Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday unveiled what it said was the first smartwatch capable of making and receiving calls without a mobile phone nearby, in the South Korean firm's latest effort to find a new growth driver.
The world's biggest smartphone maker has been pushing hard to develop the wearable devices market as it looks to counter slowing earnings in its mobile division, which led to weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Samsung is hardly alone in pushing wearables, which have yet to catch on with consumers. Rival Apple Inc is expected to launch its own device later this year and LG Electronics Inc on Thursday announced its new G Watch R smartwatch featuring a circular plastic OLED screen, a stainless steel frame and leather strap.
Samsung's new smartwatch, called the Gear S, differs from its predecessors with a bigger 2-inch (5 cm) curved display and offers features like WiFi connectivity, pedestrian navigation and a built-in GPS. This device will run on Samsung's nascent Tizen operating system.
Samsung said the Gear S will start selling from October. It did not give details on pricing or where it will be available.
LG said its G Watch R will launch in key markets in the fourth quarter, without indicating a price.
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The Gear Solo has shown up a few times this month in the rumor mill as it was rumored to make calls and have a curved display. Both those rumors are true as you can see the curved panel in the photos, and the Samsung Gear Solo does indeed have 3G capabilities.
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The Samsung Gear Solo specs don’t quite measure up to LG’s new smartwatch as it has a dual-core 1GHz chip and 300mAh battery compared to the R Watches Snapdragon 400 and 410mAh battery. The storage and memory are the same, but the Gear Solo has a larger 2-inch curved 360 x 480 curved display of the Super AMOLED variety. Both wearables are thankfully water-resistant.
The differences continue when it comes to software, as the Samsung Gear Solo will run on Sammy’s Tizen platform instead of Android Wear. It can also handle calls, texts, and other info without being tethered to your smartphone thanks to 2G/3G capabilities. As you’d expect, the Solo also has Wi-Fi and Blueooth.
In terms of features, the smartwatch’s various sensors will track your fitness along with the GPS and S Health. It’ll work with Nike+ and has a UV sensors and heart rate monitor thrown in for good measure. In other words, it should be a very solid gadget for the fitness crowd.
The LG G Watch R has a circular P-OLED display, and it’s the first company in the world to use the Plastic OLED displays on a watch.
That P-OLED display comes in at 1.3-inches and is said to remain bright in the sun and at various angles. The rest of the specs are impressive as well considering the LG G Watch R will have a Snapdragon 400, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. It’s basically a mid-range handset on your wrist and it’s powered by a 410mAh battery. Impressed?
On the design side of things, the smartwatch will come with a suite of watch faces that can be swapped out with the push of a button. The body is made from stainless, and it has a 22mm calfskin band. It’s also water-resistant to a degree and can handle apps from the Play Store. Want to keep tabs on your fitness? It can handle that as well thanks to a pulse rate sensor.
LG really spilled the beans on the LG G Watch R, and we know everything there is to know about the smartwatch… except for the price. Hopefully LG will announce that at IFA along with a firm release date as all we have to go on at the moment is early Q4.
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