I’ve owned a number of smart watches from the apple watch to a number of Android Wear watches in the past few years. This is my first experience with the Tizen operating system and so far I absolutely love it. I find that the Tizen operating is more intuitive for me than Android Wear when it comes to usability. Using the Gear s3 feels natural and simpler to use.
Size
It’s not larger than any of the G-Shock watches I own. The Gear s3 size may be a downside for some but I personally think the larger size is a step in the right direction for these watches. Yes, they should have another version for women and men with smaller wrists. This larger size might look large at first, but then again…if you recall…how absurdly big did the original Samsung Galaxy Note phone look when it came out? Now, phones that size are the norm. It’s not too heavy either. It’s heavy enough to feel like a solid, well-made time piece, but light enough to easily forget you’re wearing it.
Looks
The design, though big, is more attractive than the Apple Watch. Both Gear S3 models put on a good show thanks to the combination of its fitness features like on the Gear Fit2 and smart watch functions as on the Gear S2, wrapped up in one single device. This Frontier model definitely looks more rugged than the classic and comes with a rubberised strap as standard, while the more comes with a premium black leather strap as standard. However, both models can accept any 22mm standard watch strap. It’s rated to be able to take a beating and the IP68 rating means it can be survive being dropped into 5ft of water for 30 minutes. The face has a lot of matte surfaces so it doesn’t draw too much attention, but there are enough shiny accents that keep it looking sharp.
Function
This thing does everything I would want from a smart watch. It’s quick and responsive, the interface is pretty simple, and you can add on whatever widgets you need to keep things quick and smooth. Calls are clear on both ends, making hands free pretty literal. All notifications are nice to look at with response options available on the screen. If the watch doesn’t have a compatible response, it will open the specific app on your phone as soon as you unlock your phone. Altimeter and barometer are both accurate when comparing to external instruments. Pedometer is also relatively accurate. The heart rate monitor also works flawlessly. Plus, the wrist vibrations are fantastic, unlike my Huawei watch which was so weak that I would often miss notifications.
Always-On
One of the most annoying parts of owning a smart watch is the “pouring coffee” arm manoeuvre you have to do just to see the time. I’m over that. It works great on the gear S3 and is responsive when done correctly. But sometimes you can’t pour that coffee because you’re holding something or whatever, and you suddenly realize this smart watch is more dumb than smart at times. I was carrying a big box recently and someone asked me the time, I glanced at my watch and it was a blank screen. But I couldn’t do the manoeuvre. So I pathetically said, I don’t know what time it is. I now always use the watch with the Always-On mode turned on and I can actually get close to 3 full days of use with Always-On on… that’s a huge practical step in the right direction. This is after all, a watch.
Battery life
As I mentioned above, I’m really impressed with the battery life. With the Always-On feature enabled I can get close to 3 days of usage. The watch will get 4 full days of usage when Auto- On screen mode is enabled. As for charging, the Gear S3 comes with a charging cradle which is really convenient. When charging, the device sits sprung up on a vertical panel, held in place by magnets. This allows you to monitor the charging process easily and even use the Gear S3 as a night watch by your bed.
Ambient light Sensor
It’s interesting how Samsung doesn’t really advertise this feature and yet you have Motorola leaving their infamous “flat tire” on their watches just so they can have that same feature. For a watch, this feature is an essential and practical feature that a surprising number of smart watches don’t have. It’s a small feature, but makes the user experience better and I think worth noting here.
Overall, I believe Gear S3 is the best smart watch money can buy right now.
#INSIDERSGEARS3
