Google announced Samsung’s newest addition to the world of wearables
at their I/O conference. Samsung’s newest smartwatch is the
Gear Live and it’s available for pre-order now on Google Play.
The Gear Live will debut Android Wear OS, which means it’ll receive
notifications like texts and calls, and can be paired with any Android
device running on Android 4.3 or higher. The Gear Live has a clear
emphasis on compatibility, and the I/O event showcased the smartwatch
interacting with several different Android devices. It’s available for
pre-order now on the Google Play marketplace and will go on sale July 7.
Here’s our spec showdown between Samsung’s Gear Live,
Gear 2 and the fitness-oriented,
Gear Fit.
The obvious difference is that Gear Live touts the Android Wear OS.
Below is a breakdown of the specs from all three watches. See how the
Samsung Galaxy Gear stands up to the Sony Smartwatch 2
here.
| Size |
37.9 x 56.4 x 8.9 (mm) |
23.4 x 57.4 x 11.95 (mm) |
36.9 x 58.4x 10.0 (mm) |
| Weight |
59g |
27g |
68g |
| Screen |
1.63” Super AMOLED |
1.84” Curved Super AMOLED |
1.63” Super AMOLED |
| Resolution |
320 x 320 pixels |
432 x 128 pixels |
320 x 320 pixels |
| OS |
Android Wear |
Android |
Tizen |
| Storage |
4GB |
N/A |
4GB |
| Processor |
1.2GHz processor |
180MHz ARM Cortex-M4 processor |
1.0 GHz Dual Core Processor |
| RAM |
512MB |
N/A |
512MB |
| Bluetooth |
Version 4.0 LE |
Version 4.0 LE |
Version 4.0 LE, IrLED |
| Battery |
About 2-3 days (300mAh) |
About 3-4 days |
About 2-3 days (300mAh) |
| Charger |
N/A |
Magnetic charger |
Magnetic charger |
| Price (Ave.) |
$200 |
$200 |
$300 |
| Availability |
Google Play, Samsung |
Samsung |
Samsung |
Design
Samsung’s Gear Live and Gear 2 have similar touchscreens and
resolution. All three watches are water-resistant. All include fitness
features including heart rate monitor, compass, gyroscope, and
accelerometer. The battery life is longest on the Gear Fit, but the 2-3
day battery life of the Gear 2 and Gear Live is manageable. The Live’s
22mm strap is offered in two colors: black and red wine.
Features
Gear Live offers what Google calls the “context stream,” a vertical
list of cards that appear on the watch face one at a time and display
specific notifications you might want to see, like weather, texts,
emails, directions, or other actions. It’s streamlined from what Android
phones offer, but far more robust than the the operating systems of
Gear Fit and Gear 2. What’s more, Live’s voice recognition capabilities
can take commands to c
heck data and appointments, make calls, or even set an alarm with voice activation. The smartwatch can pair with Google Chromecast or play music on your phone.
Operating System
The Android Wear
operating system offers a slew of features that aren’t available for
the Gear Fit or Gear 2. For starters, the Gear Live displays
notifications from a wide variety of compatible apps, unlike the Gear
Fit and Gear 2. Though it’s still new, do to the scale of Android, Wear
will likely have a much larger ecosystem of apps for the Android Wear,
unlike the Tizen OS for Gear 2. Meanwhile, Fit and Gear 2 only pair with
a several Samsung phones.
Conclusion
Gear Live looks to improve upon Samsung’s past efforts in just about
every way. This is a smartwatch that will pair with any Android device
(4.3 or higher) and comes equipped large ecosystem of apps. Our reviews
of both
Gear Fit and
Gear 2
reveal each device’s lackluster features. In comparison, the Gear Live
has nearly identical specs to the Gear 2 but has a smaller price tag and
better OS. To be fair, the Gear Live doesn’t emphasize its fitness
components. In the gym though, Gear Live seems to be a worthy competitor
of the Gear Fit. By the looks of it, Gear Live is the most advanced
smartwatch from Samsung. What’s more, the $200 price tag renders the
other Samsung smartwatch contenders obsolete.
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