Samsung gear fit watch. Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit smartwatch: another matter

Simultaneously with Gear 2, a simplified version of Gear 2 Neo appears, which does not differ in design, as well as a third model - the youth Gear Fit. In this model, they tried to create a budget smartwatch, and at the same time experiment with design. It turned out both the first and the second, and it was the Gear Fit that many fell in love with in pictures, as well as in life - the watch looks funny, despite the fact that it is very simple and at the same time expensive. The word “budget” in relation to this model sounds with a certain mockery; nevertheless, for 7,990 rubles you can buy a good GShock from Casio or buy a couple of watches with OLED screens, they will not look much worse. Another thing is that in the smart electronics market such an offer is considered “budget”. And in the line from Samsung, this is the most inexpensive watch.

Look at the plate to see how the Fit differs from other models.

	Gear	Gear 2	Gear 2 Neo	Gear Fit
Replaceable strap	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Camera	1.9 megapixels	2 megapixels	No	No
Protection standard	IP55	IP67	IP67	IP67
Heart rate sensor	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Control panel (IR port)	No	Yes	Yes	No
Display		1.63 inches, 320x320 pixels, SuperAMOLED	1.63 inches, 320x320 pixels, SuperAMOLED	1.84 inches, 432x128 pixels, SuperAMOLED
Battery	315 mAh, Li-Pol	300 mAh, Li-Pol	300 mAh, Li-Pol	210 mAh, Li-Pol
Weight, gram	73.8	68	55	27
Dimensions, WxHxD, mm	36.8x56.6x11.1	36.9x58.4x10	37.9x58.8x10	23.4x57.4x11.95
Speakerphone, microphone	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
S Voice	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
CPU	800 MHz	1 GHz, dual core	1 GHz, dual core	1 GHz, dual core
RAM	512 MB	512 MB	512 MB	512 MB
Built-in memory	4GB	4GB	4GB	4GB
Price in Russia (beginning of April)	11,990 rubles	12,990 rubles	9,990 rubles	7,990 rubles

Fit's positioning is very simple - for young people. A kind of electronic accessory. Marketers are very fond of saying the phrase “fashionable youth”, but I’m not sure that it applies to this product. And the watch itself looks like the first generation Gear six months ago - this is still an experiment that can no longer be called very successful.

Design, ergonomics, replaceable straps

The quality of the case is very different from the Gear 2, there is only plastic, and the bright side is the 1.84-inch diagonal screen, it is stretched along the watch body and looks quite stylish. Even when turned off, when the curved glass glares.

The display has a resolution of 432x128 pixels, as you understand, the larger number is the width resolution, that is, what you see in front of you. To begin with, depending on which hand you wear the watch on, you will have to select the display orientation in the settings (left or right hand). The picture will look at you. If in order to see the time, this does not play any role, then for all meaningful operations, for example, reading SMS, viewing caller numbers, and so on, you will need to bend your hand or look at an angle. In the usual bent position of the arm, as we usually look at the watch, this will not be possible due to the orientation of the screen. Is it convenient? Not at all - with Fit you need to forget everything you knew about such devices and relearn. For young people this may not be a flaw, but for the majority it is a serious drawback.

The strap is rubber and without a latch, with regular buttons, which means you have to put the watch on with force. The straps can be different, you can choose them when purchasing.

The watch is not felt on the hand, the weight of 27 grams is small and very pleasant. The fact that the main unit has IP67 protection is excellent; you can easily wash your hands, even go to the shower, and, in theory, nothing will happen to the watch. But the instructions do not recommend swimming or diving in them; after all, IP67 protection is not intended for active sports in water, it is 30 minutes at a depth of up to one meter and at rest.

On the inside you can see an LED that serves to measure pulse, this new feature in the second generation of watches. Exactly the same design can be seen near the flash on the Galaxy S5 body, that is, Samsung is trying to implement it en masse.

There are several devices on the market that allow you to measure your heart rate, in particular, the best is the Alpha MIO watch, which is designed for sports and measures your heart rate constantly in real time.

Unfortunately, the implementation of this function in watch Gear far from ideal. You are required not to move, not to talk and, apparently, not to breathe. As a rule, it is not possible to measure the pulse the first time. This cannot be done while walking. It's difficult to do this during a conversation. If your hand is wet, no measurements will be taken. As you understand, it is easier to say when this function can work - only in ideal conditions. Moreover, for most Android smartphones you can download free programs for measuring heart rate; the flash of your device is used as a sensor. The measurement accuracy is no worse than in Gear - it also requires a state of rest.

