Samsung's Gear S2 smartwatch features circular face, rotating bezel control

Posted:
in General Discussion edited September 2015
In its latest attempt to jumpstart lukewarm smartwatch sales, Samsung on Monday announced a new platform called Gear S2 that merges a round face made popular by Motorola's Moto 360 and a rotating bezel control reminiscent of Apple Watch's Digital Crown.




The device will be available in two distinct models, the Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic, the latter of which features a design language familiar to traditional watch owners. The standout feature for both versions is a 1.2-inch circular Super AMOLED display touting a 360 pixel-by-360 pixel resolution, packing in 302 pixels per inch.

Like the Moto 360, Samsung developed a custom user interface based on its Tizen platform to take advantage of the round display. Of note, users will be able to navigate apps and system menus using a rotating bezel mechanism along with physical pushbuttons for home and back commands.

A dual-core SoC clocked at 1.0 GHz powers the Gear S2, while other hardware niceties include 4GB of onboard storage, 512MB of RAM, an option to connect to 3G networks via e-SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and NFC. Samsung expects the device to last anywhere from two to three days on a single charge from the included wireless charger.

Taking a cue from Apple, Samsung built a suite of fitness capabilities into its latest wearable device, including a heart rate monitor and a 24-hour activity log tied into a notifications system to help keep users motivated. Connectivity with Samsung's proprietary S Health software is augmented by support for Nike+ Running.

On the software side, Samsung offers up its usual selection of "S" apps, including support for the upcoming Samsung Pay mobile payments platform.

Samsung has yet to set a price or release date for Gear S2, but promises more information soon.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 134
    robertcrobertc Posts: 118member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    a rotating bezel control reminiscent of Apple Watch's Digital Crown.

    They've been planning this long before the Apple Watch was announced (Feb. 2014).

    Of course, the idea of a rotating bezel on a wrist watch is also nothing new. 

  • Reply 2 of 134
    Before Apple announced the digital crown on the Apple Watch last September, I pictured a rotating bezel as one possible input solution. Glad to see someone try it. I'm surprised they didn't call it "S-Bezel" :lol:
  • Reply 3 of 134
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Looks kind of blah to me. If I had to have a round smart watch LG and Huawei look nicer.
  • Reply 4 of 134
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Before Apple announced the digital crown on the Apple Watch last September, I pictured a rotating bezel as one possible input solution. Glad to see someone try it. I'm surprised they didn't call it "S-Bezel" :lol:

    The rotating bezel sounds like one of those things the tech press will drool over but in real life will be a pain in the ass to use. With the digital crown I can rest one hand on the other and scroll with my finger without covering the screen at all.
  • Reply 5 of 134
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    The rotating bezel sounds like one of those things the tech press will drool over but in real life will be a pain in the ass to use. With the digital crown I can rest one hand on the other and scroll with my finger without covering the screen at all.



    In the graphic above, it doesn't look as if it would cover the screen!

    And accessing the bezel is definitely easier than accessing the crown.

  • Reply 6 of 134
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    The rotating bezel sounds like one of those things the tech press will drool over but in real life will be a pain in the ass to use. With the digital crown I can rest one hand on the other and scroll with my finger without covering the screen at all.



    And yet, rotating bezel watches have been around for years without any such issues. In fact, I can rest my right hand on top of my left hand and comfortably turn the bezel without ever covering the display too. And it works on either hand without having to change the design orientation of the watch. Too bad a left-hander who wants to wear the ?Watch the way it was designed to be worn, with the digital crown at the top right, won't be able to do that without covering the screen. 

  • Reply 7 of 134
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Quote:


    rotating bezel control reminiscent of Apple Watch's Digital Crown. 


    No it isn't.

  • Reply 8 of 134
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    peschiera wrote: »

    In the graphic above, it doesn't look as if it would cover the screen!
    And accessing the bezel is definitely easier than accessing the crown.

    How is it easier?
  • Reply 9 of 134
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    How is it easier?



    Well I have both on my analog watch. Rotating the crown is not as convenient as rotating the bezel. The bezel is on the top and easier to access. The crown is on the side.

    But this is not a finding of my own. This is simply the case. You just have to try it out.

