buzz” which is very noticeable compared to my Huawei Watch and hard to not feel due to how close the fit is strapped to your wrist. On the ‘watch face’ you can also enable a notification icon which is a little yellow dot (on my current face) in the upper left hand corner that lets you know there’s a notification waiting for you.
Currently there are only a handful of 3rd party apps including Spotify, and some watch faces for the GF2. I really hope Samsung gets other developers onboard to make more useful apps for the GF2 like one for your loyalty cards (Starbucks, grocery stores etc) because it really helps out when you need to quickly scan a card. This isn’t a huge deal, but rather it’s something that I miss from my Android Wear watches.
On the software side there are a ton of things to discuss, so I tried to briefly cover what I felt was relevant; however, if anyone has specific questions please feel free to let me know below. I will try to answer all of the questions that I can in a timely manner.
Update [6/12]: As @Sher The Love pointed out there are some small ways Tizen operations on the GF2 that might bother people.
First:
There is no way to have a split view of your distance and speed while tracking activities, or any combination of that data besides the stock (speed, distance, time vs HR), or HR with time.
Second:
While the GF2 does post weather data when you record an activity there is no native app for it on the GF2 itself. There is a way to view weather via some of the 'watch faces', but that isn't always ideal for everyone.
Third:
Samsung only has an option to clear all notifications or none at all; this means you cannot swipe a single one away like you would expect. Now that I've spent more time with the device I can say this is a little annoying, yet at the same time I like clearing all of them at once is nice most of the time.
Lastly:
If you are out of Bluetooth range notifications can be pushed from your phone to the GF2 over WiFi just like an Android Wear watch can. This is a great feature to have, and gives the GF2 more of a smartwatch like ability to go alongside the fitness tracking.
Some of you asked about the constant HRM during workouts, and its accuracy. I wanted to post some screenshots from my HRM throughout the day (today), and data for a short walk I did yesterday which also used GPS for the speed data.
Workout HRM Log Sample
Software Overview Video
Update 6/17
A more in-depth look at the software and hardware:
In-depth Look Part 1
In-depth Look Part 2
In-depth Look Part 3
Gear Manager App:
Gear Manager & S Health App Overview
Music Transfer:
Installed Apps (for non-Samsung phones)
View while tracking an activity:
Activity tracking on the device with GPS map
Battery life test:
I am going to charge my device to 100%, then proceed to wear it without charging until it dies. My settings for the test are as follows (unless otherwise noted)
-GPS: on for activity tracking (only when you start activities)
-Brightness level 5
-Ambient always on mode: Off
-WiFi: Off
-Tilt to wake: Off
-Auto HR monitoring periodically throughout the day
-Sleep tracking
App Notifications: On for about 12 apps (this isn’t a huge amount if you consider how many apps give you notifications daily)
I will add an update 24 hours from the time I post this showing the battery %, and detailing my daily usage.
Day 1 Battery (Start time 2350 6/10):
The sleep tracking isn't accurate, at least not during the first night from what I've seen. I went to bed around 0030, and woke up at 0630. The Gear Fit 2 reported that I went to sleep at 0400 and woke up at 0630 which is only partially accurate.
From 2350 on 6/10 to 0830 6/11 the Gear Fit 2 only drained 4% total which is really good for being idle given it's small battery. I will add more updates about today's usage as I use it today.
Daylight display test while on a walk
Day 1 Battery ~23 hours later
It is now 2237 as I'm typing this, and the battery on my GF2 is sitting at 68%. I used GPS to track a 45 minute walk, and had all of the above things enabled as I mentioned. I also brief had the brightness at 11 for a minute or two so I could show the screen outside for a video. I also had the brightness down to 1 for another video so keep that in mind because both of those could potentially impact battery life. As of right now it looks like the GF2 should last a full 2 days (48 hours), or slightly more using GPS. I will report back with the battery % tomorrow morning when I wake up.
Day 2 Battery
I woke up this morning and the battery drained ~8% overnight since I last checked it. I expect to make it through todsy but possibly not all of tomorrow depending on how much the GPS drains it during activities. I also wanted to point out how the sleep recognition is not accurate after 2 days of checking it; I hope this issue gets addressed in a future update.
Day 2 Battery end of day update
I didn't do any real exercising today as I had initially planned, so I wasn't able to use the GPS aside from when it would track my walking throughout the day. My battery is not at 39% after 48 hours off the charger; it has been on my wrist the whole time aside from when I took showers (I know it's IP68 rated, but I don't want to intentionally expose it to water).
Today I had the automatic WiFi enabled, along with all of the initially mentioned conditions outline in the test. I don't expect to make it through the whole day tomorrow, so I will update the battery test tomorrow morning when I wake up.
