Two days ago, Samsung officially unveiled its new smartwatch lineup: the Gear S2, Gear S2 classic and the Gear S2 with 3G connectivity.
The new lineup from Samsung appears to stack up surprisingly well against the Apple Watch: both smartwatches are premium built and feature easily changeable bands, sleek software, fitness and heart rate tracking and more.
But whereas the Apple Watch uses the Digital Crown for navigating its user interface, Samsung has opted for a rotating bezel that “gets better with every turn,” a feature seen on some traditional watches.
Coupled with “the revolutionary circular user interface,” as they’re calling the Gear S2’s Tizen operating system, the rotating bezel appears to be just as precise, novel and interesting as the Apple Watch’s rotating crown.
Samsung Mobile posted a new video today that highlights the rotating bezel as the revolutionary input method.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOPMFGuDAEo
If you don’t see the video, watch in on YouTube.
As a quick recap, the Gear S2 watches feature a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 360-by-360 pixels at 302 PPI. The Apple Watch has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with a 312-by-390 pixel resolution at 326 PPI.
The Samsung wearable, however, outsmarts the Apple Watch’s 18-hour battery life with a stronger battery which should provide enough juice for up to three days of run time on a single charge, according to Samsung.
Check out Dom Esposito’s nicely done hands-on video below as it provides a decent comparison between the Gear S2 to the Apple Watch.
I must admit I was taken aback by the performance of Tizen software.
The Gear S2 family works with Android smartphones—downloadable Android apps are not supported as the devices run on Tizen—while the Apple Watch only works with iPhones.
Therefore, the choice between the two smartwatches will come down to people’s platform preference rather than the Digital Crown or the rotating bezel.
A live-stream of Samsung’s upcoming Gear S2 showcase presentation at the IFA show in Berlin can be found on YouTube.
What do you think about the rotating bezel on the Gear S2? Is it a better input method than the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown, do you think?
Source: YouTube