Rather than waiting for the IFA event to begin in Berlin, Samsung has made a formal announcement of its next smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S2. The watch has a circular Super AMOLED display and alongside it, the circular rotating bezel around it. There are two variants of the Gear S2, the regular one that we have seen leaks of, and a classic one, which gives the feel of a timepiece of the earlier times.
It isn’t the Android Wear OS running on the Gear S2, but Samsung’s own Tizen OS. There are home and back buttons present on the watch, and that helps, instead of having to swipe on the screen to navigate, go back or to reach the home watch face. According to Samsung, it is a more precise way to access notifications and apps.
Sending texts and having a look at the notifications will be fairly easier and quicker, and one of the models will also sport a e-SIM for 3G connectivity and voice calling. NFC for mobile payments is included, and the watch has enough sensors to track activity of the user, and the battery will last for about 2-3 days, according to the company, though it is quite a less capacity of 250 mAh provided.
Specs wise, the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic are no different, as there is a 1.2-inch circular Super AMOLED display with 360 x 360 pixels resolution, and a Dual-core processor clocking at 1GHz will power it, along with 512MB RAM and there is 4GB of internal storage. The watch is dust and water resistant, with the IP68 certification. While the standard connectivity options include Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1 along with NFC, the 3G model’s support is not properly known.
- Gear S2 : 42.3×49.8×11.4mm (47g)
- Gear S2 classic : 39.9×43.6×11.4mm (42g)
- Sensors included: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate, Ambient Light, Barometer
- Apps for fitness: S Health, Nike+ Running
- Productivity apps: Schedule, News, Maps & Navigation, Weather, Voice, Voice Memo, Find My Device, Power Saving Mode, Safety assistance, Privacy lock
There is no information on the launch date, or the pricing, and we’ll update it here whenever we get to hear about that. The Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic will be showcased at the IFA 2015 event in Berlin.