The first Android Wear smartwatch is basic, but it’s reasonably priced and offers a large battery
It’s tough to tell the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear Live apart at a glance, but don’t be fooled – they’re quite di erent devices. The big difference is in the operating systems they run – the Gear 2 uses Samsung’s Tizen platform rather than Google’s Android Wear, and is restricted to working with only a select group of Samsung smartphones.
The Gear 2 comes in a choice of silver or bronze colourways, and the shapely metal body frames a 1.63in AMOLED touchscreen with a 320 x 320 resolution. It isn’t as bright as the LCD-based screens here, and nowhere near the brightness of the Motorola Moto 360’s gleaming, circular display, but the Samsung’s crisp panel is noticeably more colourful and vibrant. There’s no ambient light sensor, though.
In a novel twist, Samsung has included a 2-megapixel camera and an infrared transmitter for controlling TVs, set-top boxes, or even compatible air-conditioning units. Sadly, the camera’s forward-facing position means that it isn’t possible to conduct video chats directly on your wrist: it’s only for taking low-res, grainy snaps.
On the rear, there’s a heart-rate sensor that’s capable of taking both one-off and continuous readings, and the micro-USB adapter clips on to provide charging via a USB cable or with the supplied mains charger.
Look past the attractive exterior – which, like many of its rivals, is IP67-rated to survive accidental soakings – and the Gear 2 has much in common with the cheaper Gear 2 Neo. Inside, it’s powered by a 1GHz Exynos 3250 CPU and 512MB of RAM, and there’s 4GB of internal storage.
The Exynos delivers enough oomph to keep things feeling responsive, and battery life is better than average: the Gear 2 outlasted every smartwatch other than the Pebble Steel in our notification test, and often made it through two days in everyday use.
Using the Gear 2 isn’t hugely dissimilar to any of the Android Wear watches we’ve tested. Notifications pop up on screen and can be acted upon with a tap or swipe of a finger. The principal difference is that the Gear 2 is more overtly a standalone device. With a built-in launcher and a series of preloaded apps, it feels much more like using a mini smartphone. It’s even possible to listen to music stored on the watch itself via a Bluetooth headset.
Also, unlike many of its rivals, the Gear 2 allows you to answer calls by speaking directly into your wrist, using the S-Voice app.
The Gear 2 simply doesn’t deliver where it should. We’re not fans of the limited compatibility, and Tizen doesn’t feel as polished or useful as Android Wear or Pebble OS in everyday use. The killer blow, though, is landed by its own stablemate: with the Gear 2 Neo delivering all the same features, bar the pointless camera, for much less cash, the Gear 2 simply misses the mark.