New galaxy watch,

[cwbcpa]

Nope. I've had the Gear S3 for a little over a year and have been totally underwhelmed by it. Sammy makes great phones, TVs, and other great electronic devices, but their watch is flat out terrible.

What is it that is "flat out terrible"? While I couldn't disagree more, I'm not trying to argue. Just wondering why you feel that way.

 

[Brew Swayne]

What is it that is "flat out terrible"? While I couldn't disagree more, I'm not trying to argue. Just wondering why you feel that way.

It's just been an overall disappointing user experience for me outside of S Health. If it weren't for that, I'd probably just get a fit bit.

I find the watch to be a buggy and glitchy. There's lag when entering my passcode to unlock it. There's lag when scrolling from 1 app tray to the next. It's extremely inconsistent about displaying the screen when I move my arm. If I'm driving with my arm extended to the wheel and hit a pot hole, the screen lights up, but if I'm standing upright and raise my wrist to look at the time, it only works maybe 70% of the time.

The watch face NEVER wakes up if I try to check the time while I'm laying in bed.

Battery life has always been inconsistent...sometimes 3 days, sometimes less than 2.

The watch interferes with my car audio system when sending/receiving calls...if I have Call Audio enabled on my watch, the call will automatically go to my watch rather than maintaining a connection with my stereo.

I strongly dislike the absence of a "smart lock" feature on the watch. If my phone is connected to my watch, my phone doesn't lock. Not sure why that can't be reciprocal.

It also turns out that I have no desire to check text messages or emails from my watch. My phone could be under a boulder and I'd rather dig it up to read/reply than do so on my watch. Overall. I just find most of the features to be either a nuisance or not living up to the hype.

It's a great looking watch though and for the $350 price tag that came with it, I'll be wearing it until it it dies. But if I could go back, I'd tell myself not to buy it and get the drone I was eyeballing instead.

 

[11B1P]

I don't check emails either, but text messages, yeah, all day long. Heck that's one of the best reasons for it. I couldn't care less if there is an app for say.....golfing. Mine too does play finicky sometimes when raising my arm to look at the time/notification, but hey, we're talking a second to lower and raise my arm to activate the screen. Yeah, I too have some lag every now and then when scrolling thru the shortcuts, but I contribute it to me being too fast of raising my arm to scrolling.

Honestly, if you're having that much trouble, I recommend you sell it and get something that better suits your needs.

 

[cwbcpa]

It's just been an overall disappointing user experience for me outside of S Health. If it weren't for that, I'd probably just get a fit bit.

I find the watch to be a buggy and glitchy. There's lag when entering my passcode to unlock it. There's lag when scrolling from 1 app tray to the next. It's extremely inconsistent about displaying the screen when I move my arm. If I'm driving with my arm extended to the wheel and hit a pot hole, the screen lights up, but if I'm standing upright and raise my wrist to look at the time, it only works maybe 70% of the time.

The watch face NEVER wakes up if I try to check the time while I'm laying in bed.

Battery life has always been inconsistent...sometimes 3 days, sometimes less than 2.

The watch interferes with my car audio system when sending/receiving calls...if I have Call Audio enabled on my watch, the call will automatically go to my watch rather than maintaining a connection with my stereo.

I strongly dislike the absence of a "smart lock" feature on the watch. If my phone is connected to my watch, my phone doesn't lock. Not sure why that can't be reciprocal.

It also turns out that I have no desire to check text messages or emails from my watch. My phone could be under a boulder and I'd rather dig it up to read/reply than do so on my watch. Overall. I just find most of the features to be either a nuisance or not living up to the hype.

It's a great looking watch though and for the $350 price tag that came with it, I'll be wearing it until it it dies. But if I could go back, I'd tell myself not to buy it and get the drone I was eyeballing instead.

Wow. I am sorry to hear that your experience has been so bad. My S3 has not been buggy or glitchy at all. Neither was the S2 before it. The bezel allows me to scroll between apps flawlessly. On occasion, I will have to twist my wrist twice to get the watch to light up, but that is very rare. I just can't say that it never happens.

My watch doesn't easily come on when I am laying in bed either, but I don't want it to light up during the night so that is fine with me. I am guessing that is intentional. People would complain if it woke up every time they rolled over at night.

