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Oh you mean like the iPhone 4S has to be quite a bit bigger to get the same usable space and higher pixel count than the iPhone 3GS? It doesn't work that way. Apple continuously squeezes more and more pixels into the same size display as technology permits. A watch display is no different. At some point it doesn't matter once the pixels reach a certain density.

No one is saying the Apple display isn't beautiful. But the published specs of the Huwei is 286ppi. That's only a difference of 40ppi. Do you really think your eye can see the difference at an average of 10" away from a 1" watch display? The pixel density of the Retina display iPad is 264ppi and that's an absolutely beautiful display that rivals any in the industry. And that's 62ppi difference.

Not sure what you're getting at. What I said is true. Rendered pixels is the screen real estate available to you. At a 2X scaling, the screen real estate is 1/4 the pixels.

286ppi is good, I'm saying that the Apple watch is the sharpest right now. The iPad comparison is irrelevant because the distance between your eyes and the screen is relative to the screen's size. Meaning your watch requires a higher ppi because it's closer to your eyes than an iPad.
 
Right now Chinese are heavily copying but one day they will start designing its very own nice things. That's not a question, just a matter of time.

I was thinking the new Volvo XC90 is an example of a CHinese company leading design.

But, to further your point, national borders (and racist distinctions) are increasingly becoming less important than innovation clusters and large company cultures and target markets.
 
its one of those things, where somewhere, somepoint in time, on some device someone has used an icon set of some shape.

so, just posting a screenshot to try and imply copying cause of the use of round icons is being purely disingenous or pure fan


Thats not how UI design works.

UI Design doesn't work around PPI, but the opposite. when you design a UI and how things are displayed on the screen you take into account their physical dimensions and plan accordingly.

the PPI and display resolution only impact the quality of that display and how sharp they look.

you don't take a UI from display A and pixel map it 1:1 to a completely different size and resolution display. well you can, but thats when you run into issues like Apple has with changing resolutions on their phones in the iOS6 and earlier days.

so yeah, in the above circle v square discussions, sure, in the Apple square display you get more usable pixels. But, you get less usable space. Since in UI design there is a minimum size / shape that is usable by us due to human limitations.

So back to the image you were trying to knock down, in that particular case, a circular UI would / could offer more display than a square one.

this is whats key. its called "thinking otuside the box". just because we've been limited to square displays historically due to technical limitations, doesn't mean going forwards, all displays MUST be square.

What I'm saying is that if you have a 10"x10" square and a 10" diameter circle, there's less area space for the circle (~21% less).

Looking at that, a circle watch would have to be larger to match the area of a square watch.
 
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What I'm saying is that if you have a 10"x10" square and a 10" diameter circle, there's less area space for the circle (~21% less).

Looking at that, a circle watch would have to be larger to match the area of a square watch.

but there are different ways of using that space. maybe i'm just confusing you with someone else. but the complaint was you lose space because if you take a square UI, and put it on a round screen, you waste space...

I like a circle watch for looks because of that 'smaller area'. but then we're getting into looks, which is entirely subjective. I'm not wearing a watch for pure practical sakes.


edit: yeup, sorry, it was Mac 128 who posted the asinine screenshot on this page about the "square in a round circle"


but, you can still do a lot more with a lot less space if you use the space that is available to you more efficiently. a good UI designer will be able to work around and come up with interesting solutions.
 
Round displays for information devices are stupid, end of.

Next, please.
Blanket statements like that tend to be foolish.

A watch is a device that provides information (time and in many cases date as well).
Most are round.
Next...
 
What I'm saying is that if you have a 10"x10" square and a 10" diameter circle, there's less area space for the circle (~21% less).

Looking at that, a circle watch would have to be larger to match the area of a square watch.

Straight up circle in a square yes. But that's not the case with the Watch and the Huwei. I've proven this notion is plain wrong with this graphic -- pixel density is irrelevant:

20902379520_12d0b4ca96_o.jpg
 
These people are just like Samsung...trying to scream loudly to fight for relevance. You know why I don't care? Samsung is insignificant to me.

