For starters, the design looks more subtle and refined. The new Gear 2 is close enough to its predecessor but also very different. Hardwareīut before we move on to what Tizen has brought to the table and what went away with Android, let’s focus on the hardware side of things.
Maybe Samsung has emancipation from the Big G on its mind to such an extent that it even converted the first Gear from Android to Tizen. All three are powered by Tizen, an open-source OS that Samsung currently has joint custody of. The Gear is now a three-headed beast: the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit. Now that the second generation of the Gear franchise is out, Samsung is looking to improve where improvement was much needed and is trying to outnumber the willing competitors. But if Apple is getting ready to conquer the smartwatch market it’s certainly taking its time, Samsung isn’t. Enough has been said about Apple’s iWatch and maybe Samsung was listening, scrambling to get there first. Samsung rushed to market with a Galaxy Gear that seemed exactly that – rushed. Samsung took a step out of its usual Galaxy comfort zone and into uncharted land with Sony the only big name on the block, sitting all on its own, unwilling to play with the cool new Pebble. The Gear 2 is 13g heavier than the Neo but has a camera to show for it – a 2MP unit compared to last year’s Gear 1.9MP cam. In this review we’ll be taking a look at the Gear 2 and not the Gear 2 Neo but to set you with the correct perspective, there’s very little difference between both devices. Despite running Android, a device with practically only home-brewed apps. We thought the Galaxy Gear was a cool little gadget but pricey and with less than stellar battery backup. The Samsung Gear 2 comes a year after the company’s first venture into a new niche – the Galaxy Gear. Then come perks like playing nicely with the heart rate sensor and the S Health app on a Galaxy S5. And that’s on top of taking calls and telling the time of course. We make it sound like a devious plot but, in truth, it makes sense to – at the very least – be able to quickly locate a misplaced smartphone. You may as well see a point there if you happen to own one of the 17 smartphones and tablets with a Gear Manager app – all of which, needless to say – are made by Samsung. Samsung would have you believe you want, scratch that, you need, the Gear 2 smartwatch.