myths and misconceptions about the Gear S2

[tstreete]

Because many of the reviews I've read, both positive and negative ones, have had inaccuracies in the them, and because Samsung's documentation is skimpy, I thought it might be useful to correct some of the misconceptions floating around about the Gear S2, particularly for those new to the platform or those contemplating a purchase. Please provide additional info and corrections in the comments, and I'll update.

1. "The Gear S2 has no auto-brightness adjustment"
   The Gear S2 has a light sensor and automatically brightens in sunlight. This feature is not user adjustable, though. After leaving the sunlight, the watch's brightness reverts to whatever you have set it to.
2. "The S2 has no apps"
   It's true that the platform could use more apps. But part of the "no apps" reputation comes from the fact that for some reason Samsung does not allow non-Samsung phones to access paid Gear S2 apps. If you have a Samsung phone, the app selection is a bit better.
3. "The S2 does not work with Google apps"
   I regularly get notifications from Google on my S2 telling me it's time to leave for an appointment, and if I tap my watch on the address in the appointment, Google maps automatically launches on my phone and plots directions. There is a paid for "Gear Navigator" turn by turn navigation app for the S2 that relies on Google maps data. And others have had some success with Gmail and other Google apps. So a better way to say it is maybe "the S2 has limited ability to interact with Google apps compared to Android Wear."
4. "The Gear S2 is hopelessly buggy."
   It does have bugs, but for most people they're small issues, like the weather app does not automatically update like it should, or location services (necessary for nav apps and others) are laggy and a bit unreliable. And like any new platform, it takes a while to figure out how it handles things. I have no doubt that a few folks have had horrible problems connecting or something like that, but that's not that unusual for the early days of a new device. So, don't expect perfection. You may even need to reset your watch and/or the phone app completely now and again. But for most people it seems to be quite usable.

 

[banhmisaigon]

I've read in some places that Google's interest is to see the Gear S2 fail; therefore, they won't cooperate with Tizen developers to make their Google services (Google Maps, Google Now [voice service "Okay Google"], and other important Google Apps) compatible with Tizen OS.

I have heard some consumer suggestions that they should make a Google Play edition of the Gear S2, but I'm not sure if that will be in the making anytime soon.

I'm contemplating on purchasing the Gear S2, but what's holding me back is the fact that Google Now's voice search is not compatible with the Gear S2.

What are your thoughts? Will Samsung and Google eventually cooperate to make things work? The rotating bezel, watch design, and overall specs are very impressive; however, I'm deeply drawn into the Google Ecosystem, which makes it a hard decision for me.

I know you are just debunking the myths, but do you have any insight to expand on #3? Do you think Google Apps will have better support in the near future on the Gear S2? I've tried looking for a discussion on this, but I haven't found anything helpful.

 

[tstreete]

Others may have their own thoughts. It's probably true that Google has little incentive to go out of its way to support Tizen. On the other hand, Google is a relatively open platform in many ways, and so it's probably not that hard for third parties to build links into some of its systems (which has already happened in small ways on the S2). Maybe the Pebble platform might provide some examples of what can theoretically be done with google stuff by third parties.

My guess: no "OK google" any time soon, so we'll have to hope Samsung improves its own voice recognition. But maybe we'll see improved google navigation/maps connections through third parties. I wish there was some kind of reminders app, but no action on that front yet. Probably no exact match with Android Wear functionality in terms of Google Now, but by some accounts, that may not be a bad thing; the constant updates are annoying to some people. Sleep tracking through Sleep as Android seems likely, since the company reports they had a working S2 app but they had to take it down because of excessive battery drain, and are working with Samsung to fix that problem. NFC-only Samsung Pay is promised soon, but whether that will work only with the existing crop of the lastest Samsung Pay enabled phones, or if it will work with older Samsung or even other Android phones I don't know.

The S2 faces a bootstrapping problem common to new tech: in order to be worth developing apps for, you need a critical mass of watch purchases, but in order to reach that critical mass, you need folks to develop apps. The S2 is selling, but nobody seems to know how well. We'll see how it plays out.

 

[tstreete]

Case in point about third parties doing some of the android integration: a new app appeared in the store today called "Notifications Wear Style for Gear S2." Haven't had a chance to experiment much, but apparently it sets out to duplicate the functionality of notifications on Android Wear. The watch app is free, and the companion android app is trial software on google play, with in-app purchase getting you the permanent version. So it should be available to non-Samsung phone owners.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Google doesn't need to support Tizen for it to be a good wearable platform. Will Google build their apps specifically with Tizen in mind? Probably not (just like they do not build them for Amazon Fire devices despite the underlying framework already existing).

As long as I can get notifications on it from the apps I already have installed (those obviously include Google apps) that will be good enough for me. I plan on picking up this watch in the next week or so.

 

[Thelt2000x]

Google doesn't need to support Tizen for it to be a good wearable platform. Will Google build their apps specifically with Tizen in mind? Probably not (just like they do not build them for Amazon Fire devices despite the underlying framework already existing).

As long as I can get notifications on it from the apps I already have installed (those obviously include Google apps) that will be good enough for me. I plan on picking up this watch in the next week or so.

+1

I just think people need to temper expectations. This will not replace your phone. It just won't. But neither will an android wear phone. This was let's me get notifications text messages anywhere I go and allows me to use my original phone number all the time whether I am connected to me phone or not. That's all I want personally.

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