Based on this, we cannot say that the Gear’s heart rate measurement function is useful. This is an additional feature that will obviously be added to and made better in future models. Or they will abandon it altogether, since in this form it is simply not applicable in practice.

The downside of the Fit compared to the regular Gear 2 is the lower capacity of the Li-Pol battery - 210 mAh versus 300 mAh with the same chipset (1 GHz, 2 cores). If for Gear 2 2-3 days of work at full load are easily achievable, then in Fit it will be 1.5-2 days, no more. And the relatively short operating time becomes a definite drawback, especially since the clock does not light up by default, that is, the screen is off. If you make them active for up to 5 minutes (maximum timeout), the battery will discharge very quickly and will not last even a full day.

The charging block included in the kit is put on the watch, and a microUSB charging cable is already inserted into it. The time to fully charge the watch is about 30 minutes. From a computer - the same. The connector is made on the side, which is much more convenient than its location on the first Gear, when it was necessary to insert the wire by touching the strap.

Perhaps it is necessary to say that the watch has a vibration alert and it feels great; I prefer to set it, since vibrating the watch on my hand is the best reminder. The signal may not be heard on the street, while the vibration is always felt.

There is a gyroscope and an acceleration sensor, so they are activated the moment you raise your hand to check the time. In our video you can see that this does not happen instantly, but with a slight delay. You cannot activate the watch by tapping the screen - this is done in a number of competing models.

The connection with the phone occurs via Bluetooth (version 4.0), and the watch can only work with one phone. In order to link them somewhere else, you need to reset all data. This can be considered a serious drawback, since you won’t be able to use the watch with a tablet and phone at the same time. And this is a very common scenario.

Gear Manager on your phone - settings and applications

In order to use the watch, you need to pair it with your device (phone or tablet). In the Samsung Apps store, you need to download Gear Fit Manager (this is separate program from simply Gear Manager) and then follow the prompts on the screen of your watch or phone.

In Gear Manager you can customize your preferences and select additional programs that are installed on your watch. Convenient interface for settings, since this is not so simple and easy to do on a watch due to the small size of the screen.

One of the pleasant surprises is the archiving of all your settings, that is, by resetting the clock, you will automatically get all the settings again, you will not need to do this work a second time.

The first thing you should do is figure out the order of the functions and their order in the menu, this will make it easier and faster to manage the watch. I won’t describe all the manager’s capabilities. It’s worth choosing a program that will launch when you double-click the center key; for example, for me it’s a camera.

Clock interface - management and work with them

You raise your hand, and the watch turns on the screen for 7 seconds, which displays the time, date and weather by default. The backlight time can be changed to longer, then the battery consumption will be greater. You can also choose different watch faces or clocks with application icons or a pedometer.

In the settings, you can choose the font size for both menus and messages - the function allows you to customize everything to suit you, your vision. A maximum of two lines in a thin font, which is inconvenient.

Scrolling horizontally, you will see menu items that you can sort as you wish. I will describe the main features of the watch.

Returning to the previous menu is done by moving from top to bottom, unlike the first Gear, there are no false positives and everything works perfectly.

Music – control the music that is stored on your smartphone, a kind of remote control. I don’t presume to judge how necessary it is – it only pulls up files that the standard player sees.

Notifications are the most interesting feature. You can customize most notifications, but the greatest interest is in SMS, but social media practically do not work, since a message arrives without text, that is, the very fact that something happened. You can click the “On device” button, then you will immediately see everything on your phone. Comfortable? Not at all. Look email It’s possible, but there are also a lot of complaints here; it’s more likely that it doesn’t work than it does. The main use is with SMS, and here it is really convenient - you sit in the cinema, you don’t have to take out your phone and illuminate everything around. Well, and so on.

From additional programs I can note Evernote, it works with the watch to a limited extent - you can conveniently view to-do lists and mark them, but the notes are greatly cut off and are not visible.

During calls, you can call them from your watch and send SMS templates, this is convenient. You cannot speak on this watch without a microphone. However, watch the video in which I describe the functionality of the watch.

