Until then, I'm quite sure it would have been easier for me to just pull out my phone and type out "My name is Dana" with two thumbs.Īnother thing we'll have to save for our eventual review: the whole phone call thing.
#SAMSUNG S GEAR 2 BANDS FULL#
With certain cruder devices, I had trouble getting it to register an "H" instead of a "J." Either way, the word prediction is hit-or-miss: Sometimes it was spot-on other times it served up the most unhelpful word possible ("My name is.'included'"?) Obviously, the precision here is something we'll have to revisit in our full review. In some cases, I had an easy time both typing and swiping out letters, with very few typos to speak of.
![samsung s gear 2 bands samsung s gear 2 bands](https://image-us.samsung.com/SamsungUS/home/mobile/wearables/pdp/sm-r365nzkaxar/gallery/GalleryImage_01.jpg)
I had the chance to test the feature on multiple test units in various stages of development, none of them final. As it happens, the keyboard allows for both traditional pecking, as well as Swype for dragging lines between letters. From there, you can reply using an on-screen keyboard. Once you're in the emails page, you can read the full text of a message, as well as see the rest of the conversation listed below it. Ditto for watch faces: There are around a dozen preloaded watch faces, with a mix of new ones, as well as some that were included on older models.īecause things like emails and calls are a big part of the story here, they're always within easy reach: Just swipe to the left of the main home screen to see a list of your messages, emails and fitness stats from Samsung's S Health app.
![samsung s gear 2 bands samsung s gear 2 bands](https://i.gadgets360cdn.com/large/Galaxy_Fit_2_launch_1599047520371.jpg)
In addition to notifications, the defaults include things like calendar appointments and news headlines, but you can, of course, customize all that to your liking. Otherwise, the watch only allows up to five home screen widgets. Likewise, you can swipe up from the bottom of the Super AMOLED display to see a full menu of apps, including the settings menu. If you want to navigate backward out of a page, for instance, you swipe down from the top. That means getting around is much the same as it is on those older devices.
#SAMSUNG S GEAR 2 BANDS ANDROID#
The design feels functional, but also like an afterthought.Īlthough Samsung recently came out with its first Android Wear watch, the Gear S runs Tizen OS, just like the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. When you're ready to swap bands, for instance, you basically just pop out the watch face like a piece of Fruit Roll-Up.
![samsung s gear 2 bands samsung s gear 2 bands](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1352/5175/products/Ringke_Smart_Watch_Band_Metal_40_sub_thum_Photo_2048x.jpg)
It's comfortable on the wrists, no doubt thanks to the curved screen shape, but ultimately, it feels more functional than it does stylish. True, it's marked by metal accents around the clasp and edges, but my guess is that you're more likely to notice the removable plastic band, available in white and black. Certainly, it's no Pebble Steel, nor even a Moto 360. Other than the fact that it's quite conspicuous, the design isn't what I'd call fancy. The kind of 1.63-inch display used on the Gear 2 and Gear Live (a big, honking watch face in its own right) wouldn't have cut it here. The key selling points - making calls and responding to emails - require extra space, and frankly, even two inches is pushing it. Even so, some of my bigger-boned male colleagues also tried on the watch, and they too found it rather bulky. With a curved screen that measures two inches diagonally, it absolutely dwarfs my (admittedly dainty) wrist, as you can see in the above hands-on photos.
![samsung s gear 2 bands samsung s gear 2 bands](https://img.joomcdn.net/c8d5c8149121572ec12bda72b76e615f0b4594be_original.jpeg)
In addition to being the first of the company's watches that you can use without a smartphone, this is also Samsung's biggest wearable to date.