Is Galaxy Gear a must have Item?

sohappy

http://reviews.cnet.com/watches-and-wrist-devices/samsung-galaxy-gear-smartwatch/4505-3512_7-35826691.html?autoplay=true

folan

same as the sony watches. good idea, but when you have to charge a phone and a watch daily, its probably not

Sonics2k

I was really really interested in this, right up until the point they said you need a Samsung phone for it to work.

That was a deal breaker on the spot for me.

Fluffy88

If you want to get one for any Android phone have a look at pebble, http://getpebble.com/.

A Neurotic

Genuinely cannot fathom why someone would pay 400 for one of these. It's pretty much an accessory.

A2LUE42

Fluffy88 wrote: »

If you want to get one for any Android phone have a look at pebble, http://getpebble.com/.

Only going to work with the Note 3 at launch.

ferrigan101

Has there been any mention of price for this?

I could be tempted if it was cheap enough.

Edit - Just seen it's up for $299 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/samsung-299-galaxy-gear-tests-demand-for-smart-watches.html

A bit pricey tbh.

Fluffy88

A2LUE42 wrote: »

Only going to work with the Note 3 at launch.

Compatibility

iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, 5 or any iPod Touch with iOS 5 or iOS 6. (iOS 5 and iPhone 3GS have restricted feature sets). Android devices running OS 2.3 and up. Works great with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)!

Unfortunately Pebble does not work with Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, or Palm phones at this time.

Source

Pebble is the original Smart(?) watch and cheaper as far as I can see. Looks like the Samsung screen might be a little prettier but you can't argue with $150 and compatibility across all Android devices.

madness98

Give it a while and I think smart watches will be more of a norm. I think i'll leave this trend to the early adopters though.

On a side note, weren't there attempts in smart watch tech years ago? In my head im seeing huge bulky things with antenna on them.

Penn

The only reason to have it as far as I can see is that it means you don't always have to take your phone out of your pocket.

And if I ever get so lazy that I pay over €200 for that, just f*cking kill me.

Ivefoundgod

25 Hours battery life? That is beyond a joke, considering how often manufacturers battery claims are miles off compared to real life performance its unlikely to get you through a day with moderate to heavy use. I've got a S3 but pretty much everything Samsung are doing right now are putting me off them as a company, S4 was underwhelming, the gear is a joke, combined with the problems I had with my phone and I can't see myself buying any of their stuff again.

_Kaiser_

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

25 Hours battery life? That is beyond a joke, considering how often manufacturers battery claims are miles off compared to real life performance its unlikely to get you through a day with moderate to heavy use. I've got a S3 but pretty much everything Samsung are doing right now are putting me off them as a company, S4 was underwhelming, the gear is a joke, combined with the problems I had with my phone and I can't see myself buying any of their stuff again.

The problem I think is phones - like PC's before them - have plateaued

Think back 10-15 years ago when PCs and OS's changed significantly every 18 months or so. There was a compelling reason to upgrade in each case (Win 98 - Win ME - 2000 - XP) and the processor speeds and graphic cards were increasing their potential at the same rate

But now, for most people (gamers excluded), your 3/4 year old PC or laptop with Win 7 and a Core 2/early i3/5 is still probably more than enough for your usage - web browsing, Facebook, email, IM etc - so why would you bother upgrading for the sake of it?

I think we're at the same point here.. there's little REAL differences between the S3/S4/Note 2/Note 3 except some software gimmicks that most will probably use a few times and forget about (and which will probably find their way to the "older" devices through official updates or XDA developers porting them in custom ROMs). If you already have one of the last-gen devices, there's little to entice you to upgrade/cough up another €600 or sign another 18/24 month contract for €40/50 a month really.

"The Next Big Thing" is still out there, but I don't think what we saw yesterday is it.

Tigerandahalf

I think you are right there. Only use I can see at the moment for this is for walkers or runners who might want to map their run. I think that market would buy it if it provided an easy means to map runs etc. The downside is people probably won't use it to listen to music as the wire from headphones would be flapping everywhere.

