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Ok, so after having worked with this for a while, I thought it was time to share my findings
I love the idea of a smart watch and a smart phone working together
I've had a Pebble with my iPhone, but for me, there were a few things missing,
YouTube has had some great videos and on the back of these, I've found that the iPhone can in fact do quite a few things with the Gear 2
After first pairing the watch with the iPhone (turn off and then on the Bluetooth option, and then check the box marked 'Make visable', then your iPhone can find the device.
So, with that done:-
Phone calls work between the devices ( find someone with a Samsung device, ensure your contacts etc are on that device, even temporarily, and you'll get your contacts and contact photos on your Gear2)
Notifications unfortunately don't work....BUT, Siri does...kind of!
If the devices are connected and Siri is activated, the sound comes through the Gear speaker.
So, with the new 'Hey Siri' feature, you can activate Siri by speaking into your watch and using it that way.
I find that I can ask Siri to read my text messages, send text messages etc etc etc. now bear in mind, 'hey Siri' only works if there's power to your iPhone, and I have a juice-pack and so my device has power. Yes, a long winded way of using it, but it works for me.
I use my gear 2 for all the fitness elements and heart rate, and it works for me.
Also, The official Google app works through the watch, Google Maps reads out your directions to the gear 2 too.
Now you may say that Apple are making a watch, and you'd be right....but I don't want to pay £300 for a watch!. I was lucky enough to get a mint condition gear2 for £70, and the added bonus is the battery is getting me a good 2 days battery life.
So, if you're interested in having a go, all this also works with the Gear 1 which can be picked up even cheaper.
I'd welcome your comments
Ok....you sold me on it. I too, have and iPhone 5S and was considering a Gear 2.
Nice one
Let me know how it goes
You can, of course, always sell it!
One thing I meant to add was that I use the camera an awful lot too.
Yes, again there's lots said about cameras and mega pixels etc etc blah blah, but, I find it very handy for 'quick' pictures, and the 720p videos cool!
I periodically connect it to my computer to put/change music etc and that's when I drag the pics & videos of it.
They then automatically fly upto to Dropbox ready for distribution whenever I wish.
I use the Dropbox Carousel app for photos ( just can't get on with Apples Photos Cloud thing...it's still too flaky for me), and so I've got pictures wherever I need them!
I was even on the Samsung website today looking at the additional watch bands and picked me up a bargain strap for just £14!!
They have some nice designer ones too
So for me, it's working nicely right now
pglandscapes said:
Nice one
Let me know how it goes
You can, of course, always sell it!
One thing I meant to add was that I use the camera an awful lot too.
Yes, again there's lots said about cameras and mega pixels etc etc blah blah, but, I find it very handy for 'quick' pictures, and the 720p videos cool!
I periodically connect it to my computer to put/change music etc and that's when I drag the pics & videos of it.
They then automatically fly upto to Dropbox ready for distribution whenever I wish.
I use the Dropbox Carousel app for photos ( just can't get on with Apples Photos Cloud thing...it's still too flaky for me), and so I've got pictures wherever I need them!
I was even on the Samsung website today looking at the additional watch bands and picked me up a bargain strap for just £14!!
They have some nice designer ones too
So for me, it's working nicely right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love it but it is a pain in a way because when I pair it with my iPhone using the bluetooth tap trick, the time zone is always 2 hours ahead of my time zone ( I am in the Eastern Time Zone )
Other than that, besides the limited functionality due to me having an iPhone 5S, I still love it. Hope someone figures out how to make them talk to each other in the near future. :highfive:
Hmmm not sure in the time zone thing
I'm in the UK and all I did was ask someone to pair the gear initially to get the right time
As daft as it may sound, you could always pick up a beat up old S3 to use as a'hub' for your gear..
Well there is always this thread here...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-2/help/tizen-mod-3-time-zone-option-t2989414
Maybe we can figure out how to get it working for each other. LOL!!!!!!
Others have said that they have gotten the gear to work with Caller ID with their iPhones but I have not figured it out. Any ideas PG?
Hey guys,
I use Whatsapp pretty heavily and was wondering if you can record whatsapp voice msgs over the Gear 2? I know from what I've read, it was a possibility, however that was an article published a couple months back.
Can anyone give me some insight on that? Also, what other features do you find beneficial? I am on the fence, I am a watch fanatic and wondering if this would be a good purchase for me. My main apps are music for while at the gym (which I use bluetooth headsets anyhow), whatsapp, phone, text, and email. Which, from my understanding the Gear 2 handles all of these things (including phone calls?)
I'm sitting at the checkout screen and considering it, please help me decide! Thank you
My wife bought me one for Christmas, but I was like you, on the fence. I've had it for 5 days now, and I can definitely see the convenience in having it. Although it's early days for tizen development, there is (in my opinion) a bright future for it. Eventually there will be more and more app integration, just like those that adopted android way back in the day, and look where we are now.
The most important thing, in my eyes, to remember is that the gear is infact, a companion to your phone, and not a replacement. Keeping that in mind, together with realistic expectations of what you can do on it, it should be a wonderful experience.
Hope that helps you.
Love it
It's all about personal usage cases!
I have one and after a couple of months, would not be without it.
True, for full on features, you need your phone, but i often use it on its own. Loaded with music for the gym, Notepad ++ for memos etc, S-Alarm for the obvious alarms, calculators, watch faces, sleep monitoring, voice memos,calendars, fitness logging...and not forgetting the camera for those quick shots and videos, this little device really is a device which can be used on it's own!!. None of the above require the phone to use them!
Then of course when you begin to introduce the phone to the watch....even more is possible!
