My Review
Date: 7 February 2017
Pros:
Samsung ended off 2016 with their Gear S3 as the smart watch of the year. Samsung used the same design concept like on the Gear S2. The Samsung Gear S3 actually looks identical to a normal watch. I walked into a Samsung store and I almost asked someone why Samsung was selling a normal watch until I realized it was the Samsung Gear S3 :-) :-) :-)
Samsung launched two watches; the Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier. There is no difference between the two other than the looks.
- Simple interface with rotating bezel
- Easily replaceable 22mm bands
- More than a day of battery life
- Water resistant
- Works with Samsung Pay
- Too big and bulky for smaller wrists
- Not enough third-party app support
Samsung ended off 2016 with their Gear S3 as the smart watch of the year. Samsung used the same design concept like on the Gear S2. The Samsung Gear S3 actually looks identical to a normal watch. I walked into a Samsung store and I almost asked someone why Samsung was selling a normal watch until I realized it was the Samsung Gear S3 :-) :-) :-)
Samsung launched two watches; the Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier. There is no difference between the two other than the looks.
Design
The Gear S3 Frontier has a design like a hiker’s trial watch. The straps are very strong as it is made out of silicon so the watch is built to survive sporting conditions. The Gear S3 Classic is built for business; it has a lot more of an elegant and luxurious design. The straps are made out of premium genuine leather. Straps are easy to replace if it doesn’t suite your style. The 22mm strap has an easy click on process to attach the new band. Samsung offers a wide range of straps to suite everyone’s personality. Which makes the Samsung Gear S3 a watch for all occasions
Screen
Samsung uses Gorilla Glass SR+ as the glass is more damage resistant. The super AMOLED screen is quite the same as the Gear S2 plus it has the same 360x360 screen resolution. The Gear S3 has a slightly bigger screen as the Gear S2 so the screen clarity is just a nich different but the colours are bright and vibrant.
The Bezel
The bezel on the Samsung Gear S3 actually turns so that you can quickly switch between menus. You can use it to scroll through emails, adjust volume brightness and much more. You can still use the touchscreen but the point of the bezel is to reduce the amount of time use the touchscreen so there ia no oily smudges and dirt.
Leave Your Phone Behind
One of the best things about the Gear S3 is that you can go through your day forgetting your phone at home; with complete functionality of the watch. The Gear S3 has 4GB of space to store songs to play out through the speakers and to store apps. The 4GB might not sound like much but I’ve never even noticed that I had so little space on board for the time I’ve used the watch so the 4GB is more than enough. You can make calls, use the on-board GPS to track your fitness and running, check emails, view and respond to messages and you can connect the Gear S3 to a WiFi Network. The Gear S3 also has NFC so you don’t need your phone or wallet to buy something because the mobile payment app; Samsung Pay.
Battery
The Gear S3 has a 380mAH battery which doesn’t sound like much but Samsung claims it can last four days with the two hour charge (with normal usage) which is really impressive.
Fitness
The fitness tracker on the Gear S3 is excellent. The steps are accurate and the heart rate measurements are true. There is also an automatic work out detection which means when you start to play a sport it automatically calculates your movement and statistics and presents it to you in a simple dashboard. The Gear S3 is also water-resistant and has an IP68 rating so you can swim with this watch for an hour and still have it working perfectly.
Images
Specifications
- Network/Bearer
- Infra Bluetooth Only
- Connectivity
- ANT+ No
- Location Technology GPS, Glonass
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz
- NFC Yes
- Bluetooth Version Bluetooth v4.2
- Bluetooth Profiles A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP
- OS Tizen
- Display
- Technology (Main Display) Super AMOLED
- Size (Main Display) 1.3" (32.9 mm)
- Resolution (Main Display) 360 x 360
- Color Depth (Main Display) 16 M
- Processor
- CPU Speed 1 GHz
- CPU Type Dual-Core
- Memory
- RAM Size (GB) 0.75
- ROM Size (GB) 4
- Available Memory(GB) 1.5
- Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, HR Sensor, Light Sensor
- Physical specification
- Dimension (HxWxD) 49 x 46 x 12.9 mm
- Weight (g) 59
- Battery
- Standard Battery Capacity 380 mAh
- Removable No
- Typical Usage Time 3 ~ 4 Days
- Audio and Video
- Audio Playing Format MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB
- Services and Applications
- S-Voice Yes
- Additional Features Messages, Phone, Contacts, S Health, Weather, Music Player, S Voice, Settings, Reminders, Alti / Barometer, Schedule, Alarm, World Clock, News Briefing, Gallery, Find My Phone, Email, Monster Vampire and other 3rd party apps