Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo preview

While the original Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch was something of a disappointment, Samsung looks to have made significant strides forward with its second generation models the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. Read on to find out just what these clever timepieces have to offer.

[READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy Gear review]

Design: a step in the right direction

One of the big problems with the Galaxy Gear (and there were a few) was its bulky, somewhat ugly design, and we’re happy to see that Samsung has taken a step – albeit just a step – in the right direction with the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. Gone are the questionable screws and unsightly camera bulge (the Gear 2 has a camera, but it’s integrated much more sleekly into the strap), and the overall look is far more streamlined. There’s now a home button too, which makes navigation slightly more intuitive.

The Gear 2 features a brushed metal face, while the more affordable Gear 2 Neo uses plastic (which makes it a little lighter: 55g to the Gear 2’s 68g; both are lighter than the original Gear, which weighs 74g). In terms of colour options, the former comes in Charcoal Black, Gold Brown and Wild Orange, while the latter offers a choice between Charcoal Black, Mocha Grey and Wild Orange. Both models are compatible with standard 20mm watch straps.

While neither is as outwardly handsome as, say, the Pebble Steel, and there’s still a long way to go until a smartwatch can rival a traditional watch in the beauty stakes, both the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are attractive enough – considering they’re pretty sophisticated wrist-mounted computers. Both are also water- and dust proof.

Specs: as you were

On the specifications front, both new smartwatches are much the same as their shared predecessor: there’s the same curved 1.63in AMOLED touchscreen with a 320 x 320 resolution; the same 512MB of RAM; the same 4GB of built-in storage; and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. Two things that have been slightly tweaked are the processor (now a 1GHz chip rather than 800MHz) and the battery, now 300mAh rather than 315mAh. Apparently that won’t mean less battery life, and Samsung claims the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will last two to three days on a single charge rather than the Galaxy Gear’s one day.

Features: the heart of the matter

A notable new feature on both the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo is the built-in heart-rate sensor, which can keep a constant eye on your pulse and feed the data to smartphone fitness apps such as Samsung’s own S Health. Much, much better than having to wear a bulky heart-rate sensor on your chest. There’s a pedometer too.

Both models pack a music player compatible with MP3, AAC, OGG and M4A files, although you’ll need a pair of Bluetooth headphones if you want to listen to your tunes through anything other than the Gear 2’s built-in speaker.

An IR blaster allows you to use the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo as a universal remote control for TVs, Blu-ray players and the like.

The Gear 2 Neo is camera-less, but the Gear 2 features a 2MP snapper integrated into the top of the watch face. It’s fair to say the camera isn’t likely to produce any award-winning images, particularly in low light, but wearers may find it occasionally handy to have a discreet snapper on hand (or on wrist, to be precise). It can capture 720p video too.

Usability: Tizen replaces Android

The original Gear sported a chopped down version of Android as its operating system, but for the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo Samsung has turned to its own HTML5-based Tizen OS.

The difference isn’t huge on the surface – the UI looks quite similar to the Gear’s – but where Tizen makes much more sense is its leanness and simplicity, which means longer battery life and less memory consumption than with Android. Samsung, judging that’s there’s little call for complex apps on companion devices like the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, has made a worthy call here.

Much like the Gear, the Gear 2 pairs with your smartphone (it’s compatible with 15 Samsung handsets though, a lot more than the Gear) to pass you notifications from select third-party apps, emails, text messages and even let you make calls Dick Tracy-style.

Release date and price

Samsung hasn’t officially revealed pricing for the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo yet, but the Samsung Mobile website thinks it has inside info, tweeting that the Gear 2 will cost €300 and the Gear 2 Neo €200 (though no word yet on local availability or price). One of key criticisms of the original Gear was its frankly bonkers asking price, so if the Gear 2 has the same price tag as its predecessor that will be something of a disappointment.