I really hope you're enjoying your new watch and look forward to hearing how you get on with it in the coming weeks
I find the Neo and the 2 have a good basic notification balance and not trying to replace your mobile - for me I like it, but a shame you can only reply template or S Voice to texts and not WhatsApp and email.
I very much doubt there will be any further app integration for us Gear owners.
But I still bought my Gear 2 knowing that
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app
I'm not a WhatsApp user, but you can definitely reply to emails u using templates
I've added plenty of my own custom template for just this reason, and for me it works well.
I do however use the Samsung email app, and I know that if I received a gmail message, the option to reply using templates isn't available
@Manic9803
Seen your post earlier and seen this Whatsapp for gear 2 in app and themes.
Make sure to Thank the developer.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-2/themes-apps/wip-whatsgear-whatsapp-wrist-t2947807
It's a great little gadget...but don,t expect to change your life. It's nice, convinient, you can see "SOME" notifcations, although I wish you could see full notifications and not the stupid "open phone to view". The battery life is great, about 4-5 days on a charge. I def use it many times a day to reject calls (because the speaker is not loud enough to take calls unless you're in a quiet room). There are some useful apps, I can shazam music, use a calculator, use GPS navigation and see my route directly on the watch.
It's an accessory, it's nice to have, but I could def live without it.
Hello,
Actually, I use my Samsung S7 with Endomondo installed to monitor my running sessions. Things I need when I run are : pace by kms, sound notification for each km with pace, total distance and also music which is always motivating when you run.
I think about buying a Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 or Gear S3 to monitor my running sessions and leave my Samsung S7 at home. Do you think using just a Gear S2 or Gear S3 could be possible given my needs ?
Thanks for your answers and your help.
Sylvain
I don't think you will be able to use just the watch. Unfortunately none of the big name fitness tracking apps like Runtastic, Strava, Endomondo have or have any intention of creating apps for the Tizen OS that runs on the Gear S2. So that means you are stuck using Samsung's S-Health app to track your runs. You will only get a map of your run IF you start the run from the phone. If you start it from the watch, it only tracks speed, heartrate and splits. I ran 2 races this past weekend. A 5k and a Half Marathon. For the 5k, I started the app on my phone but never had any info on the watch (maybe I need to start it in both places) and did get a map of my run. For the Half I started my run on the watch and was able to see my HR, Speed, Pace, Distance etc on my watch at a glance but didn't get a map of the run when done.
I have written to all the fitness tracker apps asking if they plan to support the Samsung Gear Sx line of smartwatches and they all respond with a very long winded well worded answer of NO. It is unfortunate as I have both an android wear watch and the Gear S2 and much prefer the Gear.
Good luck with your decision.
J...
killarneygetaway said:
I don't think you will be able to use just the watch. Unfortunately none of the big name fitness tracking apps like Runtastic, Strava, Endomondo have or have any intention of creating apps for the Tizen OS that runs on the Gear S2. So that means you are stuck using Samsung's S-Health app to track your runs. You will only get a map of your run IF you start the run from the phone. If you start it from the watch, it only tracks speed, heartrate and splits. I ran 2 races this past weekend. A 5k and a Half Marathon. For the 5k, I started the app on my phone but never had any info on the watch (maybe I need to start it in both places) and did get a map of my run. For the Half I started my run on the watch and was able to see my HR, Speed, Pace, Distance etc on my watch at a glance but didn't get a map of the run when done.
I have written to all the fitness tracker apps asking if they plan to support the Samsung Gear Sx line of smartwatches and they all respond with a very long winded well worded answer of NO. It is unfortunate as I have both an android wear watch and the Gear S2 and much prefer the Gear.
Good luck with your decision.
J...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer.
Finally, I bought the Samsung Gear Fit 2. Yesterday, I tried it during a running session and it works very well. GPS is reliable, so distances runned are good. There is also vocal notifications for pace by km which is a great point for me. The music player works well also.
When I finished my running session, I went back to home and I synced the Gear Fit 2 with my Samsung S7 having the S Health application installed. The last problem is that in S Health my running session has been imported correctly but it seems impossible to have the pace by km for each km runned displayed. May be it's a limitation on the S Health application.
It seems also the GPS export from S Health doesn't work.
sylsau said:
Thanks for your answer.
Finally, I bought the Samsung Gear Fit 2. Yesterday, I tried it during a running session and it works very well. GPS is reliable, so distances runned are good. There is also vocal notifications for pace by km which is a great point for me. The music player works well also.
When I finished my running session, I went back to home and I synced the Gear Fit 2 with my Samsung S7 having the S Health application installed. The last problem is that in S Health my running session has been imported correctly but it seems impossible to have the pace by km for each km runned displayed. May be it's a limitation on the S Health application.
It seems also the GPS export from S Health doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mind sharing some additional feedback because I'm also planning to get rid of my phone while running and from a hardware perspective the Gear Fit 2 ticks all the boxes.
I'm especially interested if the heartrate monitor is useful during a workout (e.g. readable and accurate). And what do you think about the software? Most of the critics have been about the software which could have gotten better since the release.
Thanks!
ts-apps said:
Do you mind sharing some additional feedback because I'm also planning to get rid of my phone while running and from a hardware perspective the Gear Fit 2 ticks all the boxes.
I'm especially interested if the heartrate monitor is useful during a workout (e.g. readable and accurate). And what do you think about the software? Most of the critics have been about the software which could have gotten better since the release.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made several running sessions since I bought the Gear Fit 2 and I also used the Gear Fit 2 daily. It's really a great product. Steps counter is accurate, GPS is reliable too. All the data are easily readable when you run for example. The screen is really reactive.
