Samsung Unveils New Gear S3 Smart Watch With GPS and LTE [Update: Will Support iPhone]

[Flow39]

Yeah, I think this is my next smartwatch.

As for Samsung Pay without a Samsung phone, good question. For me, I have the Note 7. However, friends have Nexus's and Motos so we'll see...

It should work without a phone connection, since it's all based on credit card numbers which are transferred through the terminal and not a data connection. If it works like the Apple Watch and Apple Pay, you should be able to pay without a connection to a phone or data network.

 

[Rogifan]

It only has four times the battery life of Apple Watch...

So you've used it? Sorry I don't buy battery claims from a press release. Give me real world usage. According to the Verge the Gear S2 got a day. Now this with GPS and LTE and always on full color display is going to get 4. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[saberahul]

Reminds me of the Carrera.

 

[lazard]

A great reminder that a watch can be circular and still look ugly.

So you're saying diver watches are ugly.

 

[chucker23n1]

These measurements are not accurate. Here's the 42mm Watch measurements from the Official Apple Band Design Guidelines:

42.5 x 38.03 x 12.46mm

And here's the 42mm ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ meaurements from the Technical Specifications:

Height: 42.0mm - Width: 35.9mm - Depth: 10.5mm

So here's the actual comparison:

Apple Watch 49.42 x 38.03 x 12.46mm
Samsung S 49.00 x 46.00 x 12.9mm

Unless you can find a source for Samsung's volume being measured differently than that in Apple's tech specs, your comparison means bupkis. I assume your source is their press release, which, like Apple's, does not mention the word "lug" anywhere.

So, no, the original comparison was perfectly valid. The numbers quoted were from each respective horse's mouth.

 

[SMIDG3T]

Yeah. It is not like iPhone never exploded during charging, right?

I knew someone would bring this up. *sighs* Very rare though.

Samsung have stopped shipping the Note7 because of this.

Perhaps if people charged their iPhone's correctly it wouldn't happen, ever thought about that?

This though, pretty funny.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Good size different between the S2 and S3. I don't plan on buying it but I gotta see this watch in person.

 

[69Mustang]

You're speculating. Give me data.

What we do know is that it's built on a 28nm process, like the A7 was, which means plenty of potential for a die shrink — thus, lower energy usage, taking up less space, more room for performance. I expect a massive boost with the S2.

But I'd still like some more data.

Try using the internet to, you know, get your own data. I'm only kidding... just. Read your quote. "Give me data"... "I'd like more data". Sounds quite demanding, either that or I'm projecting. So here you go.

 

[xDKP]

First impressions just by looking at the video, it does indeed look awesome!

But I still am happy with the Apple Watch, and more importantly am waiting for OS3 than v2.
Although I'd gladly buy a brand new one if they introduce a round design!

Edit - Before this thread turns into a pissing contest, competition is good for us consumers people and I hope Apple and Samsung keep going at it to win our affection.. eerr money lol.

I'm with you - competition is always good, but in terms of looks this does look fairly good in this video, although it's a video-ad so it should always look good here - a lot of the Samsung watches really fel through when you saw them in real life... And 46 is a bit too big for my taste in terms of round watches.. I haven't got massive wrists, so my sweet spot for my mechanical round ones are around 42-43 mm

 

[C7 POWER]

I knew someone would bring this up. *sighs* Very rare though.

Samsung have stopped shipping the Note7 because of this.

Perhaps if people charged their iPhone's correctly it wouldn't happen, ever thought about that?

This though, pretty funny.

Only 5 issues reported globally for Samsung, they have decided to play it safe which I think shows they care about the quality

 

[PowerGala]

I'm not really a fan of watches, but that's a good looking watch.

Also the LTE/GPS stuff would make it really helpful for people with dementia if they ever got lost.

 

[ricktat]

In the S2, the difference between the thickness of the Classic and 3G were quite a bit. The 3G was just overly thick.

I wonder if the increased face size will make the LTE version thinner.

 

[OllyW]

And here's the 42mm ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ meaurements from the Technical Specifications:

Height: 42.0mm - Width: 35.9mm - Depth: 10.5mm



Unless you can find a source for Samsung's volume being measured differently than that in Apple's tech specs, your comparison means bupkis. I assume your source is their press release, which, like Apple's, does not mention the word "lug" anywhere.

So, no, the original comparison was perfectly valid. The numbers quoted were from each respective horse's mouth.

For some reason, Apple do not include the rear case back in their measurements, so the 12.46mm thickness is correct.

 

[timborama]

The S3 looks like a great update to the S2, which I've been using for almost a year. I'll definitely be updating to the S3 w/LTE.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I'm not really a fan of watches, but that's a good looking watch.

Also the LTE/GPS stuff would make it really helpful for people with dementia if they ever got lost.

That's an excellent point.

 

[chucker23n1]

Try using the internet to, you know, get your own data. I'm only kidding... just. Read your quote. "Give me data"... "I'd like more data".

Nah, I'm not being demanding. I'm questioning these claims:

"The Snapdragon 400 in my Moto 360 pales in comparison to what Apple has done with the S1 in the Apple Watch."

"The S1 is far more efficient and optimized for the software, in comparison to the phone-designed SD 400 that is completely un-optimized for Android Wear that is nowhere near as efficient."

To my knowledge, there's insufficient data to support that.

Sounds quite demanding, either that or I'm projecting. So here you go.