I don't see anyone screaming for relevance. Everyone has an opinions and rarely does anyone else here care about the opinions of others.


1. Few options for style. No band changing it doesn't look like.
2. Not as functional as the Apple Watch.
3. Round.
4. Runs Tizen, limiting app support to laughably low levels.
5. Not as nice as the Apple Watch.
6. Smaller screen but larger device footprint than Apple Watch (42mm)

Not as function to some very functional for others. The apps available for my Gear S are just fine for my needs.

3G is a big deal (if it works well)...

Works very well on the Gear S. It's the main driving reason I bought one. I may not use it as often in 3G but I do value it enough to not buy one without stand alone capability.

Why people nowadays want to pay a monthly fee for everything? It happened with video games, listening to music, and now to know the time, and not taking your smartphone out of the pocket?

Meh...it's just an additional device on my plan. $5-10mo isn't anything. If one can't afford that then they prolly shouldn't buy the device or even a smart phone.

Looks nice. Considering that the main purpose of these things is to give you easier notifications, the round screen doesn't seem like a problem. It's not like anyone needs to run complicated apps on them.

Exactly. I use the heck out of the Gear S but not as a replacement to a smart phone running an app.

According to Samsung, the 3G version achieves "up to two days" of battery life (it has a slightly bigger battery than the other models).

I get two days out of mine.

And should you want to pay for an additional voice/data plan. I don't. Personally, for making phone calls, I'd rather use my iPhone - which already has a voice/data plan.

You don't pay for an additional plan. It can be added as a device to your existing contract. Costs will vary depending on carrier. I think mine is $10mo. Some are as low as $5. I love it as I do a lot of ourdoor activities with my kids and with the Gear S I don't have to lug my phone with me. In fact we spent 8 days at Disney World and I left my Note Series in the room every single day yet had all my emails, texts and phone capabilities with me.

Don't recall see a lot of circular sheets of paper across my desk, getting circular envelopes or circular catalogs in the mail, or seeing bookshelves full of circular books at my library.

The purpose of the device isn't to mimic sheets of paper. My wife uses plenty of round post-it notes of all sizes. That's really what it's for. Again, if you're looking to read pages of emails or books, use a device created for such things.

The most disappointing thing about this watch, to me, is not the shape or even the fact that it runs Tizen. I think it's disappointing that they claim to be a pioneer in SmartWatches, announce that this is their 7th model, and yet it doesn't seem to offer anything that we haven't seen before.Granted, I'm not sure what else they could do, but I would've thought that they could come up with SOMETHING new other than basic performance improvements and a rotating bezel.

I think you made the point I came to post in that what else would you want? IMO offering a round version of with a completely different style is something different for them. I think they realized the original Gear S wasn't a style most love so they came up with the opposite. Hey, I'm okay with it.

Also, Samsung sucks at supporting it's own devices.

I bought my Gear S watch back in February and I believe it had one OS/software update for it waiting when I took it out of the box. Since then, there has not been one OS update for it and there never will likely be one again.

Here too, but then, what update are you missing or looking to have? They've updated the gear manager a couple times. I don't even recall what was changed.

Right... "Game Changer".. Come see me in 6 months when holiday sales are in. I'm pretty sure they'll get their ass kicked hard by the Apple Watch.

You do realize it is their 7th, yes, 7th model and people like you have been clapping wildly at most of them.. You can track the threads of you want. Just imagine being the poor sap who bought those craptastic barely supported turd watches Samsung has foisted onto the world for 2 years straight. Think they're buying this one?

I'm pretty sure the previous Gear Owners still use those devices they have bought and could have bought three of them for the price of one Apple. I don't love my Gear S and while I'm intrigued about the style of the new Gear S-MKII I'm not sure if I'll buy one and retire the original. However, I really could go either way as I've gotten money out of the original one already.


Especially since you need a second plan and number, while you've already got a phone (most people).

You don't need a second plan. It's an add on device. You don't need a second number either. In fact that second number would ONLY be used if the matching smart phone is OFF or Not connected remotely for some odd reason. Otherwise, it's not going to come into play. That is also not a Samsung thing, it's how the cell carriers in the US Operate and their call.

