I just tested my Gear S2 3G as a running companion...some thoughts

[vocalist]

Sorry to add a post late to this thread but I wanted to add something about the heart rate. I have been using my Gear S2 alongside a Polar FT60/chest strap and the readings have been pretty spot on. I will say that you will get outlandish readings if you do not tighten the Gear S2 before starting your workout. I did a 4 mile walk and it had my HR around 185 the entire time and my Basis Peak was reading 110-130 which was much closer to what I had expected, based on previous walks with the Polar. Sometimes it seems like the heart rate also stabilizes if you bring your arm up to chest height or about where you would bring it to look at the screen. In that respect, I have had no issues with the hr monitor. The accelerometer is a bit of a different story, however. I do wish that Samsung would add a treadmill mode and weight lifting mode to the watch instead of having it in S Health on the phone...

 

[Matixo]

So, is it actually giving a continuos updating heart rate data while running?

 

[mondieu]

I'm going to state the obvious here; if you're looking for a training watch and bought the Gear S2, you're barking up the wrong tree. You should know a garmin is always going to deliver better results in that market and with only a 300mAh... Gear S2 is like Microsoft Band 2, it's not built for this even though it says it can...

 

[kyeo74]

I have been running with the 3g version of the gear s2 sans phone with no real issues (been pretty accurate) only that I cannot get the watch s-health app info to sync with my phone app. Any suggestions for this? I have the required Samsung gear app running and synced by Bluetooth.

 

[Jean R]

I've struggled using the gear s2 with 3g as a standalone running watch also. Here is where I'm at with my settings:

I use Doubletwist to transfer music from my phone directly to the memory on my watch and listen to it using the regular music app on the watch. I have a bluetooth Jaybird X2 headphone set that is great for connecting to the watch without needing wires.

For distance, I have been setting my Location to Network only (not GPS), GPS makes the accuracy poor (but I'm running in NYC, so that may be normal). I also use S-health, but I do not turn Location on inside of S-health because it forces the settings to be GPS and Network for location tracking which affects accuracy. I'm not a huge fan of the S-health interface while running because it shows distance and time of day, so I don't have a good idea of what my current run pace is... i'm thinking of trying the Nike+ app, but to my knowledge it doesn't use location tracking for it's distance (only gyroscope).

Any suggestions to improve my settings?

 

[NoFaQ]

I've struggled using the gear s2 with 3g as a standalone running watch also. Here is where I'm at with my settings:

I use Doubletwist to transfer music from my phone directly to the memory on my watch and listen to it using the regular music app on the watch. I have a bluetooth Jaybird X2 headphone set that is great for connecting to the watch without needing wires.

For distance, I have been setting my Location to Network only (not GPS), GPS makes the accuracy poor (but I'm running in NYC, so that may be normal). I also use S-health, but I do not turn Location on inside of S-health because it forces the settings to be GPS and Network for location tracking which affects accuracy. I'm not a huge fan of the S-health interface while running because it shows distance and time of day, so I don't have a good idea of what my current run pace is... i'm thinking of trying the Nike+ app, but to my knowledge it doesn't use location tracking for it's distance (only gyroscope).

Any suggestions to improve my settings?

While running, with the S-Health screen up showing your distance, you can swipe the screen left or right (I can't remember which) and go to a different screen that will show your pace. Why it's not all on one screen is stupid, to me, but it isn't.

 

[Rosa-het-schaap]

I've tried setting the HR interval to 'frequent' on the watch.
I don't know if anybody else has the same problem, but the auto 'frequency' of the HR checks is a bit odd ... .

while looking at s-health on my S5 yesterday (when I changed the setting) it didn't do a thing.
At 14.00h (3h after the change) it began to register every 10 minutes until 14.30, then it stopped.
At 15.00h once, at 16.00h once, then it stopped again till 19.50h ???
Then it did checks every 10 minutes (with sometimes 30 min nothing) ... till today at 05:50 ???
till now, no auto HR anymore???
Could somebody explain me this random interval??

