he Samsung Gear 2 is in for a full TechRadar review - here are some early thoughts ahead of the more in-depth rundown.
The Gear 2 is something of an oddity for Samsung, as it's not only been launched so soon after the first model, but is also backed up by an arguably better device in the shape of the Gear Neo.
That's not to say that this is a bad device, more than the Neo offers a lower cost and eschews the camera that very few people seem to actually be bothered about.
But that aside, the Gear 2 is a very capable-looking smartwatch, and while it does have a higher price tag (set to launch at around the same cost as the first model, of around £250 / $420 / AU$450 it's got a lot more packed in.
The button on the bottom is an excellent choice, as it gives you somewhere else to hit to get back to the home screen, double tap to get to other functions or long press to turn the Gear 2 off. While this option was here on the side before, it was much harder to hit and could get caught in arm hair.
That eventually starts to hurt if you do it a few times a day, trust me.
The camera module being part of the device, as well as being joined by the infra-red sensor for controlling the TV, makes perfect sense to me too - showing that Samsung gave up early on the first Gear for a good reason.
Most people probably wouldn't notice, but Tizen (Samsung's own platform, in association with the likes of Intel) is the underlying OS, rather than Android, on this new device from Samsung, with the Gear 2 seemingly more capable as a result.
Some have speculated that this is Samsung trying to 'Trojan Horse' its way into Google's Android marketshare, but in reality it seems to be more of a hardware decision. The battery life is improved as a result, and the general use seems a lot snappier.
I'm enjoying the heart rate monitor as part of the package, which is something that needs to be more of an option for devices these days. Health is a hugely important part of life, and the ability of gadgets to bring exercise and data on your daily output is crucial to getting people up and moving.
Early tests show that accuracy is good, but it's no match for the similarly (or much lesser) priced running watches that are starting to pervade. It's not got a structure to follow, and as such is seems a little redundant at this point - but that doesn't mean others can't get on board later on.
But the rest of the smartwatch abilities are here on the Gear 2, and very much as you'd want. The notifications system is refined and powerful, and while the phone-based Gear Manager is still a little bit of a work in progress, the actual use on the Gear 2 is excellent.
The finger swipes appear more speedy, and the action of tilting up the watch to see the time etc. seems to be more accurate as well.
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