For the heart rate monitor, it is easily readable when you run for example. However, it can be not really accurate when you run if you sweat for example because your wrist is wet. I noticed some errors at this moment. When you are resting, hear rate monitor works perfectly.
killarneygetaway said:
You will only get a map of your run IF you start the run from the phone. If you start it from the watch, it only tracks speed, heartrate and splits.
J...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI if you have the 3G version of the Gear S2 you can enable location services and get a map of your run afterward. In my experience it has been very accurate (in a suburban setting). The drawback is that it kills battery life (like 1% per minute of running).
hausman said:
FYI if you have the 3G version of the Gear S2 you can enable location services and get a map of your run afterward. In my experience it has been very accurate (in a suburban setting). The drawback is that it kills battery life (like 1% per minute of running).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, impossible to run a Marathon with the Gear S2
sylsau said:
So, impossible to run a Marathon with the Gear S2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends how fast you are. 42,195m in 100mins...
Seriously, though, it would probably last longer with location and 3G turned off. I'll get back to you as soon as I decide to start running marathons...
edit: mistakenly wrote 21.097m which is only a half, oops.
hausman said:
Depends how fast you are. 42,195m in 100mins...
Seriously, though, it would probably last longer with location and 3G turned off. I'll get back to you as soon as I decide to start running marathons...
edit: mistakenly wrote 21.097m which is only a half, oops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you run an half marathon in just one hour, you will be very close of the World Record man
sylsau said:
Thanks for your answer.
Finally, I bought the Samsung Gear Fit 2. Yesterday, I tried it during a running session and it works very well. GPS is reliable, so distances runned are good. There is also vocal notifications for pace by km which is a great point for me. The music player works well also.
When I finished my running session, I went back to home and I synced the Gear Fit 2 with my Samsung S7 having the S Health application installed. The last problem is that in S Health my running session has been imported correctly but it seems impossible to have the pace by km for each km runned displayed. May be it's a limitation on the S Health application.
It seems also the GPS export from S Health doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope I'm not upsetting you when I say this but if you can send it back, I recommend you do so. I would fully recommend you go out and get a Garmin Vivoactive HR instead.
killarneygetaway said:
I don't think you will be able to use just the watch. Unfortunately none of the big name fitness tracking apps like Runtastic, Strava, Endomondo have or have any intention of creating apps for the Tizen OS that runs on the Gear S2. So that means you are stuck using Samsung's S-Health app to track your runs.
J...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can sync S-health to Strava if that is the direction you want to go. Strava doesn't have the resources to support all OS's as they are a small company. Mainstream OS's only at this time.
Sword Fish said:
You can sync S-health to Strava if that is the direction you want to go. Strava doesn't have the resources to support all OS's as they are a small company. Mainstream OS's only at this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, we need to install Strava app on Android device and then it's possible to sync S-Health with Strava directly ?
Have this setup yet it still doesn't sync to Strava.
Gear s3 LTE works great for runs without the phone in my experience. I'm a former marathon runner who is focusing on half marathon distances now due to family life and purchased the gear s3 LTE specifically for running. In my experience, in standalone mode with Bluetooth headphones firing while streaming spotify and tracking the run via gps with no phone, I can get through a half marathon distance. If you want more than that, youll have to bring your phone and use the watch connected via bluetoot and can probably easily get a marathon distance. I use s health and actually like it. Has auto pause feature and total distance tracking is usually right on. The instant pace metric seems a bit erratic at times and there have been very very few random times when it has short changed my long runs (happened 1-2 times since I've had the watch). The pace, distance, total time, hr on the voice feedback seems right on.
Hi everyone,
Im a long time android user, currently without a samsung phone.
Im looking for a smart watch, using it as a regular watch (have always been wearing one) in the day-day life and as an activity tracker when doing sport (mountain biking and sometimes running)
I struggle to decide if to go with the samsung or one of the garmin fenix watches.
The altimeter-gps-hrm are the key features that I want to have statistics during my activity, and I've read conflicting opinions about bad readings.
1. Any of you who is also doing some kind of sport activity, Are you satisfied with the watch? Is it accurate enough?
2. Re watch apps and builtin apps, I understand that there is some bloatware, Can it be removed?
3. Re sensors readings and activity tracking, can it be exported to be used with other apps? Can I use orux maps on my phone and having an activity recording on the phone gather also the information from the watch?
4. Is it possible to load gpx files and a map beforehand and follow a route like that, offline, without a phone?
5. Is any of the watch functionality degraded when using a non-samsung phone?
I would like to hear as much information from the watch owners, because its hard to decide, on one hand having a watch that costs ~300$ and has a bright screen, smarter, or spending ~600$ for a watch that is allegedly better at activity tracking, but has a poor screen and functionality otherwise, and is much more expensive
eranyanay said:
Hi everyone,
1. Any of you who is also doing some kind of sport activity, Are you satisfied with the watch? Is it accurate enough?
2. Re watch apps and builtin apps, I understand that there is some bloatware, Can it be removed?
3. Re sensors readings and activity tracking, can it be exported to be used with other apps? Can I use orux maps on my phone and having an activity recording on the phone gather also the information from the watch?
4. Is it possible to load gpx files and a map beforehand and follow a route like that, offline, without a phone?
5. Is any of the watch functionality degraded when using a non-samsung phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi there, I was in your very same position and I ended up getting and, for the moment, keeping the S3 frontier. I had an old Epson ps100 which is very good for tracking HR all day long and spotting any activity, but very bad in all the rest (step counts bad, no floor counts, horrible app with no integration with withings or myfitnesspal). Then I bought the Huawei Fit Watch, cheap and nice, but since I do mostly indoor rowing there was no way to use it but by telling it I was cycling and, then, it would make random acquisition of GPS while I was actually indoor. Then I tried the Fenix 3 HR, amazing watch for tracking sport, dedicated program for indoor rowing, but waaaaay off in terms of active calories burned, it would have me burning active calories while watching TV on the bed! I tried two different units, very same issue. On internet you'll find a lot of people having this issue with all the Garmin HR watches, and no answer from Garmin EVER.
