I ordered a Gear S2 for my wife and a Classic version for myself through the refurb deal on Best Buy. Both watches were in like new condition. I currently own and love my LG Urbane 2 LTE so i was cautiously optimistic about the gear watches based on various opinions. I can say after using the Classic for a couple days the software is pretty outstanding with caveats. I am pairing it with a Nexus 6p. It's been a seamless experience thus far. I'm going to list some of my observations below.
1. The general navigation is without a doubt the best implementation thus far on a smartwatch. Being able to use the bezel, touchscreen and buttons would seem like overkill but in real use it's not at all.
2. The ambient light sensor is outstanding and my favorite part. I did not expect this. Its dim when it needs to and shuts the face down instantly when you aren't looking at it. I had a moto 360 sport and it sucked compared to how this one works.
3. Battery life is excellent. There is no question that Tizen is better optimized for a smartwatch at this point.
4. I don't see the limited apps as being a negative. Everything you could expect a watch to do within reason is available even if it's not perfected at this point. The way you can see messages and notications is great. Frankly it kinda stinks on androidwear but that may change a bit in 2.0
Negatives
1. The watch faces are limited compared to apps like watchmaker on Androidwear and the lack of a true full ambient mode for the regular non techie person is a bummer.
2. The look. Compared to some android wear watches such as the urbane 2 and huawei watch i still think Samsung lags behind. In typical Samsung fashion they seem to be one step behind to save a buck or two. A good example of this is the glued bands on the standard S2 that arent the most durable.
3. They still haven't nailed the software on a non Samsung device. S-Health sucks. Maps and S-Voice are not great either. Why not allow sycing with google fit if you already designed the software to run on non Samsung devices.
4. Bloatware. We get that you want to promote what the watch can do but apps like Bloomberg and Flipboard should not be there stock. If you want to promote them do it on the Galaxy store and stick to the basics. 3 pages (circles) of apps is way to much out of the box on a smartwatch.
Overall quite frankly i am glad i have both. Both have their positive and negatives. I definately feel that androidwear does and will have more going for it in the looks and practicality department but Tizen definately is more refined and at this point more reliable. I do believe that depending on usage having 2 separate operating systems is a good thing as one makes the other better. I think so far Samsung has come a long ways and did a great job. Again i'm surprised at how much i enjoy it as based on what i read i didnt expect the experience to be as good as it was.
1. The general navigation is without a doubt the best implementation thus far on a smartwatch. Being able to use the bezel, touchscreen and buttons would seem like overkill but in real use it's not at all.
2. The ambient light sensor is outstanding and my favorite part. I did not expect this. Its dim when it needs to and shuts the face down instantly when you aren't looking at it. I had a moto 360 sport and it sucked compared to how this one works.
3. Battery life is excellent. There is no question that Tizen is better optimized for a smartwatch at this point.
4. I don't see the limited apps as being a negative. Everything you could expect a watch to do within reason is available even if it's not perfected at this point. The way you can see messages and notications is great. Frankly it kinda stinks on androidwear but that may change a bit in 2.0
Negatives
1. The watch faces are limited compared to apps like watchmaker on Androidwear and the lack of a true full ambient mode for the regular non techie person is a bummer.
2. The look. Compared to some android wear watches such as the urbane 2 and huawei watch i still think Samsung lags behind. In typical Samsung fashion they seem to be one step behind to save a buck or two. A good example of this is the glued bands on the standard S2 that arent the most durable.
3. They still haven't nailed the software on a non Samsung device. S-Health sucks. Maps and S-Voice are not great either. Why not allow sycing with google fit if you already designed the software to run on non Samsung devices.
4. Bloatware. We get that you want to promote what the watch can do but apps like Bloomberg and Flipboard should not be there stock. If you want to promote them do it on the Galaxy store and stick to the basics. 3 pages (circles) of apps is way to much out of the box on a smartwatch.
Overall quite frankly i am glad i have both. Both have their positive and negatives. I definately feel that androidwear does and will have more going for it in the looks and practicality department but Tizen definately is more refined and at this point more reliable. I do believe that depending on usage having 2 separate operating systems is a good thing as one makes the other better. I think so far Samsung has come a long ways and did a great job. Again i'm surprised at how much i enjoy it as based on what i read i didnt expect the experience to be as good as it was.
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