I did check AnandTech, but they don't really have much to offer either:

"However, this SoC is basically a complete mystery. There’s really not much in the way of proper benchmarking tools or anything that can be run on the Watch to dig deeper here."

"We also know that binaries compiled for the watch target ARMv7k. Unfortunately, this is effectively an undocumented ISA."

I'd love to know more, now that it's over a year later. Alas, it's looking like we haven't gotten much further.

 

[Mac 128]

And here's the 42mm ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ meaurements from the Technical Specifications:

Height: 42.0mm - Width: 35.9mm - Depth: 10.5mm

Unless you can find a source for Samsung's volume being measured differently than that in Apple's tech specs, your comparison means bupkis. I assume your source is their press release, which, like Apple's, does not mention the word "lug" anywhere.

So, no, the original comparison was perfectly valid. The numbers quoted were from each respective horse's mouth.

Sorry, no. You're linking to a consumer marketing document, I'm linking to a developer document with the actual physical specs with technical measurements. If you don't know the difference then I don't know what to say.

https://developer.apple.com/watch/bands/Band-Design-Guidelines-for-Apple-Watch.pdf

You may be right in that Samsung's advertised measurements are similarly skewed to Apple's marketing specs, but that doesn't change the fact that you have to reflect the REAL specs for the Watch, no matter what the Samsung's technical dimensions turn out to be.

Sorry.

 

[lordofthereef]

So you've used it? Sorry I don't buy battery claims from a press release. Give me real world usage. According to the Verge the Gear S2 got a day. Now this with GPS and LTE and always on full color display is going to get 4. I'll believe it when I see it.

GPS is going to be a situationally used service. It's not gonna got be on all the time. The same is likely true with LTE (when you have your phone nearby I doubt it will be actively connecting to lte towers).

At this point all we can do is compare manufacturer estimated battery life. Being that different people use their devices different ways t stands to reason mileage will vary.

My wife can't always get a day out of her Apple Watch while some folks here say they get two. One guy even said he's used is 18 hours a day and can get two days; in thinking the definition of usage is very different.

All that said, the physical battery capacity in this gear s3 watch basically dwarves that of all other watches in the market, by comparisons. That is an actual tangible number that we can look at, unless of course Samsung decides to drastically change that spec in the final release of the product.

 

[BlueCreek]

This is seriously impressive, always preferred a round watch, an AW has never interested me at all but this has..

And with the lack-lustre iPhone 7, this watch paired with a galaxy note is looking very tempting

 

[citysnaps]

It looks less amazing on real pictures.

Slap on a pair of oversized red clown shoes and a big red nose and you're good to go handing out Happy Meal coupons at the local McDonalds!

 

[Zirel]

Beautiful watch.

Since is beautiful, and has everything, and Samsung has more marketshare than Apple, it's going to sell more than the Apple watch.

After all, wasn't GPS and LTE what MR readers have been asking for?

 

[spinedoc77]

I knew someone would bring this up. *sighs* Very rare though.

Samsung have stopped shipping the Note7 because of this.

Perhaps if people charged their iPhone's correctly it wouldn't happen, ever thought about that?

This though, pretty funny.

I believe there have only been 5 incidences to date. I believe the issue was using a usb to usb-C adapter so they weren't charging it right either.

 

[BruceEBonus]

Can Apple's retro 2007 look still expect to compete against Samsung modernist design for 2017?

Not on my watch!

 

[Flow39]

Why limit a product's capabilities if it can do more without compromise? That's the same battery argument going on in another thread. Even though many are arguing that the battery life is just fine in the watch, if Apple can increase the battery life without compromising other features, even add features, and make is slimmer for some, then why shouldn't they?

The point Ive was making is that the watch isn't really designed for extended interaction, but to the extent someone needs to do that, it's available.

I agree with this. I'm all for adding features while retaining the same battery life, just like Apple has done with the iPhone line over the years. I remember Ive saying that as well, but I think I may have misinterpreted what you were saying earlier and got it confused in my head.

I was mostly arguing for the fact that a similar circular display size (42mm Moto 360 vs 42mm Apple Watch) will yield less information on the screen than the square. On a 38 vs 42mm, it would be be expected that the 38 would have less info just based on the fact that it is smaller, and for the text to remain readable, it would need to remain the same text size as the 42mm. I remember when the Pebble Time Round came out, it had issues with cutting text off on the sides and requiring more scrolling in comparison to the Pebble Time with a square display. The whole Moto 360 having less info on the screen is just from my experience though, so maybe it's just my experience with just this specific watch where that is a problem.

 

[lordofthereef]

Since is beautiful, and has everything, and Samsung has more marketshare than Apple, it's going to sell more than the Apple watch.

After all, wasn't GPS and LTE what MR readers have been asking for?

I wouldn't go that far. For starters, nothing works with iOS (yet) as well as an Apple Watch. That's a pretty. If hurdle IMO. And it's part (but only a slight part) of why I haven't taken the smart watch plunge yet. Would love to be able to connect to my work or personal (android and iOS, respectively) phone st will and not be limited in what I can do.
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For some reason, Apple do not include the rear case back in their measurements, so the 12.46mm thickness is correct.

Not that I agree with Apple here, but I think the reasoning is because that back sensor sort of "sinks in" to your arm, and so effectively isn't raising the Watch off of your risk much, if at all. This is, of course, if it's in tight enough to give good HR readings.