So I ended up trying the S3 Frontier. It costs exactly like the Fenix 3HR right now, but half of the new Fenix 5. Which in Europe arrives today. I won't write a review of the watch, but just try to answer to your questions:
1. Any of you who is also doing some kind of sport activity, Are you satisfied with the watch? Is it accurate enough?
I do indoor rowing every day. Plus stretching with a foam roller. I use "Indoor Cycling" program to track the first and "Yoga" to track the second. The watch gives me the same results in terms of HR and calories than the Epson PS100 and the Huawei Fit. So I would say it is accurate, if you keep skin and hr reader clean and tight. I'm a professional photographer, and when I go out on assignments I use the "Hiking" program to track steps, HR, altitude, and to track my gps route. It works very well, even if I'm out for hours and hours.
2. Re watch apps and builtin apps, I understand that there is some bloatware, Can it be removed?
You can remove some of the original programs, but not all of them. They don't take much space though.
3. Re sensors readings and activity tracking, can it be exported to be used with other apps? Can I use orux maps on my phone and having an activity recording on the phone gather also the information from the watch?
There are other app you can use instead of the native ones, like Endomondo (which gave me horribly high calories counting, though) or MapMyRun, etc. I don't know if you can track simultaneously an activity with both SHealth and Endomondo, though. Never tried. You can surely track you gps with ORUX on your phone while using another app on you watch. Remember that in the worst case scenario, if you disconnect the watch from the phone you can use the internal GPS on the watch to track your hiking using SHealth.
4. Is it possible to load gpx files and a map beforehand and follow a route like that, offline, without a phone?
Kind of. You can load GPX files using either Komoot or Gear Navigator. Komoot is available only for users with a Samsung phone. I don't have it so I can't speak for it. I use Gear Navigator, and it works fine, but it requires the Gear Navigator Companion running on your phone. It gives you a map on the phone so you can see where you are compared to the track, but you still need your phone with you. The new Gear Navigator Standalone states it can use GPX too, and it works without a phone, but it still needs internet access or it refuses to work, so either you have the LTE version of the watch or it will still require a phone for the internet access. So, right now there is no app like Garmin ones which will allow you to have gpx tracks without maps working offline, but you have gpx tracks with maps (even satellite maps) working online. The best is I could track my "free hike" with SHealth, stop at the arrival, use the SHealth on the phone to export the GPX, open it with Gear Navigator, and have the watch showing me how to get back following my steps. That was nice.
5. Is any of the watch functionality degraded when using a non-samsung phone?
Right now some, but some of these get corrected to work with any android phone from time to time. Right now you don't have the "email" app (you can still read incoming emails, but you can't answer them or scroll through them). You don't have Uber and Komoot. You don't have the new matching themes. I can't think of other limitations right now, but probably there are. Nothing major, though, since I'm using mine since 18 days with daily workouts and hikes and all of the smart features (which are waaaaay better than any Fenix or Sunto watch) and I'm good with it.
lucarossini said:
hi there, I was in your very same position and I ended up getting and, for the moment, keeping the S3 frontier. I had an old Epson ps100 which is very good for tracking HR all day long and spotting any activity, but very bad in all the rest (step counts bad, no floor counts, horrible app with no integration with withings or myfitnesspal). Then I bought the Huawei Fit Watch, cheap and nice, but since I do mostly indoor rowing there was no way to use it but by telling it I was cycling and, then, it would make random acquisition of GPS while I was actually indoor. Then I tried the Fenix 3 HR, amazing watch for tracking sport, dedicated program for indoor rowing, but waaaaay off in terms of active calories burned, it would have me burning active calories while watching TV on the bed! I tried two different units, very same issue. On internet you'll find a lot of people having this issue with all the Garmin HR watches, and no answer from Garmin EVER.
So I ended up trying the S3 Frontier. It costs exactly like the Fenix 3HR right now, but half of the new Fenix 5. Which in Europe arrives today. I won't write a review of the watch, but just try to answer to your questions:
1. Any of you who is also doing some kind of sport activity, Are you satisfied with the watch? Is it accurate enough?
I do indoor rowing every day. Plus stretching with a foam roller. I use "Indoor Cycling" program to track the first and "Yoga" to track the second. The watch gives me the same results in terms of HR and calories than the Epson PS100 and the Huawei Fit. So I would say it is accurate, if you keep skin and hr reader clean and tight. I'm a professional photographer, and when I go out on assignments I use the "Hiking" program to track steps, HR, altitude, and to track my gps route. It works very well, even if I'm out for hours and hours.
2. Re watch apps and builtin apps, I understand that there is some bloatware, Can it be removed?
You can remove some of the original programs, but not all of them. They don't take much space though.
3. Re sensors readings and activity tracking, can it be exported to be used with other apps? Can I use orux maps on my phone and having an activity recording on the phone gather also the information from the watch?
There are other app you can use instead of the native ones, like Endomondo (which gave me horribly high calories counting, though) or MapMyRun, etc. I don't know if you can track simultaneously an activity with both SHealth and Endomondo, though. Never tried. You can surely track you gps with ORUX on your phone while using another app on you watch. Remember that in the worst case scenario, if you disconnect the watch from the phone you can use the internal GPS on the watch to track your hiking using SHealth.
