Samsung Galaxy Gear Review
by Brian Klug on October 1, 2013 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Wearables
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Galaxy Gear
- galaxy note 3
- watches
Final Thoughts
It's immediately apparent that there's a bit of panic around what happens as the smartphone/tablet markets mature. The incredible growth the leaders in those industries enjoyed over the past few years is addictive, and no one wants to be late to move onto the next thing. Wearables are an obvious target - the incredible amount of attention paid to Google Glass being proof that there is interest, should someone be able to get the formula right.
We've seen many attempts at building smarter watches over the years. Adding functionality to something you already wear seems logical, plus there's historical precedent here (calculator watches from the 80s come to mind). As lofty as the upside is, there's an equally depressing downside however. The stylish, most adored watches aren't those that have a ton of extra functionality added onto them. That's not to say that the two goals are orthogonal, just that industrial design matters even more with a wearable than it does with a smartphone.
Samsung did relatively well with the Galaxy Gear in that department. I don't know that it speaks to me like a luxury timepiece, but it's well built and doesn't feel cheap at all. I think a truly successful smartwatch will have to look first and foremost like a great timepiece, and I don't know that any of the initial players (Samsung included) are really there yet. I'll admit I'm puzzled by the decision to go with a plastic charging cradle that closes over the Gear instead of some connector and a USB cable, so maybe that's the first thing that really needs changing.
Architecturally, Samsung took a different approach to the Galaxy Gear than we've seen from most of the recent attempts (e.g. Pebble, Toq). Rather than optimizing for always on operation, the Galaxy Gear instead is treated like more of a smartphone - designed to be used in bursts, and relying on idle time to extend battery life.
It's sort of insane to think that the Galaxy Gear puts an Exynos 4212 on my wrist. On the flipside, the Galaxy Gear delivers downright smartphone-like battery life at a little more than 5 hours of continuous use and that's without cellular connectivity. The lack of an always on watch face is a bit bothersome since you'd expect something you wear on your wrist to always be able to, you know, tell time. Samsung attempts to mitigate the Gear's lack of an always on mode by using the accelerometer and gyro to detect when you're flipping your wrist to look at your watch face. The unfortunate reality is the gesture doesn't work all of the time, again putting you in a situation where you're wearing something on your wrist that doesn't always behave like a watch at the bare minimum.
It's also sort of crazy to think about Android 4.2, similarly, running on my wrist.
Truth be told, I don't know that either of these things are the right solution, at least today. An 800MHz Cortex A9 with some Mali-400 GPU configuration at 32nm and Android 4.2 are both too much for a watch-like device. In many ways Galaxy Gear feels a like tablet from the early 2000s. They used notebook hardware and notebook software, weren't fast enough, didn't last long enough on a single charge, and didn't have a great user experience. In the case of the Galaxy Gear, Samsung at least leveraged its experience in skinning Android to deliver an experience that felt mostly reasonable on a watch face. But the hardware needed to run the whole thing is excessive and as a result gives you very little battery life.
There are some nicely executed elements of the Galaxy Gear. The device is well built and doesn't feel heavy (although it is a bit bulky). Integration with the Galaxy Note 3 works well. The camera integrated into the wrist strap takes surprisingly decent photos as well. The calling-from-your-wrist experience isn't great though, and the device itself isn't waterproof (which is far more of an issue for something you wear on your wrist than something that lives in your pocket).
Ultimately the Galaxy Gear isn't the perfect solution to wearable computing, but rather a first attempt. It's more a proof of concept that you can own. If we look at Samsung's history in nearly every market we've followed it (SoCs, SSDs, smartphones), the company has a tendency to show up early with the wrong solution, but iterate aggressively to the point where it ends up with a very good solution.
In terms of interim improvement - I'd love to see more/better watch faces, broader compatibility with Samsung phones and a persistent clock. Let's start there and see where it takes us.
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SilthDraeth - Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - link
Persistent clock on smart phones? I have a Note 2, and I do not know of such a feature. Is this not available on the Note 2?Also, I would be warry of screen burn in. I have noticed a bit of it on my Note's screen.
snarfbot - Thursday, October 3, 2013 - link
first they need to shrink those bezels, and get some sapphire crystal on it. the lugs need to have a gap between them, not just for alternative bands but because it just looks better.watches are for the most part fashion accessories, unless you work somewhere that doesnt allow cell phones there is no reason to wear one unless it looks cool, rendering this monstrosity useless.
so class it up, maybe have it featured in the next bond movie and youll be in business.
brown leather strap, thin brushed gunmetal bezel and case. yea that would be pretty nice.
risus - Monday, October 7, 2013 - link
I love those suggestions. I'm a huge sapphire crystal fan. I'm just afraid of what that price tag may look like :-/av_av - Friday, October 4, 2013 - link
Kudos for the Galactica reference :)greg zx - Friday, October 4, 2013 - link
"...the company has a tendency to show up early with the wrong solution, but iterate aggressively to the point where it ends up with a very good solution."You misspelled "imitate".
Hammi - Friday, October 4, 2013 - link
Does this have the benchmark 'optimizations' enabled like the rest of the Samsung gear?wintermute000 - Sunday, October 6, 2013 - link
There's only a few real things I want and I suspect plenty of people are in the same boat- looks like normal watch (pebble is close but still no cigar)
- always on time/date etc. like a normal watch
- long battery life (BT 4.0 or whatever)
- handles notifications / music controls seamlessly
- does running apps
The rest is pointless and just adds proc requirement/lowers battery/makes it chunky (WTF with the camera, speakerphone etc. if you've got to pair it with a phone anyway...). For the form factor the main draw is notifications and changing music tracks without having to drag the phone from your pocket (I can see voice command also being used but seirously most of what you'll be commanding is the phone, and you gotta see the phone screen so might as well interact directly with phone). And unless it pretty much looks like a normal phone and doesn't need to be charged say more than once a week it won't gain widespread acceptance.
jameskatt - Sunday, October 6, 2013 - link
Anyone who wears this is a geek. Simple.p05esto - Monday, October 7, 2013 - link
Horrible, I wouldn't wear that if you paid me hjundreds of dollars. Not only is it ugly.... but WHY?wbensky - Sunday, November 10, 2013 - link
Instead of uselessly putting curved-displays into their phones, why doesn't Samsung actually use one of there "features" for something good for once by putting in one of these? Seriously, instead of enabling a phone to turn on when you "roll" it, make it so the watch doesn't seem like a brick.