Samsung Gear 3 is Still Just a Timepiece

The Great

• Big Bold Design
• Always-on display
• Decent Activity Tracking
• Built-in LTE
• Samsung Pay
• OLED display is bright and crisp

The Not

• Poor Gps tracking
• Lacking compatible app
• Missing intuitive functions

The Conclusion

This is an average looking watch and a lack luster smartwatch. While Samsung tried to squeeze a lot into the new Gear S3 its really just not enough.

More Gear from Samsung

For the Gear S3, Samsung has decided to offer up two designs. There’s the more rugged Frontier for outdoor types, and the Classic, which aims to be the more luxurious option of the two. Both still run on Samsung’s own Tizen operating system and that rotating bezel makes a welcome return. It can be pair with all samsung and most android smartphones, even and iPhone with reduced functionality. With the LTE model of the Gear S3, you can leave your phone behind and still have complete functionality on the watch. Note: LTE is only avilable on the Frontier model.  The call quality is surprisingly decent if you turn the volume up to the highest level. It’s still weird talking to someone on your watch, but it can be handy sometimes. You can also use it to listen to music, but get some Bluetooth headphones, its not enjoyable from the watch speaker

Not for the Weak Wristed

the Gear S3 is a big smartwatch, its a heavy watch, and its beastly.  Its hulking 46mm frame makes it most certainly a more mans man’s watch. It’s also noticeably heavier and thicker as well, probably to house the additional sensors and a larger battery. The Frontier rocks a more  rugged look, with a knurled, rotating bezel, a chunky stainless-steel body design and IP68 certified water resistant.

The Interface

The Gear S3 runs Tizen, it’s very easily laid out to make the most functionality of the spinning bezel. The highlight that makes the Gear smartwatches unique is the innovative rotating bezel. Crank it clockwise and you’ll get all of your notifications in one place. Spin it the opposite direction to breeze through the widgets you’ve added. The default set up includes thee current weather, favorite contacts, calories burned and what’s up on your calendar. Sadly that is all there is to the Gear S3’s interface.

The Apps or Lack of Apps

According to Samsung, there’s something like 10,000 apps in the Tizen Store, but just a fraction of those are tuned for the Gear’s small display.  Whats worse it that most of them are not wort using to begin with. Its as if no developers consider creating apps with Tizen in mind.

The Final Thought

All in all the Gear doesn’t excite me as much as I’d have hoped. Though it has a very intuitive interface, complete with a rotating bezel for navigation, many parts of the experience still need more engineering attention, whether that’s the dreadfully useless selection of apps or the irritatingly malfunctions of  S Voice digital assistant. In the p rophetic words of american Idols Randy Jackson, This is gonna be a hard no for me dawg.