4. Is it possible to load gpx files and a map beforehand and follow a route like that, offline, without a phone?
Kind of. You can load GPX files using either Komoot or Gear Navigator. Komoot is available only for users with a Samsung phone. I don't have it so I can't speak for it. I use Gear Navigator, and it works fine, but it requires the Gear Navigator Companion running on your phone. It gives you a map on the phone so you can see where you are compared to the track, but you still need your phone with you. The new Gear Navigator Standalone states it can use GPX too, and it works without a phone, but it still needs internet access or it refuses to work, so either you have the LTE version of the watch or it will still require a phone for the internet access. So, right now there is no app like Garmin ones which will allow you to have gpx tracks without maps working offline, but you have gpx tracks with maps (even satellite maps) working online. The best is I could track my "free hike" with SHealth, stop at the arrival, use the SHealth on the phone to export the GPX, open it with Gear Navigator, and have the watch showing me how to get back following my steps. That was nice.
5. Is any of the watch functionality degraded when using a non-samsung phone?
Right now some, but some of these get corrected to work with any android phone from time to time. Right now you don't have the "email" app (you can still read incoming emails, but you can't answer them or scroll through them). You don't have Uber and Komoot. You don't have the new matching themes. I can't think of other limitations right now, but probably there are. Nothing major, though, since I'm using mine since 18 days with daily workouts and hikes and all of the smart features (which are waaaaay better than any Fenix or Sunto watch) and I'm good with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thank you for the deep insights of your experience with the watch.
I have some followup questions,
1. How well do you feel the Altimeter/Berometer accurate? I read some contradictive opinions, some say they are accurate and some are not. Does it track height, floors, steps well?
2. Hi,
Thank you for the deep insights of your experience with the watch. It really makes me think more positive about buying one.
The main downside is that Im not a samsung user, so Im afraid that I will have less apps, watchfaces or settings/functionality.
I dont care for most apps, but Komoot actually looks nice.
I have some followup questions,
1. How well do you feel the Altimeter/Berometer/GPS accurate? I read some contradictive opinions, some say they are accurate and some are not. Does it track height, floors, steps well? Do you get location right?
2. Isnt there any way to sideload watchfaces/themes or komoot app onto the watch?
eranyanay said:
I have some followup questions,
1. How well do you feel the Altimeter/Berometer/GPS accurate? I read some contradictive opinions, some say they are accurate and some are not. Does it track height, floors, steps well? Do you get location right?
2. Isnt there any way to sideload watchfaces/themes or komoot app onto the watch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Komoot looks nice, but has no map on the watch, only directions. Gear Navigator, instead, has map, and even streetview.
The Altimeter/Barometer has no normal hiccups you could expect on these sensors when mounted on watches. They always had, even my old digital Casio Pro Trek had. Though, thanks to the GPS auto adjustment, they are usually correct. They work very well in detecting floors as long as you swing your arms while climbing up stairs and never stop in the middle. They work very well during hiking or skiing. Garmin has worse luck with the altimeter, my first unit said I was at 6000 meters over sea (I live in Rome, we are barely 20m over sea) an wasn't corrected by the GPS in any way. The GPS works fine, though I think I always had the phone with me while tracking, so it might have been the phone GPS I used...
I just found another app I can't have because I don't have samsung, it is called Pears. However, consider that the new apps are all coming for all the phones (worst luck if you use iOs), and that I don't really feel crippled. Also, the new watch update corrected the way SHealth reads HR during workout and now SHealth has HR zones and evaluate calories accordingly. It is much better, now I feel in line with Garmin during workout (out of workouts Garmin was terrible, S3 wins).
To answer to your last question, though, there is no way I'm aware to sideload apps. You should have to change phone to upload those, since I think when you do the watch gets reset. But, again, they aren't so many. And some of those may not even be available in your country (another little issue, some countries don't have Gear Navigator for example!).
Thanks,
Last thing come to mind, and Im not sure, I see some threads here about watchfaces mentioning themes available at the samsung apps store, is it available for android users in general, without the samsung?
What other tools available out there?
eranyanay said:
Thanks,
Last thing come to mind, and Im not sure, I see some threads here about watchfaces mentioning themes available at the samsung apps store, is it available for android users in general, without the samsung?
What other tools available out there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you pair the watch on your phone, the latter will automatically install Samsung Gear App Store. That's the store. You'll find all the hundreds of watchfaces and the (few good) apps there. I also just tested Gear Navigator and it seems to work offline too, using the maps in the cache. So it could work on a long hike in areas without internet. I haven't found a way to load GPX tracks on the Gear Navigator Standalone, though.
Thanks.
I think you got me convinced
So far I thought maybe I'll wait.
I think I will go for it.
Just gotta find some glass screen protector so I wont be sad when it scratches...
eranyanay said:
Thanks.
I think you got me convinced
So far I thought maybe I'll wait.
I think I will go for it.
Just gotta find some glass screen protector so I wont be sad when it scratches...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't put any on mine. The watch has Gorilla Glass on it, it's just slightly worse than the Sapphire the Fenix 3 and 5 have (if you pay 100$ more). The watch has been on my wrist every minute for almost a month, sustained skiing (with several high speed crashes), workouts, children (I have a 5yo and a toddler), dog (australian Shepherd), cooking, BBQing, cycling, and it doesn't have a single, slightest, scratch on the glass nor on the bezel. The protectors are way less strong, they will keep getting scratches, you'll think they saved the glass from those, but I don't think so. That said, it is just my opinion, if you feel safe with one just buy it, they are cheap and disposable
Try to get the watch from Amazon or some other vendors with a good return policy, in case you don't like it. As I said, I changed several HR watches in the last couple of months before finding one I like. You may have a totally different experience. Better safe than stuck with a watch you don't like.
