Samsung reveals iPhone-compatible Gear Sport and Gear Fit2 Pro, poised to compete with 201...
Samsung on Wednesday announced two new fitness-oriented wearables, the Gear Sport and Gear Fit2 Pro, which will square off with the Apple Watch "Series 3" coming this fall.
The Gear Sport is a smartwatch equipped with a round, 1.2-inch AMOLED display, as well as a 1 gigahertz dual-core processor, 4 gigabytes of storage, and a 300 milliamp-hour battery, Samsung said. It runs the company's Tizen operating system, and can pair with both iPhones and Android devices. Connection options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC, the last enabling Samsung Pay.
For fitness purposes the device meets MIL-STD-810G durability standards, along with 5 ATM water resistance. Sensors include a barometer and heart rate monitor, while GPS, GLONASS, and even China's BeiDou are supported for navigation.
The Gear Fit2 Pro is explicitly just a fitness tracker, but features many of the same specifications as the Sport. Apart from software, the main differences are a curved 1.5-inch screen, a 200 milliamp-hour battery, and the absence of NFC.
Neither of the devices run Bixby, the Samsung voice assistant found on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8.
The Gear Sport should ship sometime this holiday season, but pricing is unavailable. Preorders for the Fit2 Pro start on Thursday for $199.99, with an official launch on Sept. 15.
Apple is expected to reveal a third-generation Apple Watch on Sept. 12. While most features are unknown, the highlight is predicted to be LTE support, something the new Samsung devices lack. The technology is on other Samsung wearables however, such as the Gear S3.
The Gear Sport is a smartwatch equipped with a round, 1.2-inch AMOLED display, as well as a 1 gigahertz dual-core processor, 4 gigabytes of storage, and a 300 milliamp-hour battery, Samsung said. It runs the company's Tizen operating system, and can pair with both iPhones and Android devices. Connection options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC, the last enabling Samsung Pay.
For fitness purposes the device meets MIL-STD-810G durability standards, along with 5 ATM water resistance. Sensors include a barometer and heart rate monitor, while GPS, GLONASS, and even China's BeiDou are supported for navigation.
The Gear Fit2 Pro is explicitly just a fitness tracker, but features many of the same specifications as the Sport. Apart from software, the main differences are a curved 1.5-inch screen, a 200 milliamp-hour battery, and the absence of NFC.
Neither of the devices run Bixby, the Samsung voice assistant found on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8.
The Gear Sport should ship sometime this holiday season, but pricing is unavailable. Preorders for the Fit2 Pro start on Thursday for $199.99, with an official launch on Sept. 15.
Apple is expected to reveal a third-generation Apple Watch on Sept. 12. While most features are unknown, the highlight is predicted to be LTE support, something the new Samsung devices lack. The technology is on other Samsung wearables however, such as the Gear S3.
Comments
Samsung is trying to impress people by saying it meets MIL-STD-810G, I know this standard and use to test things and not one other military used it any more. I highly doubt it meet most of the requirements at a product level, maybe some of the component could pass.
I want to see if it actually passed Method 511 Explosive Atmosphere, or Method 519 Gunfire Shock or maybe Method 522 Ballistic Shock.
I doubt their watch are this rugged, there are other ruggized standards out their for electronics other than this Mil Std I wonder why they did not use one of those.
I think these will compete with an Apple watch on price.
Butt ugly of monstrous sizes. It's not competing with the Apple Watch for anyone in a professional setting that's for sure.
So, are people going to have to buy 2 watches?
They use the Mil, whatever for marketing reasons and nothing else.
But, the Sport seems to be directed at those more serious about health and exercise. As such the wearer may choose to use it mostly for exercise tracking and leave it off while in the office. Hardware wise, it sounds comparable to the Apple Watch and could challenge the AW for its target market -- health oriented active exercisers. But, it's success will entirely depend on the functionality of its software. And both this and the AW will be competing with Garmin in the (serious) exercise market.
Currently, Garmin remains a standout for runners. Nobody has the software to compete with them.
(Before I get crucified as an Apple hater, I have an AW, use it for exercise and love it. But I like it for its overall functionality.)
The Sammie Sport is more fitness watch than smartwatch and looks it. As a fitness watch it's not bad looking. I wouldn't use it as a daily driver myself, but that's what preference is all about.
Apple isn't without some shame on co-opting features from other devices, the Sport's use of rings doesn't bother me at all. I think rings are a great way to keep track of certain metrics at a glance.
The Apple Workout app doesn't let me see the green Exercise ring the way I want, so I'm curious as to whether the Sport might, not that I'd jump ship.
...They do set minimums which is good.
...But they only report minimums which is bad.
There are multiple days each week where I double and triple the the amount of exercise time and energy I expend. The AW rings only show me whether I passed the minimum for the day -- but provides no 'credit' for going beyond.
It's analogous to current recommendations to get "150 minutes of moderate exercise a day". In actuality, that is the minimum -- not the optimum. Yet, people use it as a goal and believe they've achieved something good by getting there. In actuality, it's like getting a "D" in school. Yes, you passed, but that's about it. Should you feel good about it?