Ivefoundgod

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

I think we're at the same point here.. there's little REAL differences between the S3/S4/Note 2/Note 3 except some software gimmicks that most will probably use a few times and forget about (and which will probably find their way to the "older" devices through official updates or XDA developers porting them in custom ROMs). If you already have one of the last-gen devices, there's little to entice you to upgrade/cough up another €600 or sign another 18/24 month contract for €40/50 a month really.

"The Next Big Thing" is still out there, but I don't think what we saw yesterday is it.

Oh I agree that there's little difference between phones at the moment, I just think Samsung have lost direction, they put out this to pre-empt Apple presumably but its clearly a much poorer product than what I expect Apple to come out with. Why is there a camera on it for example? Samsung seem stuck in this race to have the biggest processor, most megapixels etc. when the market has moved beyond that now. The Note 3 looks to be another disappointment in this regard. More gimmicks.

As I said, I can't see myself buying a Samsung product again where as I would love to upgrade to the HTC One even though its not much more powerful than my S3.

Sonics2k

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Source

Pebble is the original Smart(?) watch and cheaper as far as I can see. Looks like the Samsung screen might be a little prettier but you can't argue with $150 and compatibility across all Android devices.

I think he was referring to the new Galaxy Gear as only working with the Note 3.

Atomic Pineapple

Only working with Samsung devices,the price and less than a weeks charge means this is going to be a dead duck in no time, shame really, Apple will announce theirs soon probably and do it right. Hopefully some other manufacturer gets an Android one or cross platform one right soon.

pickarooney

The battery and the fact that the screen would presumably go to sleep every couple of minutes to conserve it make this pointless. If you're too lazy to take your phone out you won't be impressed with having to turn the screen of your watch on every time you use it. Particularly useless if you're tracking your progress while running I should think.

Atomic Pineapple

pickarooney wrote: »

The battery and the fact that the screen would presumably go to sleep every couple of minutes to conserve it make this pointless. If you're too lazy to take your phone out you won't be impressed with having to turn the screen of your watch on every time you use it. Particularly useless if you're tracking your progress while running I should think.

I guess the screen will automatically turn on when you lift it to look at it though, be crazy if it didn't.

anncoates

They will be the new public Twat Identifier, taking over from Beats .

madness98

anncoates wrote: »

They will be the new public Twat Identifier, taking over from Beats .

Hahaha

Is that even possible? To be worse than Beats?

killbillvol2

anncoates wrote: »

They will be the new public Twat Identifier, taking over from Beats .

This.

They should come with a baseball cap as well, for long distance identification.

Eponymous

It has highlighted the problem with the current trend to ridiculously large phones... Now phones are so big you don't want to take them out of your pocket/handbag and instead want to have something smaller and more accessible, so they'll now sell you a $600+ phone and a $300 accessory so you can see what's on your phone.

There's a much more practical solution, and that's to buy a smaller phone!

I have an Xperia T and I cannot for the life of me phathom why anyone would want or need anything more powerful or any bigger.

Another question, if your Gear is communicating with your Note III via bluetooth, doesn't that mean you can't pair a bluetooth headset simultaneously? If so, doesn't this make the Gear even more of a waste in that the only benefit then is to see if it's actually worth hauling your phone out of your pocket?

madness98

Eponymous wrote: »

There's a much more practical solution, and that's to buy a smaller phone!

I suppose that depends on the user. My friend has an S3 mini. By all means its a good little machine but I found its small size made it unwieldy in my hands. Where as I find I can operate my S4 one handed with ease.

syklops

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Only working with Samsung devices,the price and less than a weeks charge means this is going to be a dead duck in no time, shame really, Apple will announce theirs soon probably and do it right. Hopefully some other manufacturer gets an Android one or cross platform one right soon.

Im hoping no-one buys it, the price plummits and then I can buy it and improve it. I love the idea of wearable tech. SHame no-one can build any decent stuff.

Genuinely cannot fathom why someone would pay 400 for one of these. It's pretty much an accessory.

