Samsung Gear Sport review: For the love of fitness

Soon before IFA 2017, Samsung announced the Gear Sport, its latest smartwatch. The Gear Sport isn't exactly a successor to the Gear S3, but a cross betwixt the Gear S3 Classic and the Gear S3 Frontier, with Samsung focusing on fitness to a higher degree this fourth dimension around. We've had the hazard to use the Gear Sport for a few weeks, and in this review, we'll take a wait at whether the Gear Sport is a good smartwatch for active and daily use.

Gear Sport review: Design

Samsung sent us a blue Gear Sport, and correct out of the box, what stood was that the Gear Sport uses the bezel band from the Gear S3 Archetype and the buttons from the Gear S3 Frontier. I personally like the Gear Sport, simply I would beloved it more if it looked similar a smaller version of the Gear S3 Borderland, given the focus on fitness and how the Borderland version was more than sporty.

What does assist in that regard is the size of the Gear Sport. It's almost the same size equally the Gear S2; information technology's not bulky and, therefore, first-class for those frantic bouts of activity, and information technology looks better on small wrists compared to the Gear S3 from terminal year. Samsung has also improved the accuracy of the heart rate sensor simply by having it beetle past ane mm compared to the rest of the body. This doesn't mean you lot will feel the sensor on your skin while you're wearing the watch, but it should permit for more authentic heart charge per unit monitoring.

Out of the box, the Gear Sport comes attached with a big ring, with a smaller 1 for those with minor wrists included as an add-on. You can use any sentry band just like you could with the Gear S3, as Samsung is using a standard 20 mm ring. All the same, I'm not downwardly with the fact that the Gear Sport doesn't come with a speaker (or a variant with LTE connectivity). The Gear S3 had ane, and information technology's disappointing to run across such a useful feature was removed.

Now, well-nigh that blue color. Well, colour preferences are a subjective matter, and what works for you might not work for others. But to me, the blue variant isn't a slap-up expect for men, and rose gold would be a better fit for the ladies. There's a black variant of the Sport also, simply that's about it, significant color options are quite limited, at least for now.

Display

The Gear Sport features a circular 1.2-inch (30.two mm) Super AMOLED display, the same size as the Gear S2'due south. With a resolution of 360×360 pixels, it's not "Retina" precipitous, just that doesn't mean it detracts from the feel. The brandish looks great both indoors and outdoors, and the only upshot here is that the display is rather pocket-sized. This might non sit well with some users, simply then again, that bezel ring continues to be very useful and reduces the need to apply the touchscreen for getting around. The more portable form cistron ways the smaller screen size was a necessary sacrifice, and overall, in that location's nix to complain nigh when information technology comes to the Gear Sport's display.

Interface

Like whatever other modern Samsung smartwatch, the Gear Sport runs on the company's Tizen Os, version 3.0 to be specific. To put it only, Tizen is the best smartwatch Bone right now. Information technology'due south easy and fun to use (thanks to that bezel ring) and looks rather sophisticated. Tizen 3.0 as well comes with a few new features, including the choice to wake the lookout upwardly with the bezel ring, better previews when browsing watch faces, and a Picket only mode, which lets you extend battery life (up to xx days and more!) by disabling all features and making the watch but show the fourth dimension. To know more about the new features on Tizen 3.0, bank check out this postal service.

Samsung Health

It's been made abundantly clear that the Gear Sport is a smartwatch focused on fitness and sporty endeavors and comes installed with Samsung'south Health app. There's support for tracking quite a few exercises: running, walking, cycling, squats, pilates, yoga, star jumps, lunges, and more. I tried the Gear Sport with a few exercises during the test flow, and overall, the tracking seems to be pretty accurate. I just don't like it that weight grooming exercises aren't supported, though Samsung tin can add those with a software update in the hereafter.

You also get slumber and heart rate tracking, but the headline characteristic is that you tin take the Gear Sport for a swim. Samsung tells u.s. the Gear Sport has "a h2o resistance of fifty meters under the ISO standard 22810:2010." Co-ordinate to the visitor, it'south not suited to diving or high-pressure water activities. That is to say information technology'due south meant to exist used for your regular swi, but it's still a characteristic that separates the Gear Sport from the pack.

For tracking your swimming activity, Samsung has paired up with Speedo, a maker of swimming accessories. Of course, you can also download new apps from the Galaxy Apps store, although the quality of those apps still leaves something to be desired every bit Tizen isn't too popular with developers. Thankfully, battery life remains a major highlight compared to Samsung'south competition. Tizen smartwatches have always lasted long, and the Gear Sport manages to final around ii days on a total charge with its 300 mAh battery.

Conclusion

The Gear Sport is a good follow-upwardly to the Gear S2 Sport, but it doesn't experience like a next-generation device compared to the Gear S3. Non having a speaker (or LTE connectivity) and not having MST support (meaning you can't apply it for payments via Samsung Pay on non-NFC terminals) feel similar downgrades. You tin can have the Sport for a swim, merely that'southward not plenty to justify spending my hard-earned money.

The Tizen user interface for watches and its battery life go on to exist skillful, but the same can't exist said about the number of bachelor apps on the Milky way Apps store. Samsung isn't investing enough into the Tizen platform to make the available apps as refined every bit it should be, and that's a shame. Not that Samsung tin fifty-fifty do anything unless developers go interested, which is also tough given how Tizen isn't as popular every bit Apple or Google'south operating systems.

So, is the Gear Sport worth buying? Well, it sure is if you don't have a smartwatch and are into fettle and activity, but non otherwise. It's not like the Gear Sport isn't proficient for daily use, but equally the latest in Samsung's smartwatch line, information technology just doesn't have that much going for it unless you're a fitness freak.

Pros	Cons
First-class display	App ecosystem even so non great
Can rail pond performance	No built-in speaker or LTE support
Intuitive and fun software	Samsung Pay works simply via NFC
Good battery life	Not a large upgrade over the Gear S3
Better placement of centre charge per unit sensor	Screen size may non exist enough for anybody
Compact size

Source: https://www.sammobile.com/2017/11/20/samsung-gear-sport-review-love-fitness-precedence

Posted by: powersclous1993.blogspot.com

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