Samsung Galaxy Gear S Manual

Samsung Gear S review: The smartwatch thats also a smartphoneIt makes phone calls even when its away from your phone, but Samsungs big, curved, new smartwatch doesnt do all the magical things wed hoped for.The dream of a fully standalone wrist gadget that can make phone calls, stay connected and even help you be sounds good, at least on paper. To own a smartwatch usually means having it be perma-paired to a phone in your pocket: it ends up being, largely, a phone accessory. Thats starting to change. A few bold watches are trying to break away and be their own devices, with their own phone service to boot.The Samsung Gear S is one of those. This is Samsungs sixth smartwatch in a little over a year, but it has one big difference: it gets its own cell service and data. It even has its own SIM-card slot. Its a watch thats also a phone.Someday soon, smartwatches might be devices that work totally on their own, no phone necessary: as a connected Web browser, a music player, a fitness device. But the Samsung Gear S is not exactly that magic watch. Yes, it can do a surprising number of things. But it still needs a Samsung phone to make most features work. It runs Samsungs limited Tizen software and dedicated Gear apps, closing it off from the richer ecosystem of Googles Android Wear. And it requires a connected data plan to even use it as a cellular device.For some of my time with the Gear S, I paired it with a Samsung phone. But for most of the time, I tried using it on its own, as a true independent smartwatch. Well, I should say "independent," because if youre going to use a Gear S, youre still best off bringing a phone along.Editors note: Updated November 26, 2014, with additional impressions of stand-alone apps and a correction on the Nike+ apps capabilities.DesignThe Gear S looks like a little smartphone thats been melted around a wristband. It has a huge, curved screen, chromed edges, and even has a little home button below the display. My 6-year-old son thought I was wearing a phone. Basically, I am.Remember the Samsung Gear Fit, that little curved-screen fitness smartwatch that instantly caught peoples attention just six months ago? Imagine that in a mega-large watch form, and you have the Gear S. Is it too big? For many, the answers yes. The massive curved display engulfed even my large, thick wrist. But many people, including my wife, thought it was one of the better-looking smartwatches Ive worn recently. Chromed edges and that huge, bright OLED curved touchscreen make it stand out, and even give it a kind of spiritual similarity to the upcoming Apple Watch Sport.The rubbery-plastic sport-type band it comes with can pop out around the Gear S central unit and be replaced with another band accessory. It snaps on like previous Gear watches: an adjustable watch band with a clip, it sizes and fits easily.The watch is IP67-rated water-resistant, which means you can get it wet, but youre not meant to shower or swim with it. Its about the same story as Samsungs previous Gear watches.The Gear S has its own speakers and microphone. It vibrates when you get messages or an alarm goes off. Its studded with sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope and compass, optical heart rate, ambient light for screen brightness, UV and barometer. It has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 and 3G cellular. Its got 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM and a dual-core processor. And it weighs 66 grams (2.3 ounces). But its display is the most impressive part...and, to some degree, the most alienating.The phablet of watch displaysThe Gear S has a 2-inch 480x360-pixel AMOLED display, a bigger screen and a larger pixel count than other Android Wear smartwatches and previous Samsung Gears. Its longer, almost feeling like a mini-phone in portrait mode.