 

[sabbyATL]

So, I took my S2 on a handful of runs. It's been mostly accurate as far as distance and HR (or within reasonable margins). But today, I went for a short run. Mapped out this distance was 2.52 miles. While running I would check the S2 for HR and distance and it would show me the correct distance. But, when I synced to S-health on my phone via Bluetooth it showed that I ran 0.19 miles. BUT, it showed the map with my route, the correct route. So, this disparity is strange and unacceptable. I am trying to figure out if there is a way to give feedback to the S-health app to correct this sort of thing.

 

[chris eads1]

So, I took my S2 on a handful of runs. It's been mostly accurate as far as distance and HR (or within reasonable margins). But today, I went for a short run. Mapped out this distance was 2.52 miles. While running I would check the S2 for HR and distance and it would show me the correct distance. But, when I synced to S-health on my phone via Bluetooth it showed that I ran 0.19 miles. BUT, it showed the map with my route, the correct route. So, this disparity is strange and unacceptable. I am trying to figure out if there is a way to give feedback to the S-health app to correct this sort of thing.

 

[chris eads1]

I'm on my 3rd watch and all.have had that issue. I have called Samsung and Verizon and no one knows what I'm talking about. It was the reason im on my 3rd watch. I I noticed it does it every time I pause and after I wait a moment and then hit play again it starts over at 000. I ran 15 minutes on one occasion to check it and it said I used .2 calories and went .02 in distance. I was told by Verizon to turn my location on GPS and wireless and that could help. I just tried it tonight and it did not help. I have hard reset every time I remove the gear app with no fix available. As I stated when I called both companies they act like I was crazy and said no one is ever reported that issue. I can't say my first watch back in January works fine until the last update so I wonder if that has something to do with it
Chris

 

[FCSC]

Has anybody been able to get a GPS lock before starting a workout with s-health?

Everytime I use it, I have to hit start, then wait 5-10 seconds for GPS lock before i can get moving... but it obviously ruins the pace calculations, average speed etc.

 

[Jansn]

i got the exact same problem, and its driving me nuts

its resetting it random during the workouts to 0 miles, sometimes after 15min sometimes after 2 hours. so random

 

[ABorror]

Has anyone found a fix to the running apps resetting the distance? I got my Gear S2 3G a week ago and have taken it on four runs, two using the Nike Running app and two using S Health. Both programs tracked my runs fine, and my routes show up correctly on the maps. But my three 3.5 mile runs and my one 6.5 mile run all logged as less than one mile each.

 

[FCSC]

i got the exact same problem, and its driving me nuts

its resetting it random during the workouts to 0 miles, sometimes after 15min sometimes after 2 hours. so random

Its very random.

I thought at first maybe its from getting a notification or call, but thats not it either.

I called samsung, they told me to reset the watch, did it, same thing still happens.

 

[llane]

I ran with my Gear S2 for the first time last night. I parked my car by the paved trail I run, used my watch to start up my S Heath Running Tracker and hit go. The first quarter mile or so was perferct, then the distance counter reset. The rest of the run (which is usually just over 2 miles) tracked perfectly. I was near the end and ran past my car (which is where my phone was) and when I got about 30 feet past my car, it reset again. It seems as though the distance tracking is resetting anytime I leave Bluetooth range of my phone.

I am going out tonight and leaving the phone at home while using my watch to run to see if that does any better.

If I turn off the Bluetooth function on the watch, so that it does not connect via Bluetooth to my phone, will it sync the data I log during my run when I manually reconnect via Bluetooth?

 

[llane]

Okay, so I have been using mine on my runs without being in Bluetooth range of my phone (typically I just turn the phone off and leave it in the car), I have had perfect tracking the entire run without the S2 S Health app resetting anything on my workout (distance, time etc). I have come to the conclusion that I either wear the watch AND have my phone in my arm band, or make sure my workout takes place 100% out of Bluetooth range of my phone. It seems to work for me.