Hey. It just so happened that I adore all sorts of 'smart gadgets' and whenever possible I always try and learn something new, even if I don't always see any practical benefit in it. A 'smart' scale? Hmm, interesting. Kettle with Wi-Fi? Let's try! Speaking music speaker? Wrap two!
And I am really delighted with some of these items, because they can really make life easier: a robot vacuum cleaner, a multicooker with a remote control, a universal IR remote control for all equipment, etc. But most of them remain amusing curiosities that do not bring any real convenience. Like the same 'smart' kettle or screwdriver with Bluetooth. There is a great word for this kind of thing in English 'gimmick'.
Spillikins # 445. Robot lawn mower or lost robot
Interestingly, I have not been able to classify a 'smart' watch in one of these categories, leaning in one direction or another in three years. I'll tell you today about my experience with the Samsung Gear S2 Classic watch and why I consider it absolutely sufficient for my purposes even after three years of use.
Review of smart watches Samsung Gear S2 / S2 Classic (SM-R720 / SM-R732)
Purchase history
Having read some laudatory reviews in due time, I realized that the Gear S2 model is the first 'smart' watch that I really want to buy for myself. I especially liked the Classic version that suits my wardrobe. But I didn't have the opportunity to purchase an expensive (and probably useless) device, and I waited. He 'waited' only a year after the device was premiered – he won an auction on eBay at a very pleasant price, something about $ 100. Despite the 'used' condition stated in the description, the watch was in excellent condition and showed no signs of wear.
The Gear S2 Classic watch in the version with Wi-Fi (SM-R732) came to me without a complete box and even without charging, but it was a version for the American market. She supported Samsung Pay out of the box. The European versions at that time did not have this 'feature' and could not be reflashed, now this is no longer a problem.
Notifications
Like the vast majority of users of such devices, first of all I need the watch as a kind of 'notification center'. By turning on notifications on the watch only for important applications, I receive them from my smartphone, even when it is not in direct accessibility – in a backpack, on a table, in another room, etc. It was thanks to the watch that I began to feel more relaxed about the big 'shovel smartphones'. Most of the time, the phone is not in your pants pocket and does not tempt you to 'get stuck' in your free time. It would be cool to get a version of the watch with a cellular connection so that you can leave the house without a smartphone at all. But due to the technical implementation of the eSIM module, it would still not be possible to use it in Russia.
Unlike most fitness bracelets and watches, notifications from Android – smartphones work as expected here. They are displayed from any application, you can even immediately respond to messages in instant messengers – choose an answer from templates, type on the screen or dictate text by voice. By the way, dictation works well here in general, but voice recognition sometimes takes a long time. For large messages, it's quicker to just get your phone out.
However, it does not support setting up notifications by category. For example, on my phone, I can set up notifications from Telegram for individual chats, but the clock will give any notification that came to my smartphone.
The watch allows you to reject calls, answer them with template SMS. You can also accept them, but only if you have a smartphone from Samsung. It is inconvenient that you also have to answer spam calls, the watch cannot display information about unknown numbers. The Gear S2 cannot answer audio and video calls from instant messengers, they do not display them. There is a way on the network to show call notification, but it has a bad effect on the smartphone's offline life. And it looks like a crutch – you still won't be able to drop or receive a call.
Alarm clock
As for the 'smart' alarm clocks, hypothetically I like this idea, but it didn't work out with this particular watch. By default, this functionality is not available, and third parties do not spare the battery. But I have no complaints about the usual alarm clock. The soft vibration woke me up perfectly when it was important not to disturb others. Now such a need is rare, and I don't set an alarm clock on my watch.
But the watch perfectly tracks my sleep. Even when I go to bed 'for five minutes' after the alarm goes off in the morning, they recognize it quite accurately. The need for all this information is questionable, but thanks to the watch, I realized the optimal sleep duration for myself, after which I wake up refreshed.
Fitness component
Tracking other indicators of a healthy lifestyle also works flawlessly here. The main thing is to remember that this is not a specialized device for athletes, but just an everyday assistant. The watch will remind you that you need to move, and will suggest doing the exercise if you sit too long. Steps are counted accurately, there are few erroneous readings. If you are carried away by walking, then the watch will remind you of the goodness of this activity and will urge you to go further. I don’t use other functions like calorie counting, water and coffee – I don’t have enough patience.
When I was jogging outside in the morning, I really liked the 'running' mode in the Samsung Health app. You can connect to the watch Bluetooth – a headset, download several suitable tracks and go jogging without a smartphone. In the process, the watch will constantly track the pulse and pace of movement and give voice advice like 'Do a warm-up', 'Take your time', 'Run another kilometer at this pace' and so on. However, prompts in English sound more pleasant than in Russian. There is also a disadvantage: without GPS, the watch cannot save the track of your run and find out the actual speed if you do not have a smartphone with you.
In terms of 'sports' functionality, I was missing swim tracking. Firstly, the IP68 water resistance claimed for the watch is not sufficient for vigorous swimming. Hitting the water during strokes is a much more aggressive effect than a simple shower or washing from the tap. A couple of times I still took them to the pool and to the sea, but it was frivolous of me. A watch that is suitable for swimming has a 5 ATM rating, the Gear S2 is not certified.
Well, and secondly, Samsung Health simply does not have the ability to count the passed 'tracks' for this watch, which makes them useless in the pool. At the time of my purchase, only expensive specialized watches had such functionality to the proper extent, but now even mass models can count strokes and the number of 'pools' set along the length.
Samsung Pay
Another 'feature' of the watch, which I appreciated on my morning runs, was the possibility of contactless payment via NFC. I ran, caught my breath, on the way went to a convenience store and took home fresh bread, for example. Despite the firmware for the US market, the Samsung Pay application added Russian bank cards without any problems.