Yes. I do carry 2 smartphones. One for works. One for private. But to have one as a 3g watch still makes no sense. I still cannot imagine the real use case.
Actually, one 3g watch's use case I could imagine is for someone who doesn't text at all, use no app, and happy to take a call on speaker phone with his/her watch. Not to mention unpractical small screen.

I'll give you a couple of my uses. I used it first and foremost when I'm outside with my kids. We ride bikes all the time, play catch, tennis, etc. and the last thing I want is a phone in my pocket. No need. I wear my Gear S and it functions off 3G connected remotely to my phone that is safe at home or whereever. The use of it is seemless to anyone I call, email or text. How cool is that.

If I go run errands, it's the same way. Why lug a smartphone when I don't need to? It connects to my car through bluetooth automatically and functions as a speakerphone if I'm in the yard. I don't hardly ever type emails or texts even on my phone. I use voice recognition which this has also and it works great.

Again, I could go on about how it could be used, but those are really why I have one. On business travels like now, I can go out to dinner with a customer, focus entirely on them and not worry about being "disconnected" or having to again, keep a device with me. It's actually refreshing and turns into a conversation when people ask "where is your phone?" and I get to share that I'm focused on the here and now and yet still connected. Funny to look around at dinner and see everyone tapping on their phones vs talking. It's sad really.

Screen wise, you really don't need more. I can read emails and texts just fine. The apps I use most are Text, Calender/schedule, email phone, step counter, tip calc. occastionally, typical use as a watch/date reminder, music player if I'm in my car without my phone, stopwatch, alarm clock/reminder for things, quick lists for shopping and an occasional GPS Use when I'm in a city like NYC or Chicago or San Fran. Excellent while walking.

Not sure if that addresses all your points, but is should provide some insight.
 
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Not as function to some very functional for others. The apps available for my Gear S are just fine for my needs.
Being just fine for your needs doesn't make the Gear S as functional as the Apple Watch. For some people, a flip phone is "just fine for their needs." That doesn't suddenly make their flip phone just as functional as an iPhone.
 
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Being just fine for your needs doesn't make the Gear S as functional as the Apple Watch. For some people, a flip phone is "just fine for their needs." That doesn't suddenly make their flip phone just as functional as an iPhone.

I never made my comment stating that my needs were the only ones that mattered. In fact I pointed out early on that we ALL have opinions. I'm entitled to state mine. In fact in 15 pages, I'm one of the only ones who has brought up actual uses of my Gear S. If you would like to elaborate on things you use your smart watch for or perhaps what else you would like to see then by all means share them by page 16. Geesh!

All of brainless fanboys aside, Samsung nailed it with this one. With support for iOS, this suddenly looks like an attractive option. Sorry Timmy, you should spend less time in front of the mirror.

I agree, I think the new Gear S2 is stylish and works well. Personally I'll take mine in black on black with 3G.

I've had my Watch since June. The only attention it draws is people curious about it and wanting to see how it works. I'm happy to show it to them. As a matter of fact, I think that's why my client had a guy run to an Apple store and buy one for every person on their team during our event. Nope. Not one snicker, ever.

I get the same all time even with my Gear S. I've yet to meet anyone that tells me to my face they don't like it. But then disinhibition is strong in todays world. However, it still stands that people are often intrigued about it and how it fits into my world as a device.

Some do (sleep monitoring apps are kind of a thing now), but for me it's about having one less cable to carry when I travel.

Meh....for me I hate the charging on the Gear S. If the new v2 is wireless that's a plus. At the vary least I hope they do a magnetic or simliar style charger as the Moto 360. However for me I did plop a mere $15 down on a second charger only unit from Amazon to keep in my overnight bag for work. Not a big deal.

Or maybe there's a market for those who are more interested in utility than purely fashion.

there is. quite honestly for fashion the only thing going for Apple is the fact that they make it. if it had another name on it it would be in the $******* in terms of selling for fashion sake.