Impression

The price of this watch is 7,990 rubles, which cannot be considered low cost. Nice design, but budget execution and lack of many features of the older model ( remote control via IR, no camera, no built-in microphone and everything connected with it). Small battery and short operating time. Inconvenient in Everyday life screen, small amount of information that fits on the screen, lists are impossible to view. Even if the Gear 2 didn't exist, the Gear Fit could be considered a stump with all functionality lost in favor of a screen. It feels like Samsung could have made a cool-looking watch, with an excellent screen and pictures of different dials. And they did it - there are no complaints about the design of this product. But it is almost impossible to use it. The result is a strange device that is unlikely to gain much fame and generate significant sales. Still, if you have 8,000 rubles, it’s worth saving up and purchasing the older model Gear 2, which may not be as interesting in terms of appearance, but is clearly superior in all other respects. And Gear Fit turned out to be neither fish nor fowl. Why buy a smart watch if it shows little information, and it’s crooked, so that you have to move either your head or your hand?

Advantages

suitable for swimming
automatic recognition of sports
gorgeous OLED display...

Flaws

...which sometimes becomes difficult to read
you need two applications on your smartphone

Price-quality ratio
Fine
Place in the overall ranking
3 of 45

Price/quality ratio: 70
Equipment (40%): 97.6
Accuracy (30%): 92.8
Ergonomics (30%): 91.7

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Display: Samsung flexes its muscles

The fitness tracker you choose should be chic, functional, customizable and accurate. Does Samsung, with its Gear Fit2 Pro (costs about 13,000 rubles), hit the bull's eye, as they say? That's the question Samsung's latest wearable was designed to answer in our comprehensive fitness testing methodology.

Result: It was quite a bit short of reaching the top of the corresponding rating, but we really liked it first of all sports appearance , and luxury equipment.

The Gear Fit2 Pro boasts an impressive 1.5-inch curved display that shows you not only your daily fitness progress, but also notifications, phone call information and calendar entries. Via an integrated WLAN module, the wearable device is connected to home network and without mobile phone, getting the opportunity to receive all notifications absolutely independently.

On the back of the case there is an optical heart rate monitor that continuously monitors your heart rate. To track your activity as accurately as possible, not only GPS, but also GLONASS modules are installed on board. This makes the Gear Fit2 Pro a truly accurate tracker, although the version without the "Pro" in the name performed even better in this area during testing.

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro: on curved touch display you move through a large number of available applications

Fitness trainer with a huge number of applications

While the real highlight of this gadget is, of course, its curved display, what's also impressive is its wide range of customization options: a variety of watch faces with unique combinations of display information and colors are always available for download in the Galaxy App Store, as well as all sorts of apps for fitness and everyday activities.

Samsung itself claims over 3,000 apps and watch faces- however, of course, not all utilities are free. Nevertheless, individualists will be able to have a blast here, as they say.

Fans of water and swimming should also feel satisfied, since now the Gear Fit2 Pro is protected from water pressure of 5 atmospheres, that is, suitable for diving to depths up to 50 meters, which means they are also suitable for swimming. This was reason enough for a swimming expert like Speedo to include its own app. Thus, this tracker can independently measure time, distance and intensity of movement.

Generally speaking, the gadget recognizes a variety of activities, including rowing, cycling, running or elliptical training, making it easier to analyze data in the Samsung Health App. This fitness tracker also has a sleep analyzer.

Energy reserve for any occasion

As a matter of fact, all that remains is to find out how long the battery of the tracker from Samsung can last. During our testing, the 200 mAh battery drained in approximately 3.5 days. Through the included magnetic charging station Gear Fit2 Pro restores its energy reserves in approximately 2 hours. Considering the display used here, this figure can be considered normal, although most competitors, of course, can last much longer.

During testing, the process of controlling the gadget gave us some problems - at least when scrolling across the curved display, sensations arise that at first seem somewhat unusual.

We also really missed a light sensor that would allow the screen to automatically adjust its brightness. This would be very useful, since first of all, in bright ambient light, it can sometimes become difficult to read content from the Gear Fit2 Pro display.

And here's something else a little unusual: despite the fact that the gadget can connect to Samsung, Android, and iOS devices, it still normal operation it requires two applications at once.

We really liked that bracelets can be changed here. On the Internet you can find a huge number of different replacement straps made of metal, plastic or leather. However, wearing the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro even with the standard bracelet we tested is quite comfortable.