I get a solid 2 days of battery life if I really need it. I don't since I throw the watch on the charger every morning while I get ready for work. That tops it off and I just do that each day. I rarely use more than 30% each day and that is with using it for an hour + workout each day.

I have the S3 listed under my "trusted devices" and utilize the smart lock function all the time. Do you have yours set up in your phone settings and it just doesn't work?

If you have no desire to check text messages or emails from your watch then the rest of the points don't matter. You should sell it and get something that you will actually be happy using. It sounds like you really bought the wrong device for you more than there is anything wrong with the watch itself. I have been there with various devices. Someone raves about something, I buy it and I just can't figure out what everyone else is so excited about. It happens. Sell it and move on. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Brew Swayne]

To each his/her own. Truth is, I'd probably be sorely dissatisfied with any smartwatch because I've come to find out that the majority of it's functions are things I don't really want/need my watch to do. I do love the look of it though and, admittedly, I like being able to change watch faces. A simple digital face for daily use and if we're going somewhere nice, a quick change to a stylish analog face.

I have the S3 listed under my "trusted devices" and utilize the smart lock function all the time. Do you have yours set up in your phone settings and it just doesn't work?

Yes, I have smartlock on my phone to prevent my phone from locking when my watch is connected. What I would like is the same feature to reciprocate to my watch - I don't want the watch to lock when it's connected to my phone.

I get that they require you to have a passcode on the watch if you want to use Samsung Pay, just the same as you're required to have active security measures if you use it on your phone. And that's fine.

The whole point, imo, of Sammy having the trusted device option is so that people don't have to constantly enter passcodes, patterns, fingerprints, or do facial recognition every time they need their phone. The thought behind it is that if my watch is a trusted device and my phone is connected to it, then the phone must be in my posession. If someone steals it, they're going to move out of range from my watch very quickly and the phone will lock and my info is safe.

So why not have the same function on the watch? If my watch is connected to my phone, then the watch shouldn't lock. Having that option alone would make the watch so much more enjoyable for me.

 

[cwbcpa]

To each his/her own. Truth is, I'd probably be sorely dissatisfied with any smartwatch because I've come to find out that the majority of it's functions are things I don't really want/need my watch to do. I do love the look of it though and, admittedly, I like being able to change watch faces. A simple digital face for daily use and if we're going somewhere nice, a quick change to a stylish analog face.




Yes, I have smartlock on my phone to prevent my phone from locking when my watch is connected. What I would like is the same feature to reciprocate to my watch - I don't want the watch to lock when it's connected to my phone.

I get that they require you to have a passcode on the watch if you want to use Samsung Pay, just the same as you're required to have active security measures if you use it on your phone. And that's fine.

The whole point, imo, of Sammy having the trusted device option is so that people don't have to constantly enter passcodes, patterns, fingerprints, or do facial recognition every time they need their phone. The thought behind it is that if my watch is a trusted device and my phone is connected to it, then the phone must be in my posession. If someone steals it, they're going to move out of range from my watch very quickly and the phone will lock and my info is safe.

So why not have the same function on the watch? If my watch is connected to my phone, then the watch shouldn't lock. Having that option alone would make the watch so much more enjoyable for me.

I'm sorry. I misunderstood what you were referring to with the locking of the watch. I think I'm still confused though. Are you referring to having to unlock your watch to use Samsung Pay or does your watch lock at other times?

 

[Brew Swayne]

When you link Samsung Pay to your watch, you're required to set a passcode on your watch, which is understandable.

There is no smart lock feature that will keep the watch unlocked while it is connected to my phone. That is what I would like to see change.

An active connection between phone and watch will keep my phone unlocked. Why doesn't that same connection keep my watch unlocked. Does that make sense?

 

[cwbcpa]

When you link Samsung Pay to your watch, you're required to set a passcode on your watch, which is understandable.

There is no smart lock feature that will keep the watch unlocked while it is connected to my phone. That is what I would like to see change.

An active connection between phone and watch will keep my phone unlocked. Why doesn't that same connection keep my watch unlocked. Does that make sense?

