Samsung Gear Sport presented: the ultimate all-rounder?
Samsung used the IFA again this year to present its portfolio at the Gear Proproducts. In addition to the Gear Fit 2 Pro and the Gear Icon X 2018, which will also be followed by an article, Samsung has also presented the successor to the Gear S3 watches. You can read all about the new watch here.
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Housing: Similar to last year
Like its predecessor, the Gear Sport is made of stainless steel in a black color. New this year is that you can dive up to 50m deep with the watch. And that even with salt water. There is also a 1,2-inch AMOLED touchscreen with the bezel for operating the watch. The display has also shrunk by 0,1 inches, which leads to a higher ppi number with the same resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. There is of course also a brightness sensor. On the right side there are finally two buttons for navigating through the UI.
Specs
In the new smartwatch from Samsung has a dual core Proprocessor installed. I haven't been able to find out exactly which one it is, I'll add this info below. Music can be stored on the 4GB internal memory. From this year it is also possible to save the music with Spotify. No other watch can do that. 768MB RAM is available for app management. An accelerometer, a gyroscope, a barometer, a heartbeat sensor and GPS were installed as sensors. The latter even allows you to leave your smartphone at home during a workout. Bluetooth, WLAN and NFC are then also in the watch.
Bracelets: Almost like Apple
Samsung has massively expanded its range of bracelets. This means that there are now nylon straps in addition to silicone straps in several colors. Mixtures of both materials will also be available. In the end, you come up with about twenty-four combinations.
Software
Operating system: well-known
Samsung is once again installing its own Tizen OS on its smartwatch this year. It's built in the same way again, so you don't have to expect anything new here. This also means that the typical smartwatch features are also integrated again with Samsung.
S Health
The S Health app from Samsung is used again for the fitness features. Of course you can use it to track your sports and see the results afterwards. The recording is done directly from the watch, but also from the smartphone. You can also use a widget in the watch's operating system to see the liquid you have taken protocollate What the watch can also do is recognize and automatically track the type of sport currently being practiced. That can be really useful.
Conclusion
The name "Gear Sport" is partly inappropriate. The watch is very fitness-oriented, but because of the minor improvements, from my point of view not a watch that deserves a completely new name. Still, that doesn't mean you should forget about this watch right away because it might be boring. On the contrary. If you like smartwatches, you should definitely check out this watch.
The Samsung Gear Sport will hit the markets in October 2017 at an RRP of € 349.