Samsung Gear S2 specs and features review: New wearable goes for circular look

samsung.com

Samsung had just launched its newest addition to the company's smartwatch lineup. However, the consumer market already is already saturated with different wearables from other competitors. How will the Samsung Gear S2 stand out?

Design

Samsung decided to turn around from the bulky, cornered design of its earlier wearables. The new Gear S2 is the first round smartwatch from the South Korean company. This makes the new device closer in look to classic timepieces. In addition, the design for the new Gear S2 blends comfort and aesthetics. The standard model has a brushed metal finish with rubber strap, which sits comfortably on the user's wrist. Meanwhile, there is also the more premium Classic, with a darker, more formal finish and leather straps.

Features

One of the most unique features of the new Gear S2 lies in its circular design. The watchface is integrated with a rotating bezel. The bezel itself is an interface, with the rotations serving as navigation to the apps and features of the wearable.

Meanwhile, the watchface itself is a touchscreen. Much like other Android wearables, the screen can be used to scroll through the features. The user can use both the bezel and the touch screen interface to check out menus, see notifications, and explore the watch.

The screen for the watchface is a 1.2-inch diameter Super AMOLED screen with 360 x 360 resolution. Delivering crisp colors, the display also has a wide viewing angles, which makes the Gear S2's screen much more vibrant than other Android Wear devices currently available. However, the screen still falls below the display of one of the best-known smartwatches to date, the Apple Watch.

The Gear S2 uses a different platform, Samsung's own Tizen version. However, the new gear also supports any phone running on Android. The full list of phones can be found in Samsung's website. Apparently, the Gear S2 can be paired with a smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat and above, with at least 1.5 GB of RAM.