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To be quite honest, Samsung was the last name we thought we’d see on the list of manufacturers planning to bring smart watches powered by Android Wear. They seem fully vested in their Gear platform, which is now powered by Tizen, and they don’t seem to be slowing down with it with three of the line’s latest devices having launched last Friday.
Samsung still hasn’t shown anything on the Android Wear front, but reports suggest the South Korean company is still full-sail ahead on their plans to get the new smart watch out by the end of this year. They would join LG’s G Watch and the Motorola Moto 360 whenever that day eventually arrives.
We imagine Samsung will look to make this the smart watch that is compatible with all Android phones, opposed to the Gear line which is only officially compatible with select Galaxy devices. In slightly related news, Samsung also mentioned their first high-end Tizen-based smartphone would be out this summer, which should be an interesting dynamic in a business model that primarily revolves around Android.
Samsung would be one of the few manufacturers supporting multiple ecosystems, with their Windows Phone efforts being just as fresh as anything they’re doing over on the Android side. Samsung claims their goal is to diversify their offerings rather than completely ditch Android, but only time will tell if those motives are as true as they say.
[via Reuters]
Now I wanna see people saying that Samsung is turning into Apple. haha
How have you liked the Neo?
I love the hardware, I like the looks of it a lot, the notifications are really helpful. With that being said, there are no Apps for it and that sucks. Here’s a review I posted on amazon.com:
You probably know all the good things about this watch so I’m gonna say what I’ve been missing in it since I got it this morning:
– THERE ARE NO USEFUL APPS just yet. Actually there’s only one: a calculator, and it will set you back a dollar.
– There is no google maps or navigation support and perhaps it never will (and that really sucks)
– Only 4GB storage space (Come on, a 16GB card costs less than 10 bucks)
– No light sensor to dim/bright the screen automatically
– There is no internet browser on the watch (I was thinking that finally I would appreciate the existence of the “mobile version” of websites out there. Not happening!)
– There is no volume rocker on the side of the watch (I really wish there was, it’d help a lot if you’re always listening to music like me)
– The watch is water resistance and that’s great, but it really is NOT SHOCK PROOF, so you better get a screen protector ASAP
– The screen turns on when you move your wrist to look at the watch and ALSO it turns on when you move your wrist more than, let’s say, 3 inches around… that has been very distracting to me (tho I might get used with time)
– Did I say that there are NO APPs? Thats so annoying, the watch does have a lot of potential but I really wish Samsung dumped Tizen and sticked with Android [Wear]. In fact, latest rumors have Samsung working on a Android Wear smartwatch to be released at the end of the yer (together with the Note 4 perhaps), but that’s just rumors and the end of the year is far away…
– The watch doesn’t connect to a WIFI network so the very only way to get data on it is through your SAMSUNG phone’s data and bluetooth, no other way.
– The watch has no ALARM app yet.
Ok, I’m sure the Gear 5 will be a perfectly amazing device but it’s 2014 still and, so far, there isn’t any smartwatch on the market superior than the Gear 2. So…. it’s fine for now and hopefully Samsung will release a Gear 3 within 3 months (ok, make it 6 months).
One thing the watch did impress me a bit: I was able to control Google Music through the watch while my phone was not only connected to the watch but ALSO to external bluetooth speakers (Jam Box)… I couldn’t do much tho, just advance tracks and control volume but that’s good enough. Well done here Sammy. 3 stars for this watch.
Did you not know the limitations of the NEO before buying?
Nowhere did SAMSUNG lead anyone to think otherwise,kinda hard to fault them for not meeting unfounded expectations.
Samsung said it had 100+ apps and that’s not true… obviously this product was rushed out to the market to debut side by side with the S5. I’m not saying is a bad product, but it desperately needs improvement on the software part. I mean, no alarm app? No calculator? A watch from 1985 would have those things… anyway I gave 3 stars for the watch and I’m keeping mine. Just gonna have to be patient, this product will be much better 3 months from now (or at least thats what I hope).
You probably won’t have to be patient for long,the original GEAR improved dramatically after initial release,w/updates coming fast & often.It got a lot of bad press,unwarranted,IMHO,as the competition paled in comparisonregarding functionality.
Congratulations & enjoy the NEO,there’s a lot to like & more will be coming soon.
SAMSUNG knows there’s a lot of competition & they’ll do whatever it takes to stay ahead/near the top in the wearables,
I also bought the Gear 2 Neo (use w/my Note 3), and even though there are hardly any apps in the store, I really don’t know what I’d want to do on here. From reading your review sounds like you want another smartphone in your watch. If it had all that functionality, this battery would be dead in a few hours. This is a 1.63″ screen, web browsing would look terrible on here. I don’t see the need for a dedicated alarm app when it communicates with the alarm on your phone. As long as your watch is within 40 feet of your phone, you’ll get the alarm on your watch. You could just set the timer if you wanted to know when to stop your run/exercising session. Of course if you bring an alarm app to the market, you could probably make some bank :P. It has Gorilla Glass 3, why put a screen protector on here?
I do agree with needing the volume rocker on the side, this would be handy for listening to music without your phone connected.
I think Samsung did really well here for a complement to the smartphone. In all honestly, I don’t use Google Now enough to even care about Android Wear right now. If Android Wear comes with some other unannounced features (as it will), maybe then I’ll pay attention a bit more. Being able to transfer songs via usb or Bluetooth to the Gear 2 line to play without a connection to the phone is awesome (using Bluetooth headphones).
I do appreciate your review, there weren’t many out there when I decided to jump on the Neo.
fixed