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro Test Results

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro Specifications and Test Results

Price-quality ratio	70
Display type	Curved OLED (color)
Display: quality and readability	Very good
Display: readable in sunlight	Fine
Accuracy: number of steps	99,2 %
Displaying the number of steps (on the tracker display)	Yes
Distance display (on tracker display)	Yes
GPS sensor	Yes
Heart rate monitor	Yes
Sleep monitoring	Yes
Vibration motor	Yes
Waterproof case	Yes
Bracelet length (min.)	12.8 cm
Bracelet length (max.)	23.0 cm
Replaceable bracelet	Yes
Bracelet with clip	-
Android app	Yes
iOS app	Yes
Application for Windows Phone	-
Web application	-
Working hours	3 days
Recharging without removing from the bracelet	Yes
Low Battery Warning	Yes
Charging connector	proprietary
Weight	33 g

A new generation of fitness bracelet turned into a smart watch

In 2014, Samsung released the Gear Fit fitness bracelet. The device turned out to be very successful: its main feature was the excellent curved screen Super AMOLED, and in terms of functionality the gadget was between traditional fitness trackers and full-fledged smart watch. It could display the time and notifications, but did not allow the installation of third-party applications. And now, two years later, the South Korean manufacturer quietly and somehow even too modestly presented the second version of the bracelet.

The new product was called Samsung Gear Fit2 and retained the concept of its predecessor, as well as its main feature- curved screen. However, the elements that were added took the functionality of the Gear Fit2 to a completely different level. Firstly, GPS was built in. Secondly, the gadget is now compatible not only with Samsung smartphones, but with any Android smartphones, volume random access memory which are more than 1.5 GB, and the OS version is not lower than 4.4 (hence, even mid-budget devices fall into this category). And thirdly, it is now possible to install third-party applications, and this already turns the Samsung Gear Fit2 into a full-fledged smartwatch. But how adequate is the bracelet as a smart watch? And how successful was the device as a whole?

Let's look at the specifications of the new product.

Specifications Samsung Gear Fit2

Screen: touch, curved, Super AMOLED, 1.5″, 432×216, capacitive
Water and dust protection: yes (IP68 standard)
Strap: removable
Compatibility: Samsung devices running Android 4.4 with at least 1.5 GB RAM
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0 LE
SoC: Samsung Exynos 3250 (dual Cortex-A7 cores @1 GHz)
RAM: 512 MB
Flash memory: 4 GB (about 2 GB free)
Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, GPS, barometer
Cameras, Internet: no
Microphone, speaker: no
Battery: 200 mAh
Weight 28 g

For clarity, let's compare the characteristics of the bracelet with its immediate predecessor and some competitors we tested earlier.

	Samsung Gear Fit2	Samsung Gear Fit	Garmin vivoactive HR	Sony SmartBand 2 SWR12
Screen	touch, color, curved, Super AMOLED, 1.5″, 432×216 (317 ppi)	touch, color, curved, Super AMOLED, 1.84″, 432×128 (240 ppi)	touch, color, transreflective, OLED, 1.38″, 205×148 (183 ppi)	vibration signal, 3 LED indicators
Water protection	IP68	IP67	5 ATM	IP68
Strap	removable, silicone	removable, silicone	removable, silicone	removable, silicone
Camera	No	No	No	No
Sensors	GPS, accelerometer, barometer, heart rate sensor	accelerometer, barometer, heart rate sensor	GPS, accelerometer, altimeter, heart rate sensor	accelerometer, heart rate sensor
Microphone, speaker	No	No	No	No
Compatibility	Devices running Android 4.4 and later with at least 1.5 GB of RAM	Samsung devices running Android 4.3 and later	Android 4.x and later devices / iOS 8 and later / Windows and macOS computers	Devices running iOS 8.2 / Android 4.4 and later
Third party app support	There is	No	There is	there are extensions that allow you to control various smartphone applications from the bracelet (Android only), as well as transfer data to third-party applications
Weight (g)*	28	28	47,6	25
average price	T-14018528	T-10787829	N/A	T-12901384
Samsung Gear Fit2 Retail Deals	L-14018528-10

*according to manufacturer information

The table clearly demonstrates the main differences between the Gear Fit2 and its predecessor. The screen has shrunk a bit, and at the same time the aspect ratio has changed: it used to be about 3.5:1, and now it’s 2:1. We mentioned the rest (GPS, compatibility, third-party applications) above. Compared to its competitors, the new product also looks very good, but, however, it is inferior in compatibility. Samsung stubbornly refuses to support iOS in its wearable gadgets.

Well, let's move on to getting to know the device in person!

