Want A Smartwatch? Check Out Samsung’s Gear Sport That’s Both Lightweight And Waterproof
Sleek and sporty.
By John Lim — 30 Jan 2018, 04:25 PM
If you’re shopping around for a smartwatch, you might want to consider the Gear Sport, especially if you’re a Samsung user
Released alongside the IconX, the Samsung Gear Sport exudes a fitness focus while also allowing the user to enjoy the perks of owning a smartwatch.
It has a sweat-friendly silicone strap and lighter, smaller construction when compared to the Samsung Gear S3. The wearable is capable of swim tracking and can withstand up to 50 meters of submersion.
Courtesy of Samsung, I had the chance of testing out the Gear Sport for two weeks. I used the wearable together with a Galaxy Note 8. Pairing was simple and effortless: as soon as I powered the smartwatch, the phone detected its presence instantly.
Read on for a detailed review of the smartwatch.
Design and build:
Unlike the masculine S3, the significantly smaller Gear Sport will fit a range of wrists. Most round face watches look gargantuan on my skinny wrist, but the Gear Sport fits just right.
Being an overall smaller watch, the Gear Sport also uses a smaller watch band. It will still let you use any standard watch bands you'd like, but you'll need to shop for 20mm straps rather than the 22mm you can currently find for the Gear S3.
The smartwatch is available in Black or Blue colours and the firm says it offers "military-level durability". We're not quite sure if it is that durable, but the watch feels sturdy in hand while keeping it lightweight.
Samsung offers a rotating bezel which is used to interact with different features. You can still use the screen and there are buttons on the side, but the bezel is a nice way to explore the wearable as you won't have to worry about the screen getting stained with fingerprints.
Rating: 4/5.
Display and battery life:
The 1.2-inch AMOLED screen is clear and sharp as what you'd expect from Samsung – the colours are vibrant and the brightness goes quite high. I didn't encounter any issues with visibility outdoors as what's on screen always look sharp.
Samsung claims you can get three days of battery life with its 300mAh battery, and that's actually close to what I got. But that's assuming you're using the wearable without the always-on display switched on.
The Gear Sport comes with a wireless charging dock, which is capable of fast charging on the go.
Rating: 4/5.
Performance and apps:
The Gear Sport is packed with a dual-core 1GHz processor, 768MB of RAM, and 4GB of storage. These work well with the Tizen operating system, making it snappy and responsive. Rotating the bezel was pleasant and instantaneous, with all the apps responding without a stutter.
Everything is well laid out too. Rotate the bezel left to and all your notifications are separated by individual cards to the left of the home screen. Scroll right and you’ll see all of your customisable widgets.
Things on the app front are somewhat lacking, but Spotify is the saving grace here. Most Tizen-based wearables offer support for Spotify offline playback and the Gear Sport is no exception.
With a Spotify account, you're able to either stream music directly on the wearable if you have a Wi-Fi connection or save your tunes for offline use.
Rating: 4/5.
Fitness tracking:
The Gear Sport includes an improved exercise tracking algorithm. There's GPS for accurate distance and location tracking while an accelerometer tracks sleep patterns and step counts.
It is water resistant at 5ATM, meaning it can handle being worn in the swimming pool. There's a nifty swimming mode which disables the touchscreen to prevent water from sending it haywire.
You won't have to worry about the shortage of workouts either. Whether that’s the standard stable of running, cycling or swimming, or more obscure workouts – chances are, there’s an option for it on the Gear Sport.
Rating: 4/5.
Who would appreciate using the Gear Sport the most?
The Gear Sport is almost as robust a fitness tracker as it is a smartwatch, and is a good option for those looking to own their first wearable for work and fun.The design is distinctive, yet understated enough to fit in a business or casual setting.
The fitness-tracking features may not be as accurate for fitness buffs, but it does enough to satisfy casual gym-goers.
Plus, its unique rotating bezel stands out as a good way to interact with a smartwatch. Sometimes I just idly spin the bezel because it's darn satisfying – it's like a fidget spinner on your wrist.
Overall rating: 4/5.