Samsung Electronics has been in the lime light in bringing us new gadgets in the world of technology with the smartwatch being one of its inventions after being first showcased back in 4th September, 2013 when the unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Gear was made alongside the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition and the Galaxy Note 3.
In February 2014, the technology giants went ahead to introduce three other watches namely; Galaxy Gear 2, Galaxy Gear 2 Neo and Galaxy Gear Fit, into the market to give consumers a choice for variety. Below are some of the features as we review all these four smartwatches.
The first noticeable difference is with the screen size.Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo both have a screen size of 1.63 inches, which is equal to their predecessor with all three having a display of 320 x 320 pixels. Gear fit however has a slimmer but much wider screen of 1.84 inches having a display of 432 x 128 pixels.
Answering of phone calls was earlier seen in the Galaxy Gear. This feature has been extended to the Gear 2 and likewise to the Gear 2 neo. Their slimmer counterpart, the Gear Fit is however limited on this feature. Yes, a notification of the phone call will be seen but a user has to reach to the phone in order to answer the phone call. The smartwatch is not fitted with a mouthpiece.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear astonished many by the clear pictures it could capture with its 2mp camera. The camera has however not been integrated in all the three advancements made. This feature is only available in the Galaxy Gear 2. The Gear 2 Neo and the Gear Fit both lack the camera. Gear 2 however has its 2 mp camera placed on its main body unlike its predecessor which had the camera placed on its strap.
The initial Gear was made to run on Android OS. Samsung Electronics have however decided to ditch this idea and shift to the Tizen OS. This has been implemented on the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo. The Gear Fit however does not run on any operating system. It is a mere Bluetooth pair that gives a display of what is seen from the phones display.
On the processing speeds, the Gear was initially produced with a single core clocking 800 MHz. this has been upgraded for both the Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo to a dual core clocking a speed of 1GHz. The Gear Fit does not however have a processor installed as it does not run any operating system or software.
Battery life is an important feature in all gadgets. Smartwatches have however failed to maximize their capability as is seen with ordinary watches. Advancements are however being made as is seen from the original Galaxy Gear which had a 315 mAh battery that could take up to 25 hours. The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are fitted with a 300 mAh battery that takes up to 3 days. The Gear Fit is fitted with a much weaker battery as it does not run any operating system. It sis fitted with a 210 mAh battery that takes up to 4 days. Battery life of the original Galaxy Gear is expected to be improved once they roll out an update to switch from its original Android OS to the Tizen OS.
On to the similarities, the galaxy gear is made to be used with Samsung Galaxy phones. Any other phones cannot be synced to work with the phone. The smartwatches will still work but any notifications from your phone will not be displayed.
All Galaxy Gear watches are made to be dust proof and water resistant. The original version however received the IP55 certification. All the latter received the more advanced IP67 certification.
Samsung Electronics is however burdened by a heavy task in the smartwatch industry as other major industries are on the rise in creating their versions to increase competition in the market.
