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Cape Town – Despite the fact that consumers have not truly accepted wearable technology yet, manufacturers are racing ahead with production in anticipation of a jump in adoption.
Samsung is one of the more prolific electronic companies developing wearables and the company believes that fitness and entertainment are two areas that will see early adoption of wearable technology.
The Gear Circle is essentially a set of higher grade in-earphones. It is designed to deliver a high quality wireless sound experience during exercise, travelling, or when people are too needy around you.
The earphone set connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and your favourite Bruno Mars tracks can entertain you.
At least, in theory.
Connection issues
During the test, there were some issues connecting the device to non-Samsung phones. The Bluetooth connection wasn't always recognised.
The Galaxy Gear Circle demonstrated some connection issues. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)
While the idea is to provide a hassle-free headset, in practice everyone's (obviously) different sized ears and the Gear Circle doesn't always sit as comfortably as you would like.
It has wires - the two ear pieces have to connect. And that makes it risky because it's not a cheap set that you wouldn't mind losing.
It's dead simple for crooks to simply pull the set off you or worse, it serves as an indicator that you're packing a smartphone. You might as well wave around your expensive toy.
The Galaxy Gear S represents the new push to make the watch the centre of the wearable revolution.
Samsung has done a lot of work since the first model, opting for elegance rather than features - especially given the target market.
Samsung has built the Gear S with a curved display which wraps around your wrist to reduce the bulk of a large screen.
Galaxy Gifts
The biggest feature on the Gear S is the ability to make calls from the device which is also advertised as being able to link to any Android device.
Everyone did not find the Circle ear pieces comfortable. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)
No, not quite.
The Gear S will link via Bluetooth to your Android smartphone, but Samsung phones that access the Galaxy Gifts platform will really only get full value from the device.
A call to Samsung support went something like this:
"I can't connect my Gear S to my HTC."
"Well sir, you have to install Galaxy Gifts on your Samsung."
"I don't have a Samsung."
"Please take it back to where you bought it. They'll give you a full refund."
It illustrates the trouble with first adopting technology: The absence of standards often means that devices face the challenge of limited functionality.
Darker skin
Even without native Samsung apps, the Gear S links to any Android smartphone and because it has a SIM card, you can read and send SMSes.
The Gear S also gives you the ability to be a not-so-secret agent because you can take calls directly from the smart watch. The volume is great for conversations, but not as discreet as you would like.
However, the Samsung smart watch comes into its own when it connects to a Galaxy S with the Samsung Gifts application set.
Like the previous wearables, the Gear S measures physical activity via the number of steps, heart rate and distance covered.
Unlike accusations that hit Apple's Watch device, the Gear S ostensibly did not seem to have to have trouble with reading darker skin tones.
Battery life on the Gear S has improved, but still requires a plug-in by the third day - and that is far more than your regular (dumb) watch.
Despite Samsung's early foray into wearables, both the Gear S and Gear Circle feel like first generation technology because you have to stretch for a use case that feels natural with the devices.
Predictions suggest that wearables are set for exponential growth, but perhaps once the price declines and operation is simple will adoption accelerate.
The Galaxy Gear S retails for R5 500 and the Gear Circle for R1 500 from Samsung retail stores.
Watch this online video on the Galaxy Gear S:
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