Day 3 Battery morning update
The battery drained 8% overnight which put me down to 30% when I woke up. The sleep tracking was slightly better tonight than the previous two nights; it actually came withing 15 minutes of when I went to bed and woke up which is a lot better than before.
I went on a 50 minute walk this morning with my wife; the GPS was on the whole time, and I ensured my phones Bluetooth was off so it would use the GF2's GPS not the one on my phone. The battery started at 28% and ended at 19% during that 50 minute interval which is more realistic than the 4% I saw during a similar period. As of right now I decided to turn the battery draining tilt-to-wake function on to see how big of an effect it has on your battery life. During the past 2 hours it has taken a 5% hit on my battery which is significant compared to how little the GPS drains relative to what both functions are doing. I don't expect to make it through the whole day, so I will post another update when it does die here in the new few hours if I had to guess since I'm using the tilt-to-wake. I enabled that to show people the high drain it causes, and so you can see how it impacts your daily use of the GF2. I hope everyone is enjoying reading about these results; stay tuned for more updates! :laugh:
Day 3 Battery Final update
I went on yet another walk with 9% battery, tilt-to-wake on, GPS on, and brightness level 6. I successfully tracked the entire 72 minute walk with my GF2 dying minutes after I got home; I couldn't have predicted, nor asked for something that perfect, but hey it all worked out!
I am more than happy with the battery life of the new GF2 given its GPS, smaller battery than the original (10mAh smaller), and constant HRM during workouts. The total battery life with my normal usage as described each day was 66 hours; that is better than most if not all Android Wear watches doing the same thing, and a fair amount of fitness trackers that have similar abilities and screens (Microsoft band).
Battery Update 6/17
After giving the GF2 another full cycle I managed to get a solid 3 days of use out of it as opposed to the 2.75 I got before. I turned power saving mode on when my battery hit 10% around 1500 (3pm), and it's now 2310 and my battery is at 7%. Power saving mode does limit the device substantially, but it just goes to show you how big of a difference it can make while still counting your steps. I might get closer to 80 hours of use at this point, so anyone that doesn't use HRM, or GPS should be able to hopefully get 4 days of battery life; if anyone does I would like to know what your set up is/was, so I can post about it here.
I hope this battery test will help everyone out, and give them a good ideal of what to expect with their GF2 based on normal to heavy usage tracking activities.
Summary:
I really like what Samsung has done with this year’s Gear Fit 2; all of the right boxes are checked as far as features, design and build quality go. I wouldn’t change more than a small thing or two personally, so if you want a fitness tracker that has a fair amount of smart watch features I don’t think the GF2 will disappoint you. While there are a limited number of useful 3rd party apps currently, I hope that changes in the future to make things better along with Google Fit integration. The SAMOLED display is nothing short of pure greatness, and the seamless flowing of the screen to band really makes this device stand out.
Wrong forum man
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Brava27 said:
Wrong forum man
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is technically a S7 Edge accessory, therefore I am posting it here unless mods feel that it would be better suited elsewhere. The Gear VR is also a S7 Edge accessory and it's discussed here too. There is no dedicated Gear Fit 2 forum like there was for the original Gear Fit which is another reason I posted it here. I'm open having it moved elsewhere; I figured people that also own the S7 Edge would appreciate seeing this since it relates to the phone.
Unboxing video added
OP Updated:
-Full review posted
-Battery life tested detailed, daily updates for it coming
-Additional video added
Hey, still going through everything. Busy night at work. Middle of watching the walkthrough. I see it has wifi?? Has no idea. Is this like wear where if you step away too far from your phone, wifi will connect and maintain the connection between the watch and phone for notifications?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app
tu3218 said:
Hey, still going through everything. Busy night at work. Middle of watching the walkthrough. I see it has wifi?? Has no idea. Is this like wear where if you step away too far from your phone, wifi will connect and maintain the connection between the watch and phone for notifications?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app
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Click to collapse
It does have WiFi, although I haven't played with it enough to see how it works just yet. I will test that out, and or look into it's purpose. I think it would be nice if the GF2 worked like you mentioned which is how AW watches do it when you move far enough way from your phone. I should have an answer for you later today (since its Saturday now), but if for some reason I forget to update you about that drop me a message/post quote/mention.
Edit: it will scan for networks while disconnected from your phone which might imply notifications will also go over wifi. Here's what it says when you turn wifi on:
https://goo.gl/photos/vCeUZ237XYpSTsFY6
Pilz said:
It does have WiFi, although I haven't played with it enough to see how it works just yet. I will test that out, and or look into it's purpose. I think it would be nice if the GF2 worked like you mentioned which is how AW watches do it when you move far enough way from your phone. I should have an answer for you later today (since its Saturday now), but if for some reason I forget to update you about that drop me a message/post quote/mention.