It was a joke, and you are doing some selective reading. Laurim has constantly repeated that she's a 52 year old designer who hates round shapes. Well, I'm older and design too, and I think round is fine.

very true. any designer who can come up with a solution for both a round and squared off form factor is hardly a true problem solver. perhaps they need to take a few more engineering and sotution design courses.

Embrace the wonderfulness of more personal choice. Cheers!

how dare you state something so logical on this forum! ban for you!
 
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One guy asked for an example of a Chinese product and I gave an example of such product, compared it to a current product from Apple and asked why Apple device looks worse especially considering that Chinese device copied its design from Apple. Do you have to say anything meaningful in this regard? I guess no.

I pointed out how absurd your post was. Simultaneously you said a product looked better than an Apple product while also copying it. How can a clone look better than the original if it's the same thing by definition? Your logic is completely flawed.

There are as well other Chinese products and companies. And I don't defend anything.

Sure you do. The whole point of your argument was to defend your stance. Again, you contradict yourself.

yes, what he does here is a tasteless thing, I agree.

"Inspired" was a quote from other guy, read better what you're replying to.

Forgive me for not realizing that your one word that you put in quotes was quoting someone else's post because the word "inspired" was so unique that I should have known someone else penned it.

Right now Chinese are heavily copying but one day they will start designing its very own nice things. That's not a question, just a matter of time.

So yes, sooner or later they will come up with good design ideas.

Proof? Trends? Oh, you just made that up, too. At least that time you didn't blatantly contradict yourself in the same sentence.
 
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It was a joke, and you are doing some selective reading. Laurim has constantly repeated that she's a 52 year old designer who hates round shapes. Well, I'm older and design too, and I think round is fine.

The problem is, neither of you apparently own both a round and a rectangular smartwatch, yet you pontificate about how one is better or worse.

Anyone who does that, is just like those who diss the Apple Watch's usefulness without ever having owned one. Or like someone who claims that functionality should prevail over beauty, which again is like dissing the Apple Watch.

In reality, both round and rectangular work fine, since they both have to make compromises at times for different commonly used smartwatch UI shapes. Moreover, all of the posts about scrolling are moot because millions of people already accept less text and more scrolling on the 38mm Apple Watch.

Heck, going forward, I would not be surprised to see even smaller ladies' smartwatches meant mostly for formal events, with really small screens. Those who want such a device, will not be bothered by their choice.

Embrace the wonderfulness of more personal choice. Cheers!

That would be 51, thanks.

No, I'm not dumb enough to own two smartwatches for some odd reason. go figure. But I have a logical brain and happen to need to design for all sorts of shapes of surfaces and round sucks for any decent amount of content. That's why you don't see a lot of round informational items :rolleyes: I've seen a Moto360 in person and don't like how it looks. I also don't like the look of the watch in this article. Sorry, my wrist is rectangular. I think a rectangular watch looks better on it. Makes sense and isn't a big black hubcap on my arm. And I like how organized content looks when it is in a rectangular area. Glances in the corners/text in the middle. Trying to organize small icons and text blocks in a circle just looks like a random mess to me. The way the Moto360 puts a big color band across the watch behind the text over some kind of background image or the clock face also looks like they are trying too hard to make it look organized. And the content is still in a rectangular space within a circle. I simply don't like how it looks. BTW- I'm not wild about the round icons on the WATCH. I think squared ones in a grid would look better.

An even smaller screen for a "ladies" watch is just dumb and useless.
 
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That would be 51, thanks.

No, I'm not dumb enough to own two smartwatches for some odd reason. go figure. But I have a logical brain and happen to need to design for all sorts of shapes of surfaces and round sucks for any decent amount of content. That's why you don't see a lot of round informational items :rolleyes: I've seen a Moto360 in person and don't like how it looks. I also don't like the look of the watch in this article. Sorry, my wrist is rectangular. I think a rectangular watch looks better on it. Makes sense and isn't a big black hubcap on my arm. And I like how organized content looks when it is in a rectangular area. Glances in the corners/text in the middle. Trying to organize small icons and text blocks in a circle just looks like a random mess to me. The way the Moto360 puts a big color band across the watch behind the text over some kind of background image or the clock face also looks like they are trying too hard to make it look organized. And the content is still in a rectangular space within a circle. I simply don't like how it looks.