  • Reply 10 of 134
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    mac_128 wrote: »

    And yet, rotating bezel watches have been around for years without any such issues. In fact, I can rest my right hand on top of my left hand and comfortably turn the bezel without ever covering the display too. And it works on either hand without having to change the design orientation of the watch. Too bad a left-hander who wants to wear the ?Watch the way it was designed to be worn, with the digital crown at the top right, won't be able to do that without covering the screen. 

    I'll wait to see it in practice. I have no issues with the digital crown though I admit I don't use it all the time.

    What I find interesting is so many people complain about ?Watch being too bulky yet it's one of the thinner watches out there. Moto 306 is 11.5mm thick. Gear S2 is 11.4m thick. LG Urbane is 11mm thick. Huawei Watch is 11.3m thick. ?Watch is 10.5mm thick.
  • Reply 11 of 134
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    peschiera wrote: »

    Well I have both on my analog watch. Rotating the crown is not as convenient as rotating the bezel. The bezel is on the top and easier to access. The crown is on the side.
    But this is not a finding of my own. This is simply the case. You just have to try it out.

    Isn't the crown on most analog watches smaller than the ?Watch crown? If I'm thinking back to when I used to wear a watch it was a pain in the rear to change the date using the tiny crown. But I have no such issues using the crown on ?Watch.
  • Reply 12 of 134
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Isn't the crown on most analog watches smaller than the ?Watch crown? If I'm thinking back to when I used to wear a watch it was a pain in the rear to change the date using the tiny crown. But I have no such issues using the crown on ?Watch.



    It depends on the watch. But still: the bezel is on the top and easier to access.

  • Reply 13 of 134
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    peschiera wrote: »

    It depends on the watch. But still: the bezel is on the top and easier to access.

    Maybe for you. I have zero issues with the crown on ?Watch.
  • Reply 14 of 134
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Maybe for you. I have zero issues with the crown on ?Watch.



    I did not say that the crown is bad. And I'm not telling that you have any issues with it. I just commented your origin post which claimed the rotating bezel would be less good than the crown.

    That is all. Happy to hear you are happy with your watch. Just enjoy it!

  • Reply 15 of 134
    rogifan wrote: »
    The rotating bezel sounds like one of those things the tech press will drool over but in real life will be a pain in the ass to use. With the digital crown I can rest one hand on the other and scroll with my finger without covering the screen at all.

    Agreed I immediately got why the digital crown worked better when they showed it. Plus it doubles as an input button. The rotating bezel can only act as a kind of knob. Incidentally I had imagined a touch-based bezel on a (round) Apple Watch, like the iPod Classic's touch-based click wheel. The digital crown works better, and it isn't limited to having a bezel or round watch face.
  • Reply 16 of 134
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    Let's see how the bezel works in practice. In any case, it's interesting to see how Samsung gets 2-3 days out of a battery about 25% bigger than the one in the 38mm Apple Watch. Are they using a 14nm processor? If so, it suggests Apple will be able to do the same when they switch over to 14nm.
  • Reply 17 of 134
    queuequeue Posts: 28member
    Will be interesting to see if there are 2 sizes. Most smartwatch manufacturers seems to have ignored the small market for smaller wrists. Only one has paid attention to the history and craft of timepieces so far.
  • Reply 18 of 134
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    What I find interesting is so many people complain about ?Watch being too bulky yet it's one of the thinner watches out there. Moto 306 is 11.5mm thick. Gear S2 is 11.4m thick. LG Urbane is 11mm thick. Huawei Watch is 11.3m thick. ?Watch is 10.5mm thick.

    The ?Watch is 12.2mm thick for the 38mm watch and 12.46mm thick for the 42mm. Apple does not include the the bottom sensor array in their measurements. This is verified in Apple's official schematics of the watch:

     

    https://developer.apple.com/watch/bands/Band-Design-Guidelines-for-Apple-Watch.pdf

  • Reply 19 of 134

    It seems like a no brainer comparison - the crown is easily operated by a single finger, while rotating a bezel requires two fingers opposing each other.

     

    Advantage, crown.

  • Reply 20 of 134
    levilevi Posts: 344member
    It actually looks fairly nice, though Tizen will be an issue (will likely only work with newer Samsung models). They'll probably screw up the UI and UX too. Best looking non Apple smart watch yet.
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