Samsung must have heard wind that LG is pushing out its new smartwatch at this year’s IFA Germany, because less than a year since the announcement of the round dial face Gear S2, the South Korean electronics maker is already pushing out the third Gear smartwatch, Gear S3. Still sporting a round form factor, the Gear S3 now takes on a more real watch approach in the looks department. Specs are, naturally, bumped up, starting with a tad larger circular Super AMOLED display coming in at 1.3-inch. Resolution, though, remains as 360 x 360, which means ppi sees a drop to 278, as compared to the predecessor’s 302, but I am sure there’s no cause for alarm.
Sticking true to a real watch, the still-glorious display will stay on always – a feature which we thought makes more sense. Similarly, IP68-rating is also standard, as with a bunch of sensors and a couple of connectivity options (you know, BT, WiFi and those stuff). Internal storage maintains its status quo, though RAM gets knocked up to 768MB, to help facilitates a smooth working of the Tizen-based Wearable Platform 2.3.2. Other details include a 1.0GHz dual core processor, Corning Gorilla Glass SR+, built-in speaker and mic for voice commands, in-built SOS and location tracking functions, and a wireless charging-capable 380 mAh battery that’s good for up to four days on a single charge. And oh, it also supports Samsung Pay too. Not surprisingly, really.
Two designs will be offered: frontier and classic. The former is inspired by active explorer, sporting a rugged outdoor look (very obvious; kudos to the design team!), while the latter is well suited for formal occasion, playing up on minimalist and elegant styling. Possibly, in view of possible uses of Frontier i.e. outdoor adventure and the likes, Samsung has included 3G/LTE radio to the watch too, which the SOS functionality will leverage on in the event you don’t have a phone with you. Well, that’s about sums up what the Samsung Gear S3 Smartwatch has to offer.
As for the availability and pricing, they are not known at this juncture. Keep going for a few more look, along with the official product video.
All images courtesy of Samsung.
