underwhelmed and it's going back,here's why

[karsdroid]

i'm bummed....have been eagerly anticipating this incarnation of the gear, i have the original. of all the smart watches out there the screen on this is awesome, but.......i have grandfathered unlimited on verizon so i really don't want or need the standalone properties.

issues for me....
1...i like the way the watch face comes up on my original gear when i flick my wrist....i don't want to see the black screen with white numbers...why have a great watch face and then just use it as a home screen, i want it to be my WATCH FACE.

2...can't respond to emails or compose, at least not when bluetoothed. if someone knows what setting i'm missing feel free to chime in cuz i can't see anyway to make a change.

3...can't seem to find a way to stream music through the watch speakers without downloading the music onto the phone. controlling the music player on the phone from the watch can happen on my gear and i don't use that often so, meh.

4...keyboard for me is problematic. seriously frustrating, i know there tends to be a learning curve to these kinds of things but once again, meh....easier to give stock answers like i do on my original gear....

5...i was excited about the web browser, but again the keyboard is such a pain i don't find it worth fighting with.

6...lack of interesting apps or games finishes it off for me...youtube would be awesome, would love love dish or netflix app, the games available are laughable....

anyway, agree with me or not, those are my feelings. wish i could just switch the screen to my original gear with the set up i already have. maybe i'll keep an eye on the forum and see if you all sideload interesting apps, etc. i can always make the jump again later

 

[aitt]

While I can understand your opinion, your reason for #6 is just plain ridiculous. YouTube, Netflix apps on a 300mAh battery?

Emails you can reply not compose as long as you're using the native email client.

I really don't understand why people are wanting something that's is suppose to be an extension of your phone to be a full blown phone.

I know some have been able to stream Milk using remote connect but that's a serious battery drain.

I find the keyboard very responsive and more importantly, the S Voice works as a great alternative.

And I can find much use of a browser on a two inch screen. I have a phone for that.

I mean it is what it is. This like Android Wear will improve. We are early adapters and I for one love this. This is what a smart watch should be.

Hope you come back

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[karsdroid]

While I can understand your opinion, your reason for #6 is just plain ridiculous. YouTube, Netflix apps on a 300mAh battery?

Emails you can reply not compose as long as you're using the native email client.

I really don't understand why people are wanting something that's is suppose to be an extension of your phone to be a full blown phone.

I know some have been able to stream Milk using remote connect but that's a serious battery drain.

I find the keyboard very responsive and more importantly, the S Voice works as a great alternative.

And I can find much use of a browser on a two inch screen. I have a phone for that.

I mean it is what it is. This like Android Wear will improve. We are early adapters and I for one love this. This is what a smart watch should be.

Hope you come back

Posted via the Android Central App

i think you missed my saying i had the original gear, so yes i well aware this is an extension of the phone and not the full blown phone, and yes i'm really good with that...i love my original gear. watching dish or netflix is just a fun pipe dream and no i don't care if i have to charge my watch often...if it's doing what i want it too is more important to me than battery life. i feel the same way about my phones....i refuse to turn stuff off or not use live wallpapers just to save battery life!!!! as for replying to emails, nope i cannot reply, there is no option for that.....it may be because i just have it bluetooth connected but really that just a minor thing not the deal breaker.....i'm just not not excited enough about the s to keep it. like i say it makes me sad to lose the fabulous screen, but since i cant really see my watch face on it with the flick of the wrist, whatever....i'm already back to my gear and i will monitor what they have going on xda and see if it becomes worthwhile to jump back in....

 

[Active55]

I may be wrong, but I'd "think" the Gear S would do anything the last Gear can do and more. Am I really wrong thinking that? If you take out the SIM card, can't you use it just like you used your prior Gear? Don't even need to add it to your account or pay a monthly fee using it that way.

I see this as a great little talk/text phone on your wrist, with a wonderful 2" screen. As for data use, possibly directions or mapping will be it for me. Maybe a quick look up or search if no other source is available. The news feature might turn out to be interesting and weather/traffic too.

Samsung S Voice eliminates any keyboard frustration. In fact, Voice texting is one feature I hope to master soon.

Make sure you really can't do what you want to before giving up. How many days do they give you to return it? I'd play with it until that time is up at least. Good luck.