Edit: it will scan for networks while disconnected from your phone which might imply notifications will also go over wifi. Here's what it says when you turn wifi on:
https://goo.gl/photos/vCeUZ237XYpSTsFY6
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Click to collapse
Yeah certainly sounds like it will do just that. Try to connect to wifi when Bluetooth is disconnected. That's a big feature that no other strictly fitness trackers don't have.
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tu3218 said:
Yeah certainly sounds like it will do just that. Try to connect to wifi when Bluetooth is disconnected. That's a big feature that no other strictly fitness trackers don't have.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app
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I will test it out today for you when I get a chance; hopefully it works just like that.
I will add another short video showing how the Gear Manager app works, and some of the other features present on the Gear Fit 2.
Great review! Super thorough!
I will be getting one I for Father's Day and am very excited!
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
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How does the GF2 screen compare to the S2?
Is it sharper or brighter in the sun?
YankInDaSouth said:
Great review! Super thorough!
I will be getting one I for Father's Day and am very excited!
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Glad to hear, that; let us know how you like it!
Bajanman said:
Thread cleaned.
May I remind you guys of the rules and especially the one below...
2.3 Flaming / Lack of respect: XDA is about sharing and this does not involve virtual yelling (flaming) or rudeness. Flaming or posting with a lack of respect is unacceptable. Treat new members in the manner in which you would like to have been treated when you were a new member. When dealing with any member, provide them with guidance, advice and instructions when you can, showing them respect and courtesy. Never post in a demanding, argumentative, disrespectful or self-righteous manner.
Regards,
Bajanman
Forum Moderator
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Thank you for cleaning things up
usb7 said:
How does the GF2 screen compare to the S2?
Is it sharper or brighter in the sun?
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Click to collapse
I don't own a gear S2, so I cannot speak to its outdoor performance. The gear fit is visible in the sun if you crank the brightness up to 10 or 11;(11 is specifically for bright sunlight as it says), but since there is no ambient light sensor you need to manually adjust it for outside.
Pilz said:
Thank you for cleaning things up
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You're very welcome.
I'll be sticking around for the time being to do some lurking...[emoji102] [emoji102] [emoji41]
I added a video under the battery test showing how the display looks in moderate to bright daylight while tracking an activity.
I also would like to know about the WiFi notification possibility.
blitzzin said:
I also would like to know about the WiFi notification possibility.
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Click to collapse
I disconnected my GF2 from bluetooth, connected it to my WiFi, and emailed myself to see if anything was pushed to the GF2. To my disappointment nothing popped up, on the GF2, but I might be doing something wrong. I'm going to play around with the WiFi some more and I will hopefully have a more definitive answer for you tomorrow.
OP Updated:
-Battery life test day 1 data added
-Activity tracking video added
-Gear Manager, S Health overview video added
-Daylight brightness test video added
Pilz said:
I disconnected my GF2 from bluetooth, connected it to my WiFi, and emailed myself to see if anything was pushed to the GF2. To my disappointment nothing popped up, on the GF2, but I might be doing something wrong. I'm going to play around with the WiFi some more and I will hopefully have a more definitive answer for you tomorrow.
OP Updated:
-Battery life test day 1 data added
-Activity tracking video added
-Gear Manager, S Health overview video added
-Daylight brightness test video added
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long do you estimate the battery would last with GPS active while not using Bluetooth streaming? I'm trying to see how long of run someone could go on with GPS. Thanks.
Sher The Love said:
How long do you estimate the battery would last with GPS active while not using Bluetooth streaming? I'm trying to see how long of run someone could go on with GPS. Thanks.
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I had mine connect to my phone via Bluetooth not streaming anything and it only went down 4% in 45 minutes which seems abnormally low. I think the drain should have been much higher, so I will have to let you know tomorrow when I can further verify the battery drain during usage.
If I had to estimate a time using only GPS based on what I've seen now I would say 8 hours, but I doubt it's that high unless Samsung worked some magic with it.
Pilz said:
I had mine connect to my phone via Bluetooth not streaming anything and it only went down 4% in 45 minutes which seems abnormally low. I think the drain should have been much higher, so I will have to let you know tomorrow when I can further verify the battery drain during usage.
If I had to estimate a time using only GPS based on what I've seen now I would say 8 hours, but I doubt it's that high unless Samsung worked some magic with it.
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Thanks. 4% does seem abnormally low for that. 8 hours would be great though. Keep us updated
Sher The Love said:
Thanks. 4% does seem abnormally low for that. 8 hours would be great though. Keep us updated
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I was shocked to see that when I finished my walk, but until proven otherwise tomorrow that's what it showed. I even went as far as to disconnect my GF2 from Bluetooth to ensure it was using its gos and not my phones. When I use it tomorrow I expect to see 10-20% GPS drain per hour given its small battery. I'll keep everything up to date as I get time throughout the dsy