So I'm going to do this first post on the new Samsung Galaxy Watch. Now is not a major upgrade from the Gear S3 Frontier, but the S3 is getting a little long in the tooth so it was time to upgrade. This year Samsung came out with two models and three color choices, This one of the two things I don't like. There is a black version and a gold version that are 42mm and a silver version that is 46mm. No black or gold version in the larger 46mm. and no silver in the 42mm. So you have a limited choice here. I went with the 46mm silver one as I like the bigger screen and the larger battery. I have the LTE version from T-Mobile as I sometimes like to go fishing or bike riding out where a phone could get damaged easily. But it would be nice when I go out to be able to strap on a gold watch, of course I could get the smaller watch, but like I said I like the larger size.
So here is the second thing I don't like. They removed the Magnetic strip technology or commonly known as MST. This allows you to use your watch to make payments at any card reader. The Gear S3 had this as well as the Near Field Communication or NFC. Now the Galaxy watch does have the NFC but it is limited to where yu can use it, and if you're like me and live in a small town you are up a creek.
But those are the only things negative I can say and they are not deal breakers as I knew this info going in. Now for what I like. The rotating bezel has had a small upgrade, the notches are smaller and the feel with the rotation seems smoother. There are a ton of new features most of which are in the health department of which I personally don't use. I find the constant notifications to be bothersome. I turn those off right off at the start. I do pay attention to the heart rate but that's about it.
It seems that most of if not all the watch faces I was using on my S3 work with my Galaxy Watch even though its running Tizen 4.0. Also "Camera remote" works as well. It is an app that lets you take pictures with your phone from your watch. It works great for doing group shots from a distance that you want to be in. But now that I also have the Note 9 I can use the S pen to do the same thing. So why do I have the Camera Remote app installed you ask? Well I can set the phone up get in pace then open the camera remote app to make sure its framed right and everything I want in the shot is there. Then I can use the S pen to take the shot. To use the watch app to do so sometimes it catches you looking down at the watch or your hand is on the watch. The S pen can be hidden in the hand... See I know a few tricks.
The thing I like the best about the new watch is the battery life.
So this is the first charge of the watch. The battery usage includes setup and updates as well as the downloading of the apps. I have made a few calls with it. I have ran it on the network as well as tied to my phone. Now it was mostly tied to my phone so I don't want you thinking that you can get this kind of battery life running it solo. You can't I can tell you that for sure. I will be testing this out though just to see what I can get from it running solo.
Here is a picture of it next to the Gear S3 frontier. The Galaxy Watch is on the left and the Gear S3 Frontier is on the right.
I will post more on this watch after I have ran it solo. I am hoping to post on the Note 9 before then but as I will be busy all week it may be the weekend before I get the chance. As it is it took me four days just to complete this post.
Hang in there folks