Equipment

The box looks quite traditional and does not evoke either positive or negative emotions. Its advantage is that you can see the bracelet itself (at least its main part) without opening it.

Inside the box we find the bracelet itself, a short manual in Russian, a warranty booklet and a charger that must be connected to a USB output or smartphone charger.

The bracelet must be placed on it so that the contacts on the back of the bracelet body coincide with the contacts on the charger.

Of course, you can complain that you didn’t do it wireless charging, but we don’t see a big problem in this.

Design

The appearance of the bracelet as a whole inherited the features of its predecessor, but there are a lot of differences, and all of them are significant. And the new colors (blue and pink) are far from the most significant (yes, we had pink in testing!).

First of all, the principle of connecting the main unit with the silicone strap has changed. Previously, the strap was single, and the block was inserted into it. Now the strap is made of two halves, which are attached to the electronics unit using special latches.

Perhaps this solution is less elegant, and it is more difficult to disconnect the halves of the strap. However, in everyday life such a need does not arise. It can be assumed that the manufacturer had some serious reasons for changing the design in this way.

The second point is that the shape of the device has become less elongated. As we already wrote, the screen changed the aspect ratio, and therefore the overall shape changed. Whether this is a plus or a minus, everyone can decide for themselves. In our opinion, the first generation of Gear Fit looked somewhat more interesting and sleeker. The new product is more similar to competing devices.

However, another feature of the first Gear Fit is retained here - the metal edging around the screen. But if the first version had a shiny, glossy frame, then the Gear Fit2 has a matte edging, painted in the color of the bracelet. And therefore it does not look so impressive. Without examining the device up close, it is difficult to tell whether it is plastic or metal.

Plastic, however, is also used here: the back of the case is made of it. It contains contacts for connecting charger and a heart rate sensor.

In addition, it is on the plastic part that there are two buttons (the first Gear Fit had only one button). Clicking on the smaller button opens the menu if we are on the main screen, or takes us back to main screen, when we are on any other screen. And the larger button is responsible for taking a step back.

The bracelet sits quite comfortably on the hand, and the silicone strap with a standard clasp in the form of a metal pin is also convenient. But we can’t call the Samsung Gear Fit2 stylish and eye-catching. Yes, not bad, yes, quite comfortable, but there is no “wow” here.

This is not to say that the design of the Gear Fit2 is much worse than that of the Gear Fit, but there is a feeling that the originality has been lost here, and in general the style has become duller, despite the bright colors. However, from the point of view of convenience and functional features, we did not notice any disadvantages. And the appearance of another button is only a plus, because on the first Gear Fit you had to press a small virtual button on the screen to go back.

Screen

We only had the bracelet for a short time, so we weren’t able to carry out full testing using specialized equipment, but the screen here feels about the same as the first Gear Fit, if we mean colors, contrast, brightness and image clarity. More precisely, the last parameter, judging by the numbers, is even better for the new product (317 versus 240 ppi), but for a wearable device with a relatively small screen this is not so significant.

In general, the screen looks very beautiful, it has perfect black color (which is quite logical for a Super AMOLED matrix), rich saturated colors (in the case of smartphones, we sometimes complain about their oversaturation in AMOLED, but for wrist gadgets this is even a plus), sufficient brightness in order to use the bracelet in the sun. And, of course, the Gear Fit's screen delights with its beautiful curve. Years go by, and curved screens still do not become mainstream, remaining the lot of a few experimental devices (remember that the same Samsung had Galaxy smartphone Round, and LG has the G Flex line). That's why the Gear Fit2's curved screen looks every bit as impressive today as its predecessor's screen did two years ago.

True, the bend increases the amount of glare, that is, in bright sunshine you will have some difficulty turning the bracelet towards you without catching glare. But this is not to say that this is too significant and can ruin the experience of using the Gear Fit2.

Interface

Now let's see what the bracelet interface looks like. The main screen is the watch face. Moreover, the dial can display not only the time, but also other information, depending on the specific option (date, number of steps, etc.). If you long press on the screen, you can select a watch face.

If you do not long press, but simply swipe right or left from the main screen, we will see widgets. Each widget displays some information related to the fitness functions of the bracelet, or there may be controls.

To see the application menu, you need to press the small button on the side of the bracelet. Round icons installed applications lined up in a vertical row, which we can rewind using touch screen. Applications you downloaded from Samsung Galaxy Apps are added to the same row (in the right screenshot below you can see the icon of the third-party application FitEvolution).