 

[aitt]

The original gear also didn't have WiFi 3g and GPS to take into consideration for battery consumption. I think the fact that Samsung took those features into consideration is no concern that the screen does not show the entire watch face. Like I say to each there own but no way would l care about videos on that screen.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[jspring86]

I am also finding some issues with the S, but not enough to make me return it. I don't want to watch video or anything, but I would like if Google Music or Spotify could integrate into the watch. I would also like to ability to reply to Hangouts messages from the watch. Overall I might just be a bigger fan of Android Wear, but I still will probably keep the Gear S to play with and use while at the gym so I don't have to bring my phone.

 

[Dante314]

i'm bummed....have been eagerly anticipating this incarnation of the gear, i have the original. of all the smart watches out there the screen on this is awesome, but.......i have grandfathered unlimited on verizon so i really don't want or need the standalone properties.

issues for me....
1...i like the way the watch face comes up on my original gear when i flick my wrist....i don't want to see the black screen with white numbers...why have a great watch face and then just use it as a home screen, i want it to be my WATCH FACE.

2...can't respond to emails or compose, at least not when bluetoothed. if someone knows what setting i'm missing feel free to chime in cuz i can't see anyway to make a change.

3...can't seem to find a way to stream music through the watch speakers without downloading the music onto the phone. controlling the music player on the phone from the watch can happen on my gear and i don't use that often so, meh.

4...keyboard for me is problematic. seriously frustrating, i know there tends to be a learning curve to these kinds of things but once again, meh....easier to give stock answers like i do on my original gear....

5...i was excited about the web browser, but again the keyboard is such a pain i don't find it worth fighting with.

6...lack of interesting apps or games finishes it off for me...youtube would be awesome, would love love dish or netflix app, the games available are laughable....

anyway, agree with me or not, those are my feelings. wish i could just switch the screen to my original gear with the set up i already have. maybe i'll keep an eye on the forum and see if you all sideload interesting apps, etc. i can always make the jump again later

You need a Neptune Pine or the Omate Tru Smart. Those a serious stand alone watches/phones. I think maybe you expected to much for an extension of your smart phone. Maybe wait for version 2 which I'm sure will be launching in the spring with the Galaxy S 6.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[67srbell]

i'm bummed....have been eagerly anticipating this incarnation of the gear, i have the original. of all the smart watches out there the screen on this is awesome, but.......i have grandfathered unlimited on verizon so i really don't want or need the standalone properties.

issues for me....
1...i like the way the watch face comes up on my original gear when i flick my wrist....i don't want to see the black screen with white numbers...why have a great watch face and then just use it as a home screen, i want it to be my WATCH FACE.

2...can't respond to emails or compose, at least not when bluetoothed. if someone knows what setting i'm missing feel free to chime in cuz i can't see anyway to make a change.

3...can't seem to find a way to stream music through the watch speakers without downloading the music onto the phone. controlling the music player on the phone from the watch can happen on my gear and i don't use that often so, meh.

4...keyboard for me is problematic. seriously frustrating, i know there tends to be a learning curve to these kinds of things but once again, meh....easier to give stock answers like i do on my original gear....

5...i was excited about the web browser, but again the keyboard is such a pain i don't find it worth fighting with.

6...lack of interesting apps or games finishes it off for me...youtube would be awesome, would love love dish or netflix app, the games available are laughable....

anyway, agree with me or not, those are my feelings. wish i could just switch the screen to my original gear with the set up i already have. maybe i'll keep an eye on the forum and see if you all sideload interesting apps, etc. i can always make the jump again later

I think that you need to spend some more time researching How to use this thing before blasting and returning it.

You can adjust your main clock screen in settings on your device and gear s.

You can stream milk music from your gear s directly to Bluetooth headphones whole exercising.

You can use s voice or the Samsung keyboard to type. In fact, Samsung's predictive texting on its keyboard is much better than I anticipated. Once you start typing a word, look at the suggestions it gives you. Pretty darn accurate and this is Samsung, mind you and not the flesky keyboard that we will all get soon.

Opera mini browser is as good as ANY Internet on a two inch screen, btw. Remember, the Note 4 has a 5.7 inch screen. Hello?

I'd keep tinkering w the gear s and your settings and I think that you've jumped to a conclusion too soon, imo

 

[sux2bu]

Karsdroid, check your other thread. I solved your problem with the watch face.

As far as everything else, I think this watch is great and it's only gonna get better. I don't know if any of you got the OG Gear at launch, but I did and there was a bunch of things I didn't like about it. Hell, you couldn't even read emails at first. You would just get a notification that you got an email, you didn't know who it was from or what it was about. You had to pull out your phone to get any information. But as time went on, updates came out, more apps came out, better apps came out and it became a great watch.

Guys, the Gear S had been out a whole 2 days. Give developers some time to come out with some killer apps. I'm sure there will be updates to the watch to add more features just like on the OG Gear.

