It took a few years before smartphones -- as a way to communicate and get things done while on the go -- started to become commonplace following the introduction of the Apple iPhone, which revolutionized both telephony and mobile computing simultaneously. Up until the past four or five years, smartphones were the domain of early adopters and tech-savvy users who showed their families and friends just how useful the devices are. Smartwatches could follow a similar trajectory, and become increasingly commonplace, which is why companies like Apple and Samsung are investing so much in their development and marketing of them. So, of the two flagship smartwatches on the market, does the
Apple Watch(starts at $350) or the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 (starts at $300) hold the edge?
The Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 is the latest in a series of smartwatches from Samsung, that first emerged in the months after firm rumors started circulating that Apple was deep into the development of its own smartwatch. The early smartwatches from Samsung were far from ideal, as it was falling over itself to beat Apple to market, not necessarily make a quality product that offered a compelling user experience. That it inflicted what was effectively beta hardware on its users seemed to matter little to the company in its efforts to try and get one over Apple. The rapid iteration of these early devices was also somewhat staggering to see, as it didn't wait the typical 12 months between releases, but even managed to knock them out as frequently as three to six month intervals.
Thus, the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 is the end result of a lot of public experimentation on the part of Samsung to get its wearables strategy right. As you can see from the photos, it is a very well-designed smartwatch, that is also built to a very high standard. Unlike other Android-compatible smartwatches, the Galaxy Gear S2 does not use Google's Android Wear OS, but Samsung's own Tizen operating system (more on this shortly). Perhaps the most remarkable thing about it in many ways is that is the only consumer electronics device from Samsung, that we are aware of, that doesn't have "SAMSUNG" emblazoned across the front of it. It is, dare we say it, a classy touch from a company that is known for being anything but classy, in the way that it has aped Apple whenever it can.
Speaking of copying Apple, the Galaxy Gear S2 Classic is, in many ways, the round version of the Apple Watch. Not so much in the design of its hardware -- which is fairly generic in terms of how it compares to other traditional round smartwatch designs -- but in terms of its approach to software and apps. Google's Android Wear platform, as seen on other wearables, is driven more by the Google Now card-based approach to delivering users timely information, based on usage patterns and location. Apple's approach with watchOS, as we know, is based around an applet interface, as well as watch faces which provide quickly accessible information in the form of "complications," swipeable "glances," and notifications. However, Apple has built this on a square display. Samsung's approach with its Tizen OS for smartwatches is to take a very similar approach, but tailored it for a circular display.
The late Steve Jobs is well known for saying this in 1996: "Picasso had a saying -- 'good artists copy; great artists steal' -- and we [Apple] have always been shameless about stealing great ideas." Although the haters liked to misquote Jobs on this point, particularly in Apple's battle with Samsung, which Jobs [rightly, as the courts have determined] accused the company of stealing its intellectual property, Jobs was never endorsing blatantly ripping off the trade dress of another company, as Samsung did with devices like the iPhone-like Galaxy S2 and its iOS-like software skin.
Jobs was talking about taking an idea from somewhere but reinventing it, and in doing so, making it your own. This is perhaps the genius of the Galaxy Gear S2 design. Where Apple introduced the Digital Crown, with its mechanical rotating dial that allows you to scroll through content on the Apple Watch, the Galaxy Gear S2 ingeniously uses a rotating bezel to achieve a very similar result. While this might have infuriated the late Steve Jobs had he seen it, he might have also actually acknowledged that Samsung might have finally got the point behind that Picasso quote (which itself
may have been taken from an earlier source, just to prove the point).
In terms of general overall functionality, both the Galaxy Gear S2 and the Apple Watch are about on par. They are both excellent at delivering notifications to your wrist that you can either quickly address directly on the device, dismiss, or deal with in more detail on your smartphone. From this smartwatch user's perspective, the ability to quickly view and respond to notifications is the great selling point of smartwatches, as it is a convenient way of communicating while on the go, carrying a bag for example, while your smartphone might be buried in your pocket. Like the Apple Watch, the Galaxy Gear S2 has some canned pre-composed text responses that you can respond with, or you can dictate a message verbally, and have it converted to text.
The single biggest advantage of the Galaxy Gear S2 is its always-on display, that takes full advantage of its OLED screen to constantly show the time in a low-power monochrome mode. This is perhaps our biggest gripe with the Apple Watch, which requires a twist of the wrist to initiate the display. Early in our use, it was something that we could fall in love with, but over time, this has become increasingly a source of frustration. In fact, a radiologist who was treating me for tennis elbow recently agreed with me that there was a real possibility that the constant twisting of my forearm to activate the Apple Watch display could have been the very kind of repetitive action that would cause the elbow pain I have been experiencing -- no such issues when wearing the Galaxy Gear S2.
Where the Apple Watch has a significant advantage over the Galaxy Gear S2, however, is in the customizability of its watch faces. Sure, the Galaxy Gear S2 has a lot of customization options too, but Apple's implementation of traditional analog "complications" with a digital twist is a clear winner in this regard. This is where Apple's decision to opt for a square display on the Apple Watch is an advantage over the circular display of the Galaxy Gear S2. For example, on the Utility watch face (my favorite on the Apple Watch), you have the ability to show up to five complications simultaneously, by making the watch face smaller and using the corners to to cleverly display additional info. This means it offers the ability to see much more information at a glance than the Galaxy Gear S2 -- even though the latter has tried to copy Apple's approach, the most complications any of its watch faces can offer within its circular display is three.
Another key advantage of the Apple Watch over the Galaxy Gear S2 is the ability to make and receive calls directly from your wrist -- only the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 3G, which also requires that you buy an additional cellular plan, can offer similar functionality (plus additional standalone capabilities). Although we don't use this function routinely, it certainly comes in handy from time to time, particular when in transit, or on the go. It is, however, in the sophistication of Apple's Watch OS software that it really takes a significant edge over the Galaxy Gear S2 in terms of overall depth and functionality. Even though Apple will comfortably enjoy more developer support for apps on the Apple Watch than will Samsung, this is not anywhere near as significant an issue as it would be on a smartphone trying to compete with Apple. Apps on a smartwatch are nice, but far from essential in making for a good smartwatch experience, in our view.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 is due to gain support for the iPhone in the near future, and follows Samsung's decision to make it widely compatible with the Android platform, instead of restricting its compatibility exclusively to its own Galaxy line of smartphones. While we expect that most iPhone users will still opt for the Apple Watch, there will be more than a few interested in Samsung's offering. The square, iPod nano-like design of the Apple Watch doesn't appeal to everybody, while its lack of of always-on display functionality can grow frustrating. For those looking for a round smartwatch design, the impending compatibility of the Galaxy Gear S2 with the iPhone poses an intriguing proposition, and brings with it a very commendable overall smartwatch experience.
-- Sanjiv Sathiah
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