But to be honest, paying by the hour is not the most convenient of all contactless options. First, the watch must be unlocked with a pin code. It should be administered infrequently: after putting them on your hand or waking up. But the pleasure of poking at tiny buttons on the screen is highly questionable.
Secondly, here you will not be able to simply attach the unlocked watch to the terminal, like a smartphone. You need to launch the application for payment, and then confirm the choice of the card. Even if this is done for safety, it does not add convenience. In general, this is a good 'insurance' payment method if your smartphone and wallet are far away or even stayed at home. And in winter, you can scare cashiers in supermarkets – just move your hand over the terminal with a clock hidden under your sleeve. But it is fraught.
Battery life
I talked about what I like about the watch. Now about the cons. At the beginning of my use, Gear S2 could easily live for three days with active use, as much as it can be active with a watch. For three years, the situation has, of course, worsened. In the best case, they hold a charge for about two days, this is in a measured mode. But if you track your sleep, connect a wireless headset and run in the morning for at least half an hour, then they are barely enough for a day.
My mode of use is something like this: put the watch on charge in the evening, go to bed with the watch, wear it all day and get an average of 35 percent battery by the evening. Sports modes are very voracious, they will just 'devour' this volume in one workout. Nicely, a full charge takes about an hour. In half an hour, you can charge the watch enough to go through a working day with it – sometimes it saves.
Applications
With the additional features of this watch, everything is sad. Yes, the number of watch faces, paid and free, is quite enough for itself. You can find a convenient and customizable 'watchface' for every taste.
But the app store has a very meager assortment: there are some minimal things, but nothing more. For example, you can put a browser that even plays video with sound (by Bluetooth – headset). However, this browser runs out of battery, it will not work to listen to YouTube videos on it, and it will be inconvenient to do so. A few toys also do not spare the battery. Many applications either did not work from the very beginning, or stopped working over time.
There are free HERE Maps here, but this app is not the most functional in terms of navigation. For the application to work fully, you need to download HERE Maps to your smartphone. I would like to have on my hand a screen of navigation tips from navigators Google or 'Yandex' a la 'turn right after a hundred meters.' Still, watches on operating systems from Google and Apple are more convenient in this regard.
I would like to see the same instant messengers, albeit in a simplified form. For example, you can quickly scroll through a certain chat on your watch, and not just those messages that came in notifications. Or dictate a voice message to some contact directly. Here you can only dictate words in the keyboard so that it turns them into typed text. And even then, starting the chat itself will not work.
Apart from Yandex Radio, there are no music services here, and even it exists only to control the application of the same name on a smartphone. It would be cool to download specific playlists from the phone to the watch for the same run in advance, but in fact you have to download mp3 files and transfer them to the watch manually using Bluetooth.
Also, Samsung never got around to making a version of the Smartthings app for older watches. Samsung's smart home can be controlled on the Galaxy Watch and Gear S3 series watches (but this is inaccurate), but the Gear S2 series is no longer supported in the application, and this only puzzles me. In principle, integration with Smartthings can be done through third-party applications, but these are also crutches that complicate the system. I have already given up on Samsung's smart home and never got around to using these methods.
Stupid smart home. Part 2, Apple vs Samsung
Build quality
For the quality of the components used and the assembly as a whole, I could give this watch a solid 'five'. Here is an excellent screen, which has not burned out in three years and is practically not scratched even without a protective glass. Here is a cool metal case that has not lost its presentation over such a long period of careless use. There is a good battery here, which from frequent charge-discharge cycles and heating of wireless charging did not turn into 'dust', but still does its job. There is a good factory leather strap, nice to the hand and not spoiled even from sea water and a chlorine pool. In the same harsh conditions, the watch never let moisture inside, which indicates a good build quality.
The only chip on the glass appeared after hitting a metal door. The glass of an ordinary smartphone would have cracked from such a blow.
And this is what the complete leather strap looks like now. Outwardly – at least henna, but inside it is terribly cracked
All this is great, but there is one 'but' – the rotating bezel. It is a very important governing body and the main marketing feature of many watches from Samsung, and it was used for the first time in this series. Already after a year of use, this gizmo began to work as it pleases, then flipping the screens in the opposite direction, then not flipping them at all. In most cases, you can skip the bezel using the touchscreen, but flipping with it is much more convenient than swiping on a tiny display. I guess this is some kind of proprietary 'disease' of this watch. For the same reason, my friend changed the bezel to a new one on his Gear S2 (not Classic) in the service, but a year later the symptoms appeared again. And this fact very noticeably spoils the impression of use, especially when you are used to its convenience.
conclusions
While researching the latest in smartwatches, I constantly come to the conclusion that the Gear S2 is enough for all my needs. Yes, I would have liked LTE, longer battery life, pool swim tracking, more apps, and more. But it is impossible to combine all the 'Wishlist' in one watch. If we discard some individual parameters, then I get quite expensive options, not devoid of their shortcomings. “And if there is no difference, then why pay more?”
A watch (though 'smart', though not very smart) is primarily an accessory. A thing that should please the owner, evoke pleasant emotions. And only in the background – functionality, 'sophistication' and convenience. My Gear S2 Classic still delights me, and that's important. But if I wake up tomorrow and see that they do not turn on, then I will calmly continue my day without them. That is why I cannot call this class of devices unambiguously necessary and one hundred percent useful.
Smart watches are useless, but I bought them anyway
It would be interesting to hear your opinion and find out in which scenarios you use (or would use) a smartwatch. Is it worth chasing the technological innovations of this segment? Or has the development of smart watches come to a standstill, and all the new items do not bring anything new? Welcome to comments!