Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch

Wearables are a hot buzzword right now, and that’s putting it lightly. As the smartphone and tablet markets mature, device manufacturers are looking toward other markets to continue growth and drive shoppers towards their offerings.

Smartwatches are supposed to offer quick access to many of the things you normally do on your phone, such as checking messages, taking photos, checking the weather and answering calls. You can install apps for additional functionality that lets you track fitness activities and play games. It's like having the power of your smartphone on your wrist. And the Samsung Galaxy gear exactly does that.

The Galaxy Gear feels surprisingly well constructed. I’m actually a lot more impressed with build quality of the Gear than I thought I would be.I'm mostly in love with the look of the Gear. The brushed metal with exposed screws looks as sophisticated as ever. Along the sides of the 36.8 x 56.6 x 11.1mm watch, you'll find the only physical button (the home key), with one mic on each side. Underneath, you'll see the charging connectors, a Samsung logo and the obligatory identifying information, but none of these things are actually visible when you're wearing the Gear. Continuing down the ridged wristband, you'll see the frame and metal clasp, the latter of which contains a tiny speaker.

Spec-wise, the Gear features an 800 MHz processor with 512 MB of RAM, a 315 mAh battery, 4 GB of internal storage, 2 MP Camera, Bluetooth 4.0 + LE and an accelerometer, gyroscope and runs on Android 4.2. It’s available in a wide variety of colors. As for the display, it's a 1.63-inch panel with 320 x 320 resolution, so don't expect HD quality here. Placing phone calls with the Gear makes you feel a little like a Secret Service agent. As for battery life, you should get anywhere between a day and a half to two days of solid use. 

The Galaxy Gear is simple enough, but it necessitates that you own the new Galaxy Note 3. Right now, it's the only smartphone that'll pair with the Gear. That'll expand to other current and new Samsung smartphones in future days, but for now, it's Note 3 or nothing. 

Setting up the Gear is simple. Tap the Note 3 against the Gear's charging dock and the embedded NFC tag prompts you to download the Gear Manager app. It's worth noting that you're downloading it directly from Samsung and not Google Play. Once you're all paired up its simple enough to use.

On the main screen of the Gear, you can swipe up to get the dialer and make a call, swipe down to access the camera or swipe left or right to flip through your apps and services, such as notifications, S Voice, settings, pedometer and the third-party app folder (to name a few). You can also tap the screen with two fingers and either hold to bring up a stock Android recent apps menu, or double-tap to bring up battery percentage and settings for brightness and sound. Lastly, a double-tap on the home button will bring up S Voice by default, though you can change this to whatever app you want; if you hold the button down instead, you'll be prompted to turn off the device.

Taking pictures with the gear is fun. Samsung's made it one swipe away from the home screen watch face — you swipe down to launch it. To take a picture, either tap on the screen or say "cheese". And you can have pictures upload automatically from the watch to the phone, saving you a little trouble. That's a nice touch.

You'll also be able to change the clock that shows up on your home panel; there are plenty of analog and digital versions, some of which offer app shortcuts, calendar events or the current weather.

The built-in app options include a pedometer, weather, calendar, voice memos, media controller, and a stopwatch — and there are a number of other apps you can download directly from Samsung. Those include Banjo and Path and Runkeeper and Samsung's own ChatOn, to name but a few. There's also a "find my phone" feature — and it works in reverse from the Note 3 so that you can "find my Gear" if it's fallen in a couch cushion or something.

But it's disappointing that the Gear's locked into Samsung's hardware ecosystem. I get it, and it's a sound strategic decision, but it's still disappointing. I'd love to use the Gear with whatever phone I happen to be using.

I think Samsung has rushed the smartwatch, it should have taken time to develop more apps and compatibility with other phones. The Galaxy Gear is a solid effort from Samsung, but it needs time to grow and develop. The things it does, it does well, and it's certainly more feature-rich and evolved than any other smartwatch in the market. The Gear isn't bad for a first-generation Samsung product, and it'll get better as the ecosystem grows.