Yep. I agree. You shouldn't have to input a passcode to use Samsung Pay on the watch if your phone is in your pocket. I don't use it that often on the watch so I guess I didn't really think about it.

 

[jeepentj]

When you link Samsung Pay to your watch, you're required to set a passcode on your watch, which is understandable.

There is no smart lock feature that will keep the watch unlocked while it is connected to my phone. That is what I would like to see change.

An active connection between phone and watch will keep my phone unlocked. Why doesn't that same connection keep my watch unlocked. Does that make sense?

Other than Samsung Pay, your phone doesn't require you to enter a PIN to access it does it? I want to make sure I understand your concern. For me, I never have to use a PIN - the exception is when using Samsung Pay. Are you experiencing something different?

 

[Brew Swayne]

Other than Samsung Pay, your phone doesn't require you to enter a PIN to access it does it? I want to make sure I understand your concern. For me, I never have to use a PIN - the exception is when using Samsung Pay. Are you experiencing something different?

That isn't at all what I'm experiencing or explaining.

My concern (complaint, actually) is that the watch doesn't have smart lock capabilities like the phone does.

 

[durandetto]

This exactly. I've had the same experience and I'm gonna give the galaxy watch a go and hope it's much improved. If not, it will be my last Samsung smart watch. Picking mine up tomorrow and turning in my turd s3 for $162.

 

[11B1P]

Yep. I agree. You shouldn't have to input a passcode to use Samsung Pay on the watch if your phone is in your pocket.

And you don't. The only time you have to input your passcode is after you've taken it off and you put your watch back on. Push and hold the top button, activate SP, touch pay and you're done. No passcode required

 

[11B1P]

When you link Samsung Pay to your watch, you're required to set a passcode on your watch, which is understandable.

There is no smart lock feature that will keep the watch unlocked while it is connected to my phone. That is what I would like to see change.

An active connection between phone and watch will keep my phone unlocked. Why doesn't that same connection keep my watch unlocked. Does that make sense?

It works just like you ask. You don't have to enter a passcode anytime you use SP, just when you put the watch back on. You can't use any function on your watch once you put it on, until you unlock it. Once it's unlocked, it stays unlocked until you take it off the next time.

 

[cwbcpa]

And you don't. The only time you have to input your passcode is after you've taken it off and you put your watch back on. Push and hold the top button, activate SP, touch pay and you're done. No passcode required

I was thinking that but I wasn't sure. I haven't used the watch to pay in while. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[BIG CAT 7]

I passed on the Galaxy Watch and went out and purchased an S3 Frontier. No MST killed it with me for the Galaxy Watch.

 

[11B1P]

I haven't used the watch to pay in while.

aaaw, that's so sad . My watch is my preferred way to pay.

 

[cwbcpa]

aaaw, that's so sad . My watch is my preferred way to pay.

Lol. Yeah I have just been in the habit of grabbing my phone so I don't even think about it. I need to work on that.

 

[Mandarita]

You can set your watch to not lock unless you are using Samsung Pay, so there is no need for Smart Lock. Also, I only unlock Samsung Pay once per day. Once I unlock it to purchase my morning beverage, Samsung Pay is unlocked for the rest of the day.

 

[nrvna76]

Been looking at comparisons between the S3 and the Galaxy watch. I’m coming from an iPhone X and usually enjoy the latest and greatest however I am not really worried about being able to swim with it. Anybody know if the updated chipset actually results in faster operation?? Looks as though the S3 is $50 cheaper at $299. They look near identical to me.

 

[11B1P]

Been looking at comparisons between the S3 and the Galaxy watch. I’m coming from an iPhone X and usually enjoy the latest and greatest however I am not really worried about being able to swim with it. Anybody know if the updated chipset actually results in faster operation?? Looks as though the S3 is $50 cheaper at $299. They look near identical to me.

Well it depends on what you'll be using it for. The Galaxy Watch removed MST for wireless payments. For me, and the the fact my S3 runs just fine, was enough to stay with my S3. Along with Workout Trainer by Skimble, I have all the exercise functionality I need. I can't say it runs faster or not. But I really don't feel like there is enough difference between the GW and the S3 to go with the GW.

I'd say, save some money and go with the S3. Look around, you should be able to find a S3 cheaper than $299