An even smaller screen for a "ladies" watch is just dumb and useless.

I'm probably not the only one that would be interested in seeing what type of design you would draft up as the perfect smart watch.
 
I'm probably not the only one that would be interested in seeing what type of design you would draft up as the perfect smart watch.

I'm not the one complaining about the WATCH not being round. I think the WATCH is basically perfect as it already is. I can live with the round icons because on the main screen they don't have to all fit within the face. I'd love to see someone saying it's easy to put a decent amount of content on a round watch the same size do it. And not showing that message screen plastered on a round watch. Squared content on a round face is lame. Only looks decent when there's only a single center-justified line, which is maybe four words.

Sorry, this looks dumb to me. I hate the way the text lays out:

BTW- No matter what I'm doing with the WATCH, I can see what time it is. Where's the time on the smartwatch in this picture? If the message was "can you meet me at 5?" and it's close to 5 already, do you have to get out of messaging to check the time to see if you can get there by 5? That watch is already failing at its most basic function. :confused:

big.jpg
 
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BTW- No matter what I'm doing with the WATCH, I can see what time it is.

Not always:

Where's the time on the watch in this picture? If the message was "can you meet me at 5?" and it's close to 5 already, do you have to get out of messaging to check the time to see if you can get there by 5? That watch is already failing at its most basic function. :confused:

I agree with you. The OS should show the time on every screen.

Likewise, a lot of us think that a watch should show its clockface (its true primary function) without having to do anything special, like flick one's wrist to wake it up, or touch the screen.

The LG Watch R in that photo can keep its display on all the time (I do on mine). Which means it succeeds at that even more basic functionality, where others fail.
 
Straight up circle in a square yes. But that's not the case with the Watch and the Huwei. I've proven this notion is plain wrong with this graphic -- pixel density is irrelevant:

20902379520_12d0b4ca96_o.jpg

So....yeah your graphic shows that the Huawei is bigger than the Apple watch. You also cut off the mounting brackets for the bands from the Huawei too.
 
I agree with you. The OS should show the time on every screen.

Likewise, a lot of us think that a watch should show its watchface (it's true primary function) without having to do anything special, like flick one's wrist to wake it up, or touch the screen.

The LG Watch R in that photo can keep its display on all the time (I do on mine). Which means it succeeds at that even more basic functionality, where others fail.

And chews up the battery in the process. I fail to understand the need to have the face lit when I'm not looking at it. But then, my watch isn't a vanity item for me.
 
BTW- No matter what I'm doing with the WATCH, I can see what time it is. Where's the time on the smartwatch in this picture? If the message was "can you meet me at 5?" and it's close to 5 already, do you have to get out of messaging to check the time to see if you can get there by 5? That watch is already failing at its most basic function. :confused:

I can't obviously speak for how Samung is going to do things on the new Gear 2 but on my Gear S I pretty much know what time it is all the time. If a text like the one you showed comes in, I get notified, tilt my wrist and there's the time, then I go to my notificiation. If I'm on the message, which happens a lot, as I may be texting back and forth and then someone says hey would you like to meet at say xx:00 I can simply pull down on their existing message that I just got and see what time it was received.

So either way, if I get a message and check it immediately or if I get one and check it later, I can answer that question and know the correct time. I can't see them doing it differently on this watch.
 
And chews up the battery in the process. I fail to understand the need to have the face lit when I'm not looking at it. But then, my watch isn't a vanity item for me.

meh...you don't have to. again, I have my watch stay lit only when the motion is detected or for 30 seconds after it wakes.
 
I can't obviously speak for how Samung is going to do things on the new Gear 2 but on my Gear S I pretty much know what time it is all the time. If a text like the one you showed comes in, I get notified, tilt my wrist and there's the time, then I go to my notificiation. If I'm on the message, which happens a lot, as I may be texting back and forth and then someone says hey would you like to meet at say xx:00 I can simply pull down on their existing message that I just got and see what time it was received.

