Hey guys very eager to buy a Gear S to go with my Note 4 but I had a few questions.
1. Tizen is a OS i don't know much about. how Android like is it? Is there a filesystem like on kitkart? Just drag and drop with no BS? Can i get apps from Google Play or does it have its own store?
The way all the Gear's are supported the OS is transparent. Meaning, the apps provided and supported by Samsung are pretty much those that you can rely on in terms of depth and long-term support. Those include phone, contacts, S Health, schedule, music player, Milk, gallery, e-mail, messaging, voice memo, weather, instant settings, news briefing, alarm, find my device, S Voice, find my car, timer, stopwatch, compass, and calculator.
Some strong third party apps that make a huge difference and are well executed include Nokia Here, Nike+, Yelp, CNN, Opera Mini, Glympse, and News Republic. Most third party apps are pretty weak, not designed for the Gear S' elongated display, and "50%" solutions compared to what you'd expect if the "real provider" developed and offered an app. Examples being highly used messaging and social apps. To make up for the lack of interest/support from established third parties (which at this point could be considered intentional and permanent on their part) Samsung's made the notification's component of the Gear S very robust.
Here's the bottom line: what I mentioned and maybe a handful of other 50% apps are what you should expect to live with for the life of your Gear S. In Gear Manager you can sort app categories by "new." Doing so, across all categories, you'll find some pretty crappy third party watch faces, coin flippers, and half-*** games. So if the apps/functionality I've listed will satisfy you then you should consider a Gear S. Similarly, certain apps (messaging, e-mail, weather,scheduling) only integrate with their Samsung phone-based counter parts. Meaning, if you use the native Gmail client and Hangouts you won't be able to use Samsung's mail/messaging apps on your Gear. I use Samsung's stock apps on my phone because I like them and the added Gear S functionality is impressive. So caveat emptor, non-Samsung provided phone apps end up as "notifications" with limited interaction capabilities via the Gear.
There are XDA developed kluges that allow you to get better notifications/interactions but it's not the same as the integrated feature set you get when using Samsung's phone apps. Similarly, trying to get GM to work properly on a non-Samsung phone makes me wonder why people even bother. Personally, given a choice between Android Wear's "notification centric" design working well or trying to use a Samsung Gear in a kluged manner I'd pick the former.
2. Does it support flash? Is there a video viewer?
No flash support including in the Opera Mini browser. The gallery app plays videos.
How tough is it? anyone cracked theirs?
The fact the display is so large makes it a bigger target to accidentally hit against things. I had a Gear V1 that I used for eighteen months without a scratch. I have a screen protector on my Gear S and I see tons of marks and lines where I've scraped it against something. It self-heals but I wonder based on the number of "hits" my watch face has taken whether the screen would have scratched without a protector or if GG3 would have saved it. I don't think the Gear S is frail, but it's a big target for potential damage.
4. Has the apparent problems with the charge cradles breaking been resolved?
The Gear S is dead to Samsung. Just like the Gear, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Live before it. We'll get s/w updates but I'd highly doubt we'll see a Gear S II with h/w improvements. Next up is the Gear A and it'll do things the Gear S won't. Then its h/w will be abandoned when Samsung chases the next bright and shiny wearables object on the horizon. You really need to accept that what you're buying is what you'll be living with; warts and all.
5. How loud is the speaker? Loud enough to make calls in a noisy environment? Will i need to hold it up to my ear to hear others properly?
You can actually carry on a decent conversation from you wrist. The mic is particularly impressive. Volume's kind of soft but passable in all but loud ambient conditions. I use a Gear Circle so that when my Gear S isn't connected via BT I can make and answer calls through it.
6. can i really leave my phone at home and just make calls on this no matter where i am that is such an alien concept!
Yes. And that's the number one reason (along with not needing to be attached to a phone via BT) I and other's got a Gear S. Next up in priority would be display size and comfort. The curved display fits under shirt sleeves well and just feels more comfortable to wear. Outside of those things and a handful of apps not available on earlier Gear's the Gear S is pretty much just an evolved Gear.
Happy deciding.
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