I use Gear S3 to track gym sessions (mostly 45 minutes indoor elliptical). Switched from Polar M400.
Until the last update the pulse and calories count were on the low side (pulse about 5 beats less than Polar, 298 calories for session where Polar counted 400).
Since the update trained once today, pulse and calories got really close to those of Polar.
I have nothing to add except that there is an Uber app.
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
Would you say there is a good smart watch alternative in the Android wear field?
I have been looking at the Huawei watch 2 but it's not as pretty,not having an altimeter, and also seems to have kind of bad battery life. Only their HRM sensor seems an improvement.
A published review from yesterday on wearable.com mentions negative feelings about pace and HRM reading for the s3.
Is it possible to connect a BT or ANT enabled heart rate chest strap?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
eranyanay said:
Would you say there is a good smart watch alternative in the Android wear field?
I have been looking at the Huawei watch 2 but it's not as pretty,not having an altimeter, and also seems to have kind of bad battery life. Only their HRM sensor seems an improvement.
A published review from yesterday on wearable.com mentions negative feelings about pace and HRM reading for the s3.
Is it possible to connect a BT or ANT enabled heart rate chest strap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look up the TicWatch on YouTube. I came really close to buying that.
RaymondPJR said:
Look up the TicWatch on YouTube. I came really close to buying that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you do eventually?
What did you buy, or didnt buy, and what was the reason for it?
Im really into the S3 design, Just thinking if I should wait until Sep/Oct where a S4 might get out
I had the Garmin Fenix 3 Sapphire and really like the watch, but the phone interconnectivity was really lacking for my use and I didnt get it with the integrated HRM. I got the Frontier and really like it. For my exercise use the only thing that I don't care for is the Altimeter, it seems to be off quite often (there have been plenty of discussions on that)
I do however like the new app integration of Endomondo. If you want to import GPX files, I am pretty sure you can do that. Not too sure about S Health.
eranyanay said:
What did you do eventually?
What did you buy, or didnt buy, and what was the reason for it?
Im really into the S3 design, Just thinking if I should wait until Sep/Oct where a S4 might get out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the Gear S 3 Frontier in the end for two reasons. The battery life of the TicWatch was not as good plus I found I could get the LTE version Frontier for $349.00 if I ordered direct from Samsung. TicWatch isn't as expensive plus you can use Google apps, but that wasn't enough in the end.
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
I was seriously thinking today about the garmin fenix instead.
But honestly, I do sport activity maybe twice a week, and I prefer to have only good GPS reading, and take into consideration that the altimeter and HRM may be inaccurate
and the screen of the garmin is really disappointing, and as a watch, the watchface there looks very poor
So I think I will go with the gear s3.
I only wonder if its possible to connect HR strap to it. Is it?
Wrist HRM are innaccurate in realtime on more then 100 BPM, basically when your BPM is same around 20 more seconds then it's accurate , it's just the way the blood flows in wrist, while HRM on my phone (s7 edge) is exactly the same as EKG, meaning it's showing realtime bpm as tested by some doctor (artery in finger is almost in direct contact with heart) and wrist veins need time to "update". Altimeter needs to be calibrated when you need to use it, it's using small pressure sensitive membrane , and well it's really sensitive ( calibration is done by downloading relative pressure info for your place where you live and algorythm tries to define your height, and most of the time is correct. Fenix 3 has transreflect screen, meaning that insted of having backlight it's using outside light, hence perfect sun visibility, + you can't really compare 16 color display to SAMOLED 16.7m colors
eranyanay said:
I was seriously thinking today about the garmin fenix instead.
But honestly, I do sport activity maybe twice a week, and I prefer to have only good GPS reading, and take into consideration that the altimeter and HRM may be inaccurate
and the screen of the garmin is really disappointing, and as a watch, the watchface there looks very poor
So I think I will go with the gear s3.
I only wonder if its possible to connect HR strap to it. Is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO, unless you're a huge activity person the Garmin is way overkill, and, yeah the screen res on the Fenix 3 was NO comparison to the Gear S3, not even in the same league. 350x350 compared to 218x218 (?)...............
I was able to get my S3 Frontier (Non LTE) on special at Amazon for $300. I like the Frontier far more than the Fenix 3
Sorry to bring suddenly the opposite input, but as a lot of other users are reporting on all the S3 forums around the globe, the new update messed badly with the battery and with other watch functionalities. In my case, a few days after the update the battery started going down twice as fast as before, I am talking about 1% every 10 minutes, which means 6% per hour, so around 17 hours of autonomy. The watch used to last me 48 hours before.
Yesterday the watch went completely crazy for a couple of minutes, opening random apps while I was in the middle of a workout. I was forced to reboot it (loosing all the workout I had done so far on SHealth) and then it was ok again. This morning I had another issue when I tried to install the update for HERE Maps (a good navigator) and it wouldn't let me. I tried all the possible combination of rebooting and cache cleaning, and since I still had the battery issue I decided to go for the hard reset, as suggested by many other users.
A horrible idea.
It took me the whole day with I don't know how many trials to finally finish a restore (bluetooth disconnections, network failures, plugin which stopped working, you name it). The restore, by the way, is just apps, watchfaces, and a few settings. No widget restore. No notification restore (even though it is listed in the backup option). No SHealth restore (I lost all of my tracked info on the watch, not on the phone though). No app order restore. I managed to install the new version of HERE maps, but now I can't install Gear Navigator Companion anymore. It gets downloaded and transferred to watch, but the installation fails every time. So I lost the only app able to use gpx tracks on my watch. And, what do you know, battery is exactly like before, meaning every ten minutes I loose a 1%.