So either way, if I get a message and check it immediately or if I get one and check it later, I can answer that question and know the correct time. I can't see them doing it differently on this watch.

So if you check a message a while after they sent it and you didn't notice the time when you raised your wrist, you have to kick out of messaging to check the time. Lame! Why can't they display the time above the message? It's wasted space anyway (like a lot of the space on a round watch)
 
So if you check a message a while after they sent it and you didn't notice the time when you raised your wrist

that doesn't make sense. once I raise my wrist to use my Gear S, it's going to display the current time. You'd have to purposely not look at your watch to not see the time. I just did it now while eating dinner at a hotel and checking a text message on my Gear S. I then noticed that while I was in the shower one came in earlier that I hadn't seen. I can see exactly what time they sent it and with knowing the current time I see that I missed it by 30 minutes.

you have to kick out of messaging to check the time. Lame!

would be lame if it were true, but it's not so nothing lame here.

Why can't they display the time above the message? It's wasted space anyway (like a lot of the space on a round watch)

I suppose they could by would they? AGain, the moment you click on your watch either by motion or by button, it displays the time. Redundancy isn't practicle. I'd rather have the screen space be maximized with the actual message.

You clearly haven't used a Gear S yet feel comfortable commenting on it's usage.
 
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that doesn't make sense. once I raise my wrist to use my Gear S, it's going to display the current time. You'd have to purposely not look at your watch to not see the time. I just did it now while eating dinner at a hotel and checking a text message on my Gear S. I then noticed that while I was in the shower one came in earlier that I hadn't seen. I can see exactly what time they sent it and with knowing the current time I see that I missed it by 30 minutes.

would be lame if it were true, but it's not so nothing lame here.

I suppose they could by would they? AGain, the moment you click on your watch either by motion or by button, it displays the time. Redundancy isn't practicle. I'd rather have the screen space be maximized with the actual message.

You clearly haven't used a Gear S yet feel comfortable commenting on it's usage.

It's perfectly common to go to use the watch without noticing what time it is, especially if you are on an analogue face and don't take the time to figure out where the hands are. My iPhone shows the time when I go to unlock it but if I'm going to use the phone to do something, I wouldn't usually notice what time it said. Thankfully, Apple always puts the time at the top so I always have instant access to it.
 
It's perfectly common to go to use the watch without noticing what time it is, especially if you are on an analogue face and don't take the time to figure out where the hands are.

You have an odd sense of how to use a watch then. I've NEVER picked up ANY watch even with the Analog face on the display and not noticed the time. That's the whole point of my tilting my wrist and wearing a WATCH.

Again, pick up and tilt my watch, ready to check messages and BAM! The TIME is displayed for me to either read or I suppose ignore. YMMV. However, if you ignore it, it's not a design issue of the device or app screen. I call user error.

Also, you noted above that it would be odd to have your watch screen ON all the time. So that would mean you have to either tilt your wrist and activate it to be ON thus seeing the time, or manually touch it to turn it ON again, thus seeing the time, or be a completely aloof person who purposely doesn't notice the TIME on their own WATCH! That's rich.

My iPhone shows the time when I go to unlock it but if I'm going to use the phone to do something, I wouldn't usually notice what time it said.

That's a use issue not a device issue. I might even go so far as to say a design issue of your on/lock screen. On my Note 3, I have my display set up to show a lot of information, but the TIME is the largest font and easily noticed at a glance thus whenever I pick up my phone, I know the time.
 
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So....yeah your graphic shows that the Huawei is bigger than the Apple watch. You also cut off the mounting brackets for the bands from the Huawei too.

It shows the Huawei is the exact same height as the Watch. Where do you get bigger? If you're talking about the width, then that's irrelevant since 42mm round watches are pretty standard issue, and any round watch is going to be wider than almost any rectangular one. The mounting brackets are irrelevant as well since any traditional round watch would have those. Moreover, any of the classic leather bands will also have the mounting lugs, adding several millimeters to the height of the watch, so that completely negates your objection.

20902379520_12d0b4ca96_o.jpg


band-hero.jpg
 
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