With New-Year just around the corner, fitness related resolutions are the most common things that we hear. And with the fast-growing trend of smartwatches and fitness trackers in the market, what could get even better than having both? Samsung Gear Sport is a smartwatch which is embedded with features for keeping a track on activities and fitness.
Samsung’s ‘Gear Sport’ is the latest entry in the company’s list of smartwatches. Samsung had launched two Gear S3 smartwatch models last year. This year the company has only launched the Samsung Gear Sport Smartwatch. The smartwatch is lightweight and small and is available in Black and Blue colour options. Also, the smartwatch has an appealing look for both the genders along with providing a comfortable fit for the wearer.
Samsung Gear Sport: Design & Specifications
The Gear Sport features a 42mm stainless steel body with a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED circular touchscreen display with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. Corning Gorilla Glass protects the screen from unintentional scratches. Also, the display of this watch is pretty bright and visible even in direct sunlight.
The smartwatch sports a rotating bezel which will allow access to notifications when turned on the left and displays widgets when turned to the right. Additionally, the straps on this smartwatch are 20mm in size which makes it small and comfortable on the wrist. The silicon straps do not cause any irritation to the skin and can be replaceable if needed.
The watch comes with two buttons on the right which work as the back and the home button. Although Samsung has maintained a similar design for the Gear S3, the small and minor changes make the Gear Sport a better option from the two.
Water Resistance
The good news is that the Gear Sport is waterproof up to 50 meters, which means that the watch is safe for sweat or rain. The IP67 rating for this watch even makes it suitable for swimming. Gear Sport can keep a track on all the swimming and exercise data. Samsung has partnered with Speedo to work on an app that can track lap time, strokes, beats per minute (BPM) and more.
When Fitness Meets Flexibility
It is a known fact that although most smartwatches these days come with fitness tracking ability, they are not up to the mark. But Samsung Gear Sport is a perfect blend of smartwatch and fitness tracker. The smartwatch has a variety of apps as well as displays the notifications when the user receives a call or text.
For fitness tracking, the watch can keep a track on the number of calories consumed in a day, floors a user walks up and monitoring the heart rate. The Gear Sport watch even reminds the user to get up and move if they have been sitting for a long period of time during the day. These reminders are a nice helpful way of not being stuck in the chair all day during work hours.
The smartwatch even keeps a track of the sleep pattern at night. It gives you a detailed review of the total time you slept, the duration of restless sleep (tossing and turning) and the duration of deep sleep.
Software
The Gear Sport runs on the Tizen OS which is compatible with all Android smartphones running on JellyBean OS 4.3 and above. It is also compatible with all Apple iPhones running on iOS 9 and above. Breaking away from the usual Android Wear software, Samsung has opted for the Tizen OS. The software runs without a hitch on all smartphones.
To connect the smartwatch to your smartphone the Samsung Gear Manager app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for Android mobiles and Apple App store for all iPhone’s. Along with that, there are a lot of apps that come pre-installed on the smartwatch. You get apps like MyFitnessPal, Armour Record, MapMyRun among many other apps.
Battery Life
The Gear Sport smartwatch is powered by a 300 mAh battery, which is believed to last for three days after a full charge. But with all the notifications, GPS tracking, brightness, the watch lasts for about two days. This is quite normal for most smartwatches these days. The smartwatch charges wirelessly on a charging dock, which makes it pretty convenient.
Final View
Though the Samsung Gear Sport looks very similar to the Samsung Gear S3 that had released last year, it is worth the penny. The smartwatch is compact and fits comfortably on the wrist. Additionally, the added features for fitness tracking make it all the more worth it. It is one of the best smartwatches available right now to offer the perfect blend of fitness tracking and smartwatch features.