AT Samsung made every possible effort to release the smart watch earlier Apple. Galaxy Gear were introduced in September last year, running Android and supported a limited number of Samsung smartphones. Buyers took the debut device in the smartwatch segment of the Korean company very cool. All this happened under the incessant rumors about the imminent release of the iWatch from Apple. But as we know, the American company’s business has not moved on a scale that is tangible for buyers. But Samsung just a few hours ago managed to announce the second generation of its own smartwatch, which is now represented by two models and other very serious changes.
So, Samsung decided to release not one, but two models of second-generation smartwatches at once. New items got rid of the word Galaxy in the title and are now simply called gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. The first model is the flagship, and the second is a bit simplified. But let’s start with the characteristics common to both devices. Samsung smartwatches still use a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels. Also, both devices boast a 1 GHz dual-core processor with 512 MB of RAM and a 4 GB drive.
Samsung Gear 2
Also, both Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are equipped with a gyroscope, accelerometer and pedometer. The smartwatch turned out to be equipped with an infrared port, which will allow you to use the device as a remote control for home appliances. Finally, the Gear line received a heart rate sensor (hello, iWatch and iOS 8!), It can track sleep phases and, in accordance with the data received, wake the user up at a certain time. In addition, Samsung smart watches can act as a music player, but you will need Bluetooth-enabled headphones, because there is no 3.5 mm jack, but the function itself will certainly be in demand by athletes.
The only difference between Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo is the camera — the flagship model has it, but the Neo doesn’t. The camera with a resolution of 2 megapixels has moved from the strap to the top, has autofocus and can shoot HD video. The hardware button located on the side of the Galaxy Gear has now found its place under the display, and the design of the smartwatch itself has not changed much. The thickness of the case has decreased by 1.1 mm, and the weight has dropped to 68 g in the flagship model and to 55 g in the Neo. Protection class for Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo is now IP67.
Samsung Gear 2 Neo
One of the most controversial details in the original Samsung smartwatch, the battery in the new generation of the device has become even less capacious: 300 mAh versus 315 mAh in the Galaxy Gear. Representatives of the company promise 2-3 days of battery life with a significant load and up to 6 days with the simplest use case.
I decided to leave one of the most interesting details regarding the new Samsung smartwatch for last. We are talking about the software platform used in the device, and which has changed compared to the Galaxy Gear. Instead of Android, the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo use Samsung and Intel’s own development called Tizen. The appearance of the operating system is as close as possible to the interface of last year’s device, and Samsung promises a sufficient number of applications for the device. Of course, the ability to connect smartwatches to a smartphone has not gone away. On the contrary, the list of supported devices has expanded to include 12 Samsung Galaxy devices.
Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will go on sale in April. The price of the flagship model is likely to remain at the same level, but Neo can be purchased cheaper. It is still difficult to say whether Samsung has managed to work on the bugs, but the small capacity of the built-in battery is still embarrassing. But there were sensors missing in the first generation of smartwatches that can push a much larger number of people to buy a gadget. We can say that now Samsung smartwatches really have real use cases. It took the Korean company six months to bring the second generation of Gear to market, while Apple is still slow and even the promised bias towards health monitoring no longer looks like an absolutely unique feature. [Samsung]
