Samsung Latest Smart Watch the Gear S3

Samsung Gear 2 was one of the remarkable smart watch and now at IFA Gear S3 was announced.  There are two variants of the S3, the Classic and Frontier are gorgeous Swiss-inspired watches. Both the watches precisely the same feature-set as there’s a 4G-enabled variant of the Frontier, but that won’t be coming to Australia  so the difference only comes down to taste. Here are some of the best features of these watches

It is a Classic Swiss Watch

Samsung after consulting with Swiss watchmakers and a watch designer named Yvan Arpa crafted two exquisite smartwatches that aim to look just like analog Swiss watches. Both these watches are elegant in style and design giving a masculine feel and look.

Gear S3 is made for men only

The new Gear S3 watches look more classic than the futuristic-looking Gear S2. Also both the watches are larger than the original Gear S2 Classic with 46mm diameters. They’re also thicker and sport traditional-looking watch bezels with an index. The larger size suit best to people who like bigger, chunky watches. As the design is masculine, especially when you compare it to the Gear S2 Classic, which could go either way depending on which metal finish and band you chose.

The Steel make and Features of the Watches

The Frontier’s index is numbered like the dial on most outdoors watches, and the Classic uses hash marks. Both Gear S3 watches have stainless steel cases that are waterproof up to 5 meters for 30 minutes, thanks to an IP68 rating. The steel of the Frontier is coated with a dark color, while the Classic comes in a sleek, shinier machined silvery steel finish.

Both watches have two buttons and a rotating bezel, just like last year’s Gear S2 watches, and they look different on each model. The Frontier has flat buttons that are flush with the watch’s casing, while the Classic has more classic buttons that stick out like the crown on analog watches.

You can use any 22mm strap with the two Gear S3 watches, though Samsung will also sell its own straps.

Inside that attractive steel casing is an incredibly powerful smartwatch, though you wouldn’t even know that it’s not a normal analog watch just by looking at it. Samsung included its Always-On display technology on the Gear S3 line this year, so now the watch face is always visible in full color. It doesn’t look as bright or pixely when it’s at rest, so it ends up looking like a normal watch with a cool face.

You can download Watch Faces

Samsung now lets you download watch faces directly on the watch, so you don’t have to choose new ones on your phone anymore. The company has a number of new watch faces, some of which take advantage of new outdoorsy features and others that focus on replicating classic Swiss watch faces. Samsung also partnered with an artist by the name of Arik Levy to design watch faces that correspond to specific watchstraps.

Offers Slick Software and Widgets

The smartwatch uses the same innovative, circular Tizen-based interface as the Gear S2, and you use the same rotating bezel for navigation.

Twist the bezel right, and you’ll see a number of widgets, which give you lightning quick access to your favorite apps. You can also view your step count, control your music, or call an Uber cab right from the widgets. It’s the ability to take quick action that makes the interface so clever. Samsung opened up a Software Development Kit (SDK) to app makers, so that there will be more widgets available when the Gear S3 launches.

If you twist the bezel left, you’ll conjure up a list of all your apps. You simply rotate the bezel until you hit the app you’re looking for. Finding good apps is a challenge on any smartwatch. Most of them are useless, even though there are thousands in the app store.

Samsung has been working with app developers to up the app count for its watches and to make them more useful. The company currently offers around 9,000 apps for its circular smartwatches, and that number should grow to 10,000 by the Gear S3’s launch date.

Listen to Gear S3 Spotify Music

Spotify partnered up with Samsung to bring music streaming to the Gear S3, a feature that debuted on the Gear Fit 2. Since most people don’t actually buy digital music anymore, it’s great to have the most popular streaming service onboard. At this point in time, you cannot download Spotify music to your watch. No internet connection means no music. Same goes for iHeartRadio, which also has a new app for the Gear S3. However, you can add songs to the 4GB of storage onboard the watch if you have any.

Enjoy Outdoor Apps

Other app allows you to control smart home products like Nest with your watch. That way, you can adjust the thermostat without reaching for your phone. If you’re worried about your home security, there’s also an ADT app, which will connect you with call centers nationwide in case of an emergency. Additionally, when you triple press the back button, you’ll trigger an SOS alert to your emergency contact. The Gear S3 Frontier will come with activity and outdoorsy apps pre-loaded, since it’s geared towards active folks.

Battery life, Samsung Pay Specifications

Samsung says the battery should last 3 to 4 days on a charge, thanks to the 380mAh battery inside the device. The battery is nearly double the size of the 250-300mAh in the Gear S2 watches and there’s a power saving mode that kicks in when the watch hits 15 percent battery, which cuts down on some functions to ensure that it lasts long enough for you to make it to the charger. After that, there’s a watch-only mode that shows you the time for a full day before the battery finally evaporates. So here the thing is that you’ll always know the time.

Samsung has packed an MST coil inside the Gear S3 to enable the full power of Samsung Pay on the smartwatch. Although you could tap to pay using NFC on the Gear S2, you couldn’t use it with Samsung Pay’s MST technology, which works on the vast majority of payment terminals that accept mag-stripe cards.

In terms of connectivity, the Gear S3 Frontier will be available in both Wi-F-only and LTE-enabled models. That way, you can take the Frontier out for a hike and leave your phone behind. You can, of course, accept calls on the watch, just like you would on a phone. The Gear S3 Classic does not come with LTE, so you’re stuck with Wi-Fi only. All the other specifications are the same, and both Gear S3 models offer stand-alone GPS for navigation.

It is said that it will be launched before Christmas in Australia with a price tag as yet unconfirmed but likely within the Gear S2’s $499 range, the Gear S3 is sure to have some tough competition.

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