Samsung’s Gear S2 Watch Has a Round Face, Cellular Connection - Personal Tech News - WSJ
After releasing
six smartwatches in 2013 and 2014, Samsung formally introduced its first watch of 2015 on Monday. The Gear S2 is the first Samsung watch with a circular display. It’ll be sold in three variations: standard, Classic and 3G.
Every version has the same essential specs: a 1.2-inch diameter touch display with a 360×360-pixel resolution; 4GB of storage to store apps, music and other data (that’s half as much as the Apple Watch); 512MB of RAM, and a 1GHz dual-core processor; wireless charging; NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
These aren’t Android Wear watches: They’ll all run on Samsung’s fledgling Tizen operating system, which is
largely found in TVs and
low-end phones. Samsung says all models of the Gear S2 will provide two to three days worth of battery life.
The standard Gear S2 will be available in two color options: dark gray with a dark gray rubberized band, and silver with a white rubberized band. The Gear S2 3G is the same watch as the standard model, but it’ll connect to 3G cellular networks.
The Gear S2 Classic will have a black case and black leather band. The bands will be swappable, but it’s unclear if the Gear S2 uses a proprietary design or standard watch bands.
What Samsung is willing to say, so far, is that the Gear S2 will have apps tailored to its circular display, including a Nike+ Running app. Samsung also has fitness app of its own, S Health, as well as apps it’s built for calendars, maps, news, weather and music playback. S Voice, Samsung’s digital assistant rival to Siri and Google Now, will also be found on the Gear S2 to answer web search questions, and to schedule alarms and calendar appointments.
But the company is light on details for this watch, such as how much interaction it would have with phones, or if it will be at all compatible with phones outside the Samsung family.
The 3G version can be used without being tied to a phone, but to what degree is also still a mystery. So is its cellular network compatibility.
Samsung also hasn’t said how much the Gear S2 will cost or when it’ll go on sale, but the company said in an email that more details will come at the IFA electronics show in Berlin on Thursday.