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Samsung Unveils Gear S3 Classic and Frontier Smartwatches Powered By Tizen (hothardware.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the what-time-is-it dept.

MojoKid quotes a report from HotHardware: Samsung just wrapped up an event at the IFA expo in Berlin, where the company unveiled two new Gear S3 branded smartwatches. The new Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier leverage many of the design elements from last-year's Gear S2 -- like their Tizen OS, rotating control dial, round display, and fast wireless charging. However, other aspects of the Gear S3 have received significant upgrades. Although they are internally similar, there are a few external differences between the Gear S3 Classic and Frontier. The Gear S3 Classic is the sleeker, more streamlined version of the two. The Classic has a polished finish, with round buttons at the 2 and 4 o'clock positions and no addition protrusions on its chassis. The Gear S3 Frontier is more rugged and has a darker, brushed finish, with flat, rectangular textured buttons and protrusions on either side of the body to shield the buttons from accidental presses. Both the Gear S3 Classic and Frontier are also outfitted with Gorilla Glass SR to protect their circular, Super AMOLED displays, and they're both compatible with industry standard 22mm watch bands too. They are also IP68 rated, so they're able to withstand dust and dirt, and water resistant for up to 30 minutes under 1.5 meters of water. Depending on how heavily these devices are used, Samsung claims they can last roughly 3 -- 4 days on a single charge. They also have support for NFC (compatible with Samsung Pay), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and have built-in heart rate monitors, altimeter/barometer, and GPS as well.

4 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. I'd pay good money for by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    ...an editor who knew how to summarize shit like this.

    1. Re:I'd pay good money for by lakeland · · Score: 2

      Samsung is going to be releasing a new smartwatch sometime this year.

      It looks much the same as the old one but addresses all of the common complaints from previous models: cellular, GPS, battery life. The most obvious issue is that it is still really big (46x42x12mm) and heavy (62g).

  2. Android or Tizen? by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 2

    Why is the article tagged android if the watch runs Tizen? Both Linux-based OS, sure, but fairly different systems.

  3. Re:Camera ! by SolemnLord · · Score: 2

    I find it sad that they remove the camera from they watch. I love my old Gear, but I won't "upgrade" to a watch with less feature.

    Having a feature isn't the same as having a feature worth having. Getting rid of a low-quality, poorly-placed camera gives Samsung the space to add features like NFC and LTE. These offer immediate, tangible benefits to the user by enabling a greater number of features and options through software, and by improving the Gear's independence. Smartwatches have to sacrifice some features to be more useful overall, and Samsung absolutely made the right call.