Quite frustrated and wildly disappointed, I'm seriously considering to return the watch and try a Fenix 5s instead. I loved how the S3 worked before the update, though I liked the new way to calculate calories and HR zones. But I can't have a watch that doesn't last at least two days or that provides this kind of random issues after a hard reset and attempted restore... that really scared me.
Another update will come.
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First let me say this is a very fine piece of Hardware and I have been researching it these last few days and got nowhere, yes I see the demo's and reviews and it's all great but...………………………… and it is a big but
and please correct me if I am wrong and take it as a question more than a statement
- I cannot get access to view the available apps unless I have a Samsung phone - which I don't
- I have done numerous searches to find what I want and come up with near enough nothing
Currently I have a Smartwatch with a single watchface that is giving me all this when I look at it
Time Day and date at my location
Time at another location
Watch Batt Status
Phone Batt Status
Weather today temp hi/lo with pic
Currency conversion of my choosing (set on phone) realtime
It shows me all messages from all my messaging apps on my phone with the text, sms, line, FBmessenger WhatsApp etc.
Incoming calls with contact details or number etc
I can set my phone on the other side of the room and fully control my music player (poweramp) with album art etc, my music is stored as mp3 on the phone so is there even a music player app for the Gear S3 that can access the music on my phone and play it controlling the phone and playing from the phone ?
I really would like to buy this watch but can it do all that, can it even do all that with separate apps if want to scroll through to get there for stuff like currency and media control (Sony Phone)
can someone please confirm
Yes I get that I am not going to get a watch face that will show me what my current one does but is it even possible using apps widgets downloaded to the phone and/or watch to at least give me the functionality I have now
And I stress I am not being critical of the Gear S3 because I really like it and I want one provided it can tick all the boxes
Probably with a Wear OS watch
dersie said:
Probably with a Wear OS watch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes I agree, I've been doing a lot of reading up these last few days and the Samsung Gear S3 is the best watch on the market but it fails miserably because they opted to break from Android OS (Wear), I think they were trying to become Brand Specific like Apple but that is never going to work on Android - very foolish
I have narrowed my choices down to 3, Ticwatch Pro, LG and Fossil, Ticwatch is slightly in the lead, but I have decided that it must be Android OS, just a pity Samsung S3 went a different direction, I am not going to buy a watch that only functions for 50% of what I want no matter how good the Hardware is, to me it is a fail and wouldn't take it at half the price
Geoffxx said:
yes I agree, I've been doing a lot of reading up these last few days and the Samsung Gear S3 is the best watch on the market but it fails miserably because they opted to break from Android OS (Wear), I think they were trying to become Brand Specific like Apple but that is never going to work on Android - very foolish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the Gear S3 is the best watch at this time.
Wear watch are really horrible. Very bad battery life (sometime not last the day), a lot of bug and hang, often the watch take long seconds to respond (when it works, often not works but do not know why ???) ..... apps are very rare do not mistake I have G-Watch, R-Watch, LG-Sport, Sony SW3, Asus ZW2, Ticwatch E) all are almost unusables. You must install app (and often faces) with the phone AND AFTER use the watch (with tiny screen) to go on Playstore WITH the watch (when it works).
With Tizen you have the "Watchmaker" app (same as Wear OS) and you can have advanced watch face. On Tizen I have note app, Google Task app, evernote app..... nothing for Wear and almost none of this kind
dersie said:
I think the Gear S3 is the best watch at this time.
Wear watch are really horrible. Very bad battery life (sometime not last the day), a lot of bug and hang, often the watch take long seconds to respond (when it works, often not works but do not know why ???) ..... apps are very rare do not mistake I have G-Watch, R-Watch, LG-Sport, Sony SW3, Asus ZW2, Ticwatch E) all are almost unusables. You must install app (and often faces) with the phone AND AFTER use the watch (with tiny screen) to go on Playstore WITH the watch (when it works).
With Tizen you have the "Watchmaker" app (same as Wear OS) and you can have advanced watch face. On Tizen I have note app, Google Task app, evernote app..... nothing for Wear and almost none of this kind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why not address my first post and tell me exactly (from my requirements) what the S3 can and cannot do
lets start with a live exchange rate widget or even stock quotes, I am still using a Sony Sw2 and it does everything I want it too, I actually just bought an LG Watch Urbane 2 nd Edition LTE Unlocked for 100GBP brand new, very cheap IMO
also if I buy and Samsung Gear S3 I lose 50% of the functionality because I don't have a Samsung phone and never will have
And what we lost with a no Samsung phone ? The only thing is, maybe, the Samsung Email app wich works with Samsung watch. But even with a Samsung phone I use Aquamail and not the Samsung mail. All others things works same with samsung and other phone since the S2 serie.
dersie said:
And what we lost with a no Samsung phone ? The only thing is, maybe, the Samsung Email app wich works with Samsung watch. But even with a Samsung phone I use Aquamail and not the Samsung mail. All others things works same with samsung and other phone since the S2 serie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you are wrong about that
Remember I don't have one and was unable to look at apps because I don't have Samsung phone.....but here is what I have read
- messaging doesn't work properly
- music player (control) extremely limited
- email
- calling functionality
- limited apps but I honestly don't know this for sure because I can't access the app store to look, what I do know is that AW is 100% supported with apps for absolutely everything I would ever need
like I mentioned - stuff like currency/stock tracking doesn't exist, XE is AW enabled but doesn't exist on S3
I use Poweramp as my music player on my phone and can completely control it from my ancient Sony SW2 - go figure, this is extremely useful if I am out and want to hook my phone up to an external sound system - my phone sits meters away and I can control everything from SW from my seat, does Samsung S3 support Poweramp ?? well I don't know because I cannot access the secret Samsung app store without a Samsung Phone or SW - maybe they are hiding it
The list my friend is endless, like I said in my OP - the Gear S3 is IMO the best hardware out there but is unusable on a none Samsung setup and even if you have Samsung phone it is still limited because of lack of app support
IMO Samsung made an error not adopting Android Wear and would have dominated the market it they had
Like said, since Gear S2 Samsung apps works on all Android phone with 1.5Go RAM. Works also on IOS but limited for app wich have an android compagnon app. Messaging is like all others apps and works same way on Wear OS or Tizen OS.
