Samsung clocks in with Gear S3
Smartwatch is fully compatible with Samsung Pay mobile system
New smartwatch joins ever-growing battle for your wrist,
Samsung is clocking in with a new smartwatch.
The company unveiled its Gear S3 wristwatch in Berlin, just ahead of the IFA trade show that kicks off in the German capital this week. The watch will be available in two styles, the Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic, but both offer similar features.
Samsung hasn’t announced pricing yet for the new watches, which won’t hit the market in the U.S. and around the world until the fall. There will be models that rely on Bluetooth alone and versions that can also tap into LTE wireless, from carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.
These are still relatively early days for the smartwatch category, though Samsung has been selling a high-tech timepiece since 2013. Market leader Apple is likely to chime in next week with what is expected to be the first major refresh of its own Apple Watch.
The latest Samsung watches build on last year’s Gear S2 models with an emphasis on a sleek redesign and Samsung Pay.
The devices are now fully compatible with the Samsung Pay mobile payments system, which the company claims meshes with about 90% of the checkout terminals out there, both the type of registers that rely on NFC (Near field communications) technology, as well as older (and still more prevalent) magnetic-stripe terminals. Some versions of the Gear S2 could use Samsung Pay as well, but it was limited to NFC.
Moreover, Samsung Pay can work in these watches, the company says, even if you don’t carry a phone with you. You can make up to five purchases without any network connection.
While the watch can do more these days without the presence of a phone, it is compatible with a variety of Android handsets, not just Samsung ’s own Galaxy devices. It is still not compatible with the iPhone.
In most other respects, the latest round-faced watches share much in common with Samsung’s predecessor models (which will remain in the lineup). They run not off Android Wear but Samsung ’s own Tizen operating system. And as before, wearers of the new devices will be able to navigate the watches via the bezel that borders the watch’s sharp super AMOLED-type displays.
This year’s screens are also “always-on,” a low power feature that lets you maintain the time even when not navigating the watch.
Like its predecessor, the Gear S3 is water-resistant (like the recently released Galaxy Note 7 phone), down to 5 feet of water for a half-hour. They’re also dust-resistant.
The watches can make or receive calls too; the Bluetooth-only model means you’d have to have a phone with you, though the LTE version could make calls or receive calls on its own.
Unlike the Apple Watch or Android Wear devices from Huawei and Motorola, both versions of the Gear S3 are available in only one size, a 46mm casing, larger than the screen on S2.