In the settings menu you can see quite a lot useful options regarding interaction with the bracelet (see two screenshots on the left under this paragraph). In general, which is significant, you can customize the Samsung Gear Fit2 for yourself practically without using a smartphone. This is the most autonomous device. But if the smartphone is connected, the bracelet displays notifications, calls, etc.

Important point: the GPS module is turned off by default (otherwise the battery consumption will be too high). In order to turn it on, you need to select the “Exercise” application and there any type of activity (see screenshot above this paragraph on the right). And below the “Geodata” item should be activated. After you press "Start", the bracelet will activate GPS and build a track. Of course, the track and other training results can be viewed not only on the bracelet screen, but also on the smartphone after synchronization. But you don’t need a smartphone to record the track itself.

Smartphone pairing and functionality

Just like the smart ones samsung watch Gear S2, the new product works with any Android smartphone that uses Android OS version 4.4 or later and has at least 1.5 GB of RAM. For testing we used Sony Xperia XA, and there were no problems with it. True, the need to install four (!!!) applications in order to work with the Gear Fit2 seems excessive to us. In addition to Samsung Gear and S Health (it is with these two applications that we will interact while using the bracelet), this is also Gear Fit2 Plugin and Samsung Accessory Service.

Another oddity: to launch the S Health application for the first time, you need a SIM card in your smartphone. Without it, launching is impossible. But if you launch an application with a SIM card and then remove it, then the SIM is no longer required for subsequent launches.

So, Samsung app Gear is needed to control the bracelet itself, and S Health is needed to receive and display fitness data. Let's start with Samsung Gear

Samsung Gear

The application interface is very simple and intuitive. We can select a watch face, mark which applications the bracelet can receive notifications from, change the order or remove applications we have installed from the bracelet, transfer music from the smartphone memory to the bracelet's built-in memory, make the bracelet vibrate if you can't find it and finally open it Samsung Galaxy Apps store. There is nothing interesting in the “Settings” item (there is purely auxiliary information there).

Let us comment in more detail on the most interesting of these points. In the “Watch Faces” menu, you can access settings for the bracelet’s main screen. You can choose from available options (which may include those installed from the app store), and some watch faces have fine settings. For example, this could be the choice of color or some features of information placement.

"Send Music to Gear" is a very valuable option for those who like to play sports with music. So, you can use this command to download several hundred songs to the bracelet's built-in memory, and then connect a Bluetooth headset to the bracelet and control music playback directly using the bracelet. This means you don’t have to take your smartphone with you to class. This is a huge plus, since the first Gear Fit could only control music on a smartphone. Below are screenshots of the Gear Fit2: on the left we see the music player icon among the applications, and on the right we see the music control widget.

The Samsung Galaxy Apps store deserves special attention. As we remember, the first generation Gear Fit did not have support for third-party applications. Now it is, and Samsung Galaxy Apps already has a lot of interesting things for the Gear Fit2. Basically, of course, these are dials, but there are also some programs that expand the capabilities of the device. In general, the store’s assortment is still very modest, and there are a lot of paid applications/watch faces. But let's see what happens next and how Samsung will attract developers for the Gear Fit2.

Applications installed from the store appear in the bracelet's main application menu, and the location of the icon can be changed by moving it higher.

Once you have downloaded music and the necessary applications/watch faces to the bracelet, and also configured the basic settings, you will not need to launch Samsung Gear on any regular basis. But what you will need constantly (if, of course, you are going to use the Samsung Gear Fit2 intensively) is the S Health application.

S Health

We have already told you about this application more than once in connection with other Samsung wearable gadgets. Let us remind you that this is a single aggregator of fitness information for Samsung devices, that is, all Gear Fit2 measurements will also be provided in S Health. Here's what the app's home screen looks like before you start using the Gear Fit2 (screenshot on the left) and after daily synchronization (screenshot on the right).

When it comes to sleep and step tracking, there's nothing out of the ordinary here. We just note that the bracelet can determine when you fell asleep and woke up, and does it very accurately. But what's interesting is this automatic operation heart rate sensor - including during sleep. Measurements are taken every 10 minutes. Including when the user is sleeping. This probably also affects how the bracelet interprets the user's passivity - as wakefulness (in which case it can remind you to be active) or as sleep.

All measurement statistics are saved and accumulated. Then you can see the dynamics of changes in your heart rate for the whole day, including data for each measurement separately.