Email ? wear has not really an email app, works just with notification system like Tizen OS. Same for all
Geoffxx said:
I believe you are wrong about that
Remember I don't have one and was unable to look at apps because I don't have Samsung phone.....but here is what I have read
- messaging doesn't work properly
- music player (control) extremely limited
- email
- calling functionality
- limited apps but I honestly don't know this for sure because I can't access the app store to look, what I do know is that AW is 100% supported with apps for absolutely everything I would ever need
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a OnePlus 6 and a S9+, currently my Gear S3 is paired with my OnePlus.
I get my messages through Google voice and Facebook messenger, both work well. The random text messages work too. With all of these I get notifications but don't have the history, which is fine IMO, I can see and reply to messages, but I don't need to start a conversation from my watch in my usage.
I can play/pause/fast forward/rewind/adjust volume. It works for what is playing already, so I can't start my podcast unless it is 'ready' in the Android system (ie, if I press the play button on my headphones and it would play the podcast/music).
Email, I get notifications for Gmail, can't start a conversation on the watch though.
I can call and recieve calls.
The apps appear to be the same.
I tried the TicWatch pro, it was good, but the health features were crap compared to the S3, plus no MST and slightly worse battery life made me go back to the S3.
Edit: I'm not sure about the watch face thing..... Maybe later this week I can set up the watch designer from Samsung and see if some/all can be added to a watch face.
_Dennis_ said:
I have a OnePlus 6 and a S9+, currently my Gear S3 is paired with my OnePlus.
I get my messages through Google voice and Facebook messenger, both work well. The random text messages work too. With all of these I get notifications but don't have the history, which is fine IMO, I can see and reply to messages, but I don't need to start a conversation from my watch in my usage.
I can play/pause/fast forward/rewind/adjust volume. It works for what is playing already, so I can't start my podcast unless it is 'ready' in the Android system (ie, if I press the play button on my headphones and it would play the podcast/music).
Email, I get notifications for Gmail, can't start a conversation on the watch though.
I can call and recieve calls.
The apps appear to be the same.
I tried the TicWatch pro, it was good, but the health features were crap compared to the S3, plus no MST and slightly worse battery life made me go back to the S3.
Edit: I'm not sure about the watch face thing..... Maybe later this week I can set up the watch designer from Samsung and see if some/all can be added to a watch face.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like I said - 50 functionality, I want something that will work and is fully supported not something that is going to be hit and miss, but it is by far the best in terms of HW.
Over that last few days I have come across many people saying the same thing "I wish it was Android OS" even on this forum where one of the longest threads is about exactly that - porting AW
Geoffxx said:
like I said - 50 functionality, I want something that will work and is fully supported not something that is going to be hit and miss, but it is by far the best in terms of HW.
Over that last few days I have come across many people saying the same thing "I wish it was Android OS" even on this forum where one of the longest threads is about exactly that - porting AW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had WearOS, the only thing that was better (and not by much) was side loading Facebook messenger lite. Otherwise, IMO, Tizen and WearOS are very close in functionality, with WearOS winning in apps and Tizen in hardware. WearOS had more apps, but most aren't very useful, and I can program watchface in Tizen easier then WearOS. Tizen had more built in (probably do to the lack of third party apps) so things like sleep tracking works better.
Honestly, but a watch from somewhere with a good return policy and try it out, it's the only way you'll know if it works for you. I'd do this with both watches and see which works better in your specific use case.
I'm honestly not trying to persuade you one way or the other, just having used both OS's recently I want to give an accurate description as to their strengths and weaknesses.
_Dennis_ said:
I've had WearOS, the only thing that was better (and not by much) was side loading Facebook messenger lite. Otherwise, IMO, Tizen and WearOS are very close in functionality, with WearOS winning in apps and Tizen in hardware. WearOS had more apps, but most aren't very useful, and I can program watchface in Tizen easier then WearOS. Tizen had more built in (probably do to the lack of third party apps) so things like sleep tracking works better.
Honestly, but a watch from somewhere with a good return policy and try it out, it's the only way you'll know if it works for you. I'd do this with both watches and see which works better in your specific use case.
I'm honestly not trying to persuade you one way or the other, just having used both OS's recently I want to give an accurate description as to their strengths and weaknesses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply and I do understand, I'm in buying mode and have been reading and looking for hours upon hours just absorbing info on all the options, I started this thread for that exact purpose and it is turning out the way I wanted - input from experienced people that is helping me get through the clutter, I have order a watch that I managed to get at a reasonable price 100 sterling for an LG Urbane 2nd addition so no huge investment, the LG sport is a better watch but 2-3 times the price, so I will get it in a couple of days and see how I go with that, unfortunately I won't have my new phone until Sept (Xperia XZ2 Premium) so I will have to manage with my dated Xperia Z1 but it should give me an idea of what I'm dealing with
again thx for taking an interest in my thread you have been very helpful
had my first day with the LG and wow absolutely superb, helped along with the App watchfaces which is also superb
funny I set the watch up and charged it and went out, I actually thought there was something wrong when it showed 100% battery for 2 hours and then started to very slowly drop, I am now 8hrs in and still have 67% battery which I think is impressive, and I had an always on face with lots of widgets, very impressed