Samsung Gear S Touts Curved Display and 3G Connectivity
After the arrival of smartphone-dependent wearables like the Gear 2 and Gear Live, Samsung's smartwatch line is ready to step out on its own. Launching this October, the Samsung Gear S touts a rich display and 3G connectivity for using apps and getting notifications when your Android phone is nowhere near.
Touting Samsung's most stylish smartwatch design yet, the Gear S has a 2-inch, curved AMOLED 360 x 480-pixel display that sits atop a black or white rubber wristband. The device's customizable home screens are clever imitations of luxury watch faces, sporting digital hands and subtle, circular icons for battery level and notifications.
MORE: Will Wearables Replace Your Smartphone?
Like the Gear 2, you can pair the Gear S with your Android phone to make and receive calls from your wrist, as well as shout voice commands via S Voice. Unlike the Gear 2, however, the Gear S packs a SIM card slot, allowing you to connect to 2G and 3G networks when your phone is at home. Beneath the SIM card slot is a heart rate sensor, which can be used with the included S Health and Nike+ Running apps.
The Gear S is powered by a 1-GHz, dual-core CPU and 512MB of RAM, with 4GB of internal memory for storing songs and photos. The watch comes IP67 dust and water-resistant, and packs a 300-mAh lithium-ion battery designed to last two days on a charge.
Announced alongside the Gear S today (August 28) is the Gear Circle, a set of wireless earbuds that doubles as a smart necklace when rested on the user's neck. When connected to your Android device, the Circle (available in black, blue and white) can recognize voice commands and give the user a vibrating nudge when they're receiving the call.
The Gear S will be entering a soon-to-be-crowded smartwatch space, with devices like the Motorola Moto 360, Apple iWatch, LG G Watch R and Asus ZenWatch expected to also drop this fall. However, the Gear S's standalone capabilities could make it a winner. We expect to see both the Gear S and Gear Circle at IFA 2014 in Berlin, so stay tuned for our hands-on impressions.
Mike Andronico is an Associate Editor at Tom's Guide. He doesn't wear a watch. Follow Mike @MikeAndronico and on Google+. Follow us @TomsGuide, on Facebook and on Google+
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