Another interesting thing is determining the number of ascents per floor. For the bracelet to record that you have climbed one floor, you need to rise three meters (the elevator, of course, does not count).

Of course, S Health saves all your workouts, including those that were recorded with a track (you can then see your route on the map). In addition, the bracelet and the application offer to record the amount of water and coffee drunk, but this, of course, must be done manually, so only the most meticulous users will be able to do this.

Autonomous operation

A wrist device with a color screen that requires backlighting, a heart rate sensor that automatically turns on every ten minutes, and even built-in GPS—how long will it last on battery life? One day? As it turns out, if you do not turn on GPS (that is, in just a fitness tracker mode), it will take about three days. That is, almost the same as its predecessor. Yes, it's less than the Garmin vivoactive HR, but more than Apple Watch(Remember, there is also an AMOLED screen and an automatically working heart rate sensor). At the same time, of these three devices, Samsung Gear Fit2 is the most compact.

Enabling GPS training mode will, of course, reduce the run time significantly, very significantly, so, for example, if you plan to use it all day (for example, going on a hike or a long bike ride), be prepared for the fact that at some point an insufficiently charged bracelet will simply turn off, and you may not have time to track this moment. But, say, a standard workout for an hour and a half after a working day, the bracelet will survive without problems if you charged it the night before.

conclusions

We still don’t understand why Samsung released the Gear Fit2 so modestly, without presenting it at any global exhibition, without arranging noisy presentations and other PR activities. After all, the product turned out to be excellent: taking all the best from the first generation of Gear Fit, the new product offers a number of important improvements. This is the presence of GPS, the ability to play music directly from the bracelet (without a smartphone), an automatically working heart rate sensor, compatibility with Android smartphones from other manufacturers and, finally, the ability to install third-party applications/watch faces.

Thus, the fitness bracelet with notifications has turned into a full-fledged smartwatch, which at the right time can turn into sports gps watch. Perhaps, for complete happiness, the only thing missing here is serious moisture protection (the IP68 standard does not imply swimming in a pool or sea - at least the manufacturer does not recommend such experiments). Well, there are no positive changes in appearance (although we are already accustomed to the fact that each next generation of wearable gadgets should look significantly better than the previous one). But even if you like the first-generation Gear Fit a little better on the outside, there's no reason to choose it over the new one.

Fortunately, the price of the Gear Fit2 in dollars is almost the same as the first Gear Fit: $179. In Russia, the official price is about 12 thousand rubles. And this, at first glance, is a bit much, but, on the other hand, if you compare the price with other smartwatches (namely, they should be compared with them, and not with other fitness bracelets), it turns out that the Gear Fit2 is very affordable . So we confidently recommend the Gear Fit2 for purchase and will follow Samsung's new steps in the wearable device market.

For its curved screen and rich functionality without sacrificing appearance, we give the Samsung Gear Fit2 our Original Design Award.

They say that fitness bracelets are only needed by those who don’t go to the gym. Say, he walked several thousand steps in a day, looked at the screen, received a badge for a great achievement, well done, he pleased his ego. It would be better if the money spent on the gadget was spent on a subscription and a trainer!

This point of view has a right to life, but you shouldn’t forget about fitness devices. Let's take it for Samsung example Gear Fit2 Pro and let's see what it can do. Here we have protection from water maximum level for this kind of gadgets IP68, heart rate monitor, bright curved screen. What is it: a beautiful fashionable thing for a city bon vivant or an athlete’s dream?

Bright and light

A bracelet with a black and red strap - it looks good with jeans and sneakers. In principle, you can wear it under a suit, but the inner red surface may stand out from the overall strict image, so decide for yourself whether the accessory fits into the dress code.

The strap is made of silicone, the case is made of plastic, the bracelet is light and weighs a little. It would be cool to get multi-colored accessory straps, like in the case of Xiaomi bracelets or Garmin, but Samsung does not offer this option. What if the strap breaks? Then buy a new one, it costs about 3,000 rubles. Well, or try using glue to correct the situation.

Great curved screen

Of course, Samsung could not help but put a high-quality screen in the bracelet. The Super AMOLED here is of excellent quality: the picture is bright, it looks great even on a sunny day, everything is clearly visible on the display. It has a 1.5-inch diagonal and a resolution of 432x216 pixels, a curved screen, and the body of the fitness tracker gracefully flows around the hand.