People pay a hell of a lot more than 400 quid for accessories. An Omega Seamaster(which I would love) starts at about 2 grand.

Atomic Pineapple

syklops wrote: »

Im hoping no-one buys it, the price plummits and then I can buy it and improve it. I love the idea of wearable tech. SHame no-one can build any decent stuff.

I too think a smart watch is a great idea but this is done so badly by Samsung it has no choice but to fail, the exact same mistakes Google made with the Nexus Q are evident here, way over priced, lacking functionality, too much emphasis on design.

A smart watch needs to be sub €100, have a battery that can stretch a week and be cross platform or at least work with any Android phone, not just one from launch.

Ste-

An E-ink style smart watch. Battery should last on that. And notifications should still be readable etc.

Overheal

Atomic Pineapple

Ste- wrote: »

An E-ink style smart watch. Battery should last on that. And notifications should still be readable etc.

Something like that would be cool, all a smart watch should really be is a way to link to your smart phone to let you know whats happening on it, not try to be a replacement.

pickarooney

Is it even waterproof?

syklops

pickarooney wrote: »

Is it even waterproof?

I doubt it. Splash proof maybe.

Tom Dunne

As a self-confessed gadget nut, all I can say is No. No, no, no.

I just don't get it.

Ugly, cumbersome, gaudy - a few of the terms that spring to mind when looking at the pictures of the device. The reviews are lukewarm too - a lot of them remarking how sluggish the thing is. And a camera? A little pervy, if you ask me.

And making a phonecall by holding your wrist to your ear? Seriously?

There's just nothing appealing about it.

Gone West

I've owned a couple of watch phones over the years.
I have a two year old watch phone that works independently, cost me 90 quid and that included a tiny Bluetooth headset.
I also can tell you that Samsung's latest attempt is still too clunky to be worth looking at.

Mickey mouse POS.

pleasant Co.

I'm just waiting for my massive phone watch bracelet with a wireless earpiece holder seamlessly built in , if it could fire lazers that'd be damn cool too.

syklops

Tom Dunne wrote: »

As a self-confessed gadget nut, all I can say is No. No, no, no.

I just don't get it.

Ugly, cumbersome, gaudy - a few of the terms that spring to mind when looking at the pictures of the device. The reviews are lukewarm too - a lot of them remarking how sluggish the thing is. And a camera? A little pervy, if you ask me.

And making a phonecall by holding your wrist to your ear? Seriously?

There's just nothing appealing about it.

I'm very torn. On the one hand I like the idea of a smart watch. On the other, I appreciate a good watch. I have a casio divers watch. Its not expensive but it is very visually appealing.

The samsung effort doesn't really tick either box. Its not good looking, and its not very smart.

philthrill69

This seems like a far "smarter" option. http://toq.qualcomm.com/#toq-hello

syklops

philthrill69 wrote: »

This seems like a far "smarter" option. http://toq.qualcomm.com/#toq-hello

Have to laugh at the heading of "Visibly different". Large screen, chunky appearance, it looks the same as every other smart watch Ive seen.

Atomic Pineapple

syklops wrote: »

Have to laugh at the heading of "Visibly different". Large screen, chunky appearance, it looks the same as every other smart watch Ive seen.

Still looks a lot better than Samsungs weak effort though!

syklops

Atomic Pineapple wrote: »

Still looks a lot better than Samsungs weak effort though!

Thats debatable:

Atomic Pineapple

syklops wrote: »

Thats debatable:

Sorry, I know I said looks but I didn't mean in design, more in function, should have made that clearer on reading back my comment

jester77

Reminds me of the calculator watches that were the in thing when I was a young lad!

Atomic Pineapple

jester77 wrote: »

Reminds me of the calculator watches that were the in thing when I was a young lad!

I had one that was also a remote control for TV's and video players!

philthrill69

syklops wrote: »

Thats debatable:

It's the three day battery on the toq that's swaying it for me.

Skerries

pointless technology is pointless

madness98

In terms of pure aesthetics, I think that Samsung yolk looks much better. At least it semi resembles a watch.