[Review] Samsung Gear S3 -The Smartwatch Refined

Geared for Fitness
The watch comes with a plethora of sensors on top of the usual accelerometer and heart rate tracker. Added to this is a built-in GPS and a barometer sensor for measuring altitude and height.This enables the Gear S3 to track a number of variables that cover the gamut of most fitness activities.

For casual users, it’s able to track calories used through a day, how many steps you’ve taken and how many steps you’ve climbed. For those seeking a more robust workout, the Gear S3 is able to automatically detect if you’re running, walking, cycling or working out with the ability to count reps for lunges, crunches and squats. If you achieve certain milestones, it’s able to display digital achievements though there’s no way to share them with your mates for bragging rights.

It’s also able to track your water and coffee intake though it works on an honour system that has you manually tabbing up drinks taken. The watch is also able to remind you if you’ve been sedentary for too long and that you have to get some exercise done. Another additional feature is that it’s able to track how restful your sleep was.

The heart rate tracker is of note and helps to track your ticker through the course of the day. During the course of wearing it for a couple of weeks across a regular commute, extensive walking around downtown Kuala Lumpur between work meetings and the usual weekend jog, it managed to track all this activity accurately including giving a good indicator heart rate though it did give off a few weird readings now and then. The heart rate tracker on the underside of the Gear S3 needs to have skin contact for best effect or it may give off anomalous readings so you’ll need to have a fairly tight fit for the watch strap.

In terms of battery life, the Gear S3 performed like a champ. On standard settings, it had endurance that easily lasted the quoted four days of battery life before needing a juicing. If you toggle the Always On screen mode, it lasts shy of two days though charging it is a painless affair as the magnetic dock clicks and locks in the watch for charging.

As it stands, the Gear S3 is an impressive wearable that succeeds on many levels though it falls a few inches short of greatness. The superb design and intuitive user interface combined with the exceptional battery life and fitness tracking functionality make it an exceptional proposition that stands out from the array of wearables flooding the market. The Gear S3 also has an additional card to play. It comes with magnetic secure transmission tech (MST) and Near Field Communication (NFC) tech. Together in tandem with a compatible smartphone like the Note 5, Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, the Gear S3 is able to perform payments via the Samsung Pay platform though this hasn’t been put into service in Malaysia as yet at the time of writing. The biggest quibble is the lack of apps with rather slim pickings on offer from the Gear app store though this is slowly being dealt with over time with new offerings trickling in every few weeks.

With exceptional battery life, a veritable array of sensors including a GPS and a modicum of customisability of its already substantial good looks, this is an exemplary example of a smartwatch and while it doesn’t come cheap, you do get what you pay for.

WHAT WE LIKED Looks and feels like a real watch, excellent build quality, superb user interface, good battery life
WHAT WE DIDN’T Needs more apps
WHAT WE SAY One of the best smart wearables that money can buy that actually looks and feels like a real timepiece while acting as a decent activity tracker and hands free set too.

Specifications
Gear S3 Frontier
Price RM1,399
Display 1.3-inch Super AMOLED, 360 x 360
Processor Exynos 7270 dual 1GHz
Memory 768MB RAM +4GB storage
Connectivity Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, NFC, MST GPS/Glonass
Battery 380mAh (4 days usage – quoted)
Size/Weight 46 x 48 x 12.8mm / 63g (without bands)
*Review unit courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. Specifications for processor, memory, display and battery identical to Gear S3 Classic.