At the same time, I would like to have an option to increase the font size. I gave the bracelet to my uncle, he complained that the characters on the screen were hard to see and the letters were too small.

If you get bored with one of the standard menu design options, you can launch a store with design themes. There are both paid themes and free ones - you can support wallpaper developers with rubles. But there are also enough standard options; they don’t ask for money for them.

For iPhone and Android

The bracelet is compatible with both iOS and Android. In my opinion, iPhone owners They are unlikely to look in his direction - after all, you can buy yourself an Apple Watch with interchangeable straps.

In any case, it is better to install the Samsung Gear application on your smartphone - it will be more convenient, although in principle this is not necessary, the bracelet works autonomously and does not require connection to the device.

But if you install the application, it will help you find the bracelet if it gets lost somewhere at home. The main thing is that it does not discharge during inactivity. In principle, the opposite situation is also possible: they pressed a button on the bracelet, and the smartphone sound signal, will not get lost.

Sports, activity and sleep

I'll start with the main thing, for me this is a dream. The better sleep you get, the easier your life is, and the bracelet can track what you do at night. Another thing is that I didn’t like sleeping with the bracelet on my hand; I’m used to taking off my watch before going to bed. But as an experiment, I tried to break the habit and sleep with the bracelet, in the morning I received a stable schedule, where I could see how I slept at night.

It would be nice to also receive some recommendations from the application to overcome insomnia. But I liked how the fitness tracker determines that I fell asleep, taking into account those rare cases when you sleep during the day. He understands that this is not a monotonous sitting on an office chair, but sleep, he does not have to manually switch the bracelet to the appropriate mode, it is convenient. But there is no smart alarm clock here, which is a pity, it would be very useful.

The bracelet counts steps, calories, floors climbed - all activity is taken into account, including heart rate. With the tracker you can swim and run, squat or do push-ups - training programs are provided. It can automatically detect types of activities, or you can specify the type of training yourself.

The heart rate sensor is not particularly accurate: when you just walk or walk down the street, the data, plus or minus, coincides with the same numbers that the Apple Watch gives, for me they are the standard in this regard. If you run on a track in the gym, the results are very different from the real ones. And this is important, you need to monitor the load on the heart and not exceed the recommended pace, otherwise there will be little benefit from such a workout, rather, it will be harmful to health if you run for a long time with an increased heart rate.

The fitness tracker also works as an independent music player; through the application, you upload music to it and listen to a motivating track during your morning jog. Headphones, of course, must be connected via Bluetooth.

If you buy such a brave sports device for sports and training and use GPS during training, then the bracelet will work for a day. Without GPS, he lives longer, about two to three days.

Filling and “wants”

What is inside? If we talk about hardware, then there is a processor with a frequency of 1 GHz, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory, of which 2 GB can be used for downloading motivating music.

Of course, the bracelet vibrates to indicate new messages, calls or notifications. You won’t miss anything important, although at the same time you can’t talk on the fitness tracker; you need a phone to talk. But you can send a prepared template - they say, don’t interfere with the person’s training, I’ll call you back later.

Contactless payments are the most fashionable topic now, but the bracelet does not support the Samsung Pay system, there is no NFC. In my opinion, this function would be very useful.

Set

The bracelet arrived without the original beautiful box. In the kit, as I understand it, we get a charging dock. It ends with a USB connector, so you will need either a power supply or a computer port to charge the bracelet.

Results

For Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro they are asking 12,990 rubles, this is recommended for stores in Russia. From this we conclude that a fitness tracker costs as much as inexpensive smartphone on Android. And is it needed?

On the one hand, it has an interesting appearance, great screen and enough functions. At the same time, there are none of the things that people buy smartwatches for: you can’t smartly pay for lunch in a cafe, you can’t talk on it, the accuracy of the heartbeat sensor is not the highest.

I'm not an athlete and accurate data counting is not so necessary, but the same Apple watches - where there is no comparison with them - are suitable both for training and for idle wandering around the streets. You will say that you can’t buy a watch for that kind of money, which is true.

In my opinion, it makes sense to pay extra and get a full-fledged watch with all the bells and whistles. For sports, I recommend the Polar M430, they cost about 15,000 rubles, and the Suunto Spartan Trainer costs about 17,000 rubles.

It turns out that the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro will cost more than just a smart bracelet when compared with classmates like Garmin Vivosmart 3. At the same time, the accessory does not have the capabilities of more advanced smartwatches.