Things I already love about the watch over my previous Gear watches are the notification counter on the watch face, the louder better sounding speaker, the stronger vibration, the killer screen, it actually feels lighter on the wrist, app short cuts from the watch face, actual Internet browser on it (won't use it much but it's cool I can check Facebook and twitter), ect. I do miss my camera though.

 

[terrain]

Yeah - bake time is usually something that as new adopters of technology we can take advantage of. Purchase day one and by day x... we get enough features to make the product compelling. Samsung on the other hand when it comes to wearables this "WAIT" does not exactly work. If history is any judge the S will be replaced with a new watch well before the big issues are resolved. With regards to APP's - well, Samsung pretty much killed that already by going back to T --- do you really think we are going to get main line app's for this niche of a niche market. Sure I'd love to get Audible, Pandora, ++++ but I won't hold my breath.

 

[terrain]

Yep - you pretty much summed it up. No idea why you were eagerly anticipating the S as it's a Gear 2 with curved + better screen/speaker. Net/Net - you don't loose out on any features by not having a SIM/Plan that I know about anyway. The S for $299 and no monthly plan is a fair deal -- any more than that and I would probably pass as well. Let us know if the big V kicks you with a RE-Stocking fee....

#6 - Yep - this is a lost cause from the get go due to Samsung ditching the OS that will get all of the main line apps.
#5 - I actually was not anticipating this to be anything but a gimmick, but in my early use I can say that I'm impressed with how it works. Loading my gmail here, actually makes sense and is great view into my inbox.
#4 - This will get better over time (predictions etc...). I agree s-voice is not great (seems laggy), I wish we had Google on this, but s-voice is better than nothing.

i'm bummed....have been eagerly anticipating this incarnation of the gear, i have the original. of all the smart watches out there the screen on this is awesome, but.......i have grandfathered unlimited on verizon so i really don't want or need the standalone properties.

issues for me....
1...i like the way the watch face comes up on my original gear when i flick my wrist....i don't want to see the black screen with white numbers...why have a great watch face and then just use it as a home screen, i want it to be my WATCH FACE.

2...can't respond to emails or compose, at least not when bluetoothed. if someone knows what setting i'm missing feel free to chime in cuz i can't see anyway to make a change.

3...can't seem to find a way to stream music through the watch speakers without downloading the music onto the phone. controlling the music player on the phone from the watch can happen on my gear and i don't use that often so, meh.

4...keyboard for me is problematic. seriously frustrating, i know there tends to be a learning curve to these kinds of things but once again, meh....easier to give stock answers like i do on my original gear....

5...i was excited about the web browser, but again the keyboard is such a pain i don't find it worth fighting with.

6...lack of interesting apps or games finishes it off for me...youtube would be awesome, would love love dish or netflix app, the games available are laughable....

anyway, agree with me or not, those are my feelings. wish i could just switch the screen to my original gear with the set up i already have. maybe i'll keep an eye on the forum and see if you all sideload interesting apps, etc. i can always make the jump again later

 

[reesh11]

I have not had any of your mentioned problems but agree somewhat with your last comment. You may want to exchange cuz it sounds like yours has serious problems. I think the keyboard is great for a freaking watch! Heck, I was just browsing the WWE website...from my watch! Very discreet, I like it. I had the moto 360 for a few hours and hated it. Gear S FTW.

From my smokin' hot Note 4

 

[mlctulsa]

I agree with you. This is an awesome watch. It works well. But, it's a watch - not a Smartphone.

 

[67srbell]

What exactly did you expect from a smartwatch with a 2 inch screen? Why in the world would you want to watch youtube videos on it? Isn't that what your device is for?

The watch is meant to be a medium for your messages and calls while you are away from you phone.

 

[karsdroid]

wow call me a pot stirrer with this thread....

i did get the watchstyler to work and the screen to go directly to my watch face....thanks for the help out there!! i know it seems minor but that was a big deal to me. i've been an early adopter since the original droid sucked me into the android universe, i suffered through the thunderbolt, and celebrated when verizon finally jumped on the note bandwagon.....so yes i know a little about hanging in there for apps, updates, and fixes.

my comments were things i personally had run into, and was throwing out for anyone looking at getting the watch and what people thought about it. don't we all get a new piece of tech hoping for the moon. it has internet so yes, watching a movie or youtube would be cool. practical? not really, but people we all just dropped $300-$400 on a watch...sooooo....in the scheme of things i'd say we're all skirting that practical line right this second