With the Samsung release conference this week, a lot of new cool tech is out, that means yesterday’s hardware gets cheaper, it is especially true for the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 as I got a hold of mines for $50 on offer up, How does it stack up in 2019? Here’s an average college student take at the once flagship smartwatch of 2015 to give you some of that piece of mind.
A little back story
This is my very first smartwatch, ever. Before that every single year I would buy a new regular digital watch for $15 at Walmart because the band would eventually break or the battery would give out. It was not only a pain to deal with having to buy a new watch every year, but it was also a bit of a pain to change the time every daylight savings to keep up. I’m a busy full-time college student with a part-time job and a side freelance business, even in high school I was pretty active, so that’s the perspective that I will be talking about the Samsung galaxy gear S2.
First impressions
The Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 came out in 2015, two years later the software and hardware hold up without a nitch. Samsung built a pretty solid device, that besides missing some minor kirks in comparison to the newer models holds pretty well in day to day functions such as:
- Being able to control your music from your watch
- Being able to respond quickly to text messages in busy environments
- Seeing your day to day schedule on your watch (via Google calendar)
- Checking the weather on your watch
- Tracks your sleep (very useful)
- Seeing all your notifications on your watch (great so you don’t get glued to your phone)
- Being able to use the calculator on your watch
- IP68 Waterproof
- Being able to pay with your watch through Samsung Pay
These feature as some might look small helps tremendously on an everyday basis and saves you time from looking at your phone and getting sucked it. It has definitely boosted my productivity so far especially regarding the notifications because once I see them on my smartwatch in most apps like messages, youtube studio or what apps I can respond directly on the app which saves me from being tempted to wander off on other apps if I used my phone.
Why Samsung?
Why Samsung? you may be wondering, especially now in modern ages where many smartwatches have some of these basic features, in some cases might do them better, such as more compatibility with other apps. Yes, and I want to clear that up, here’s why:
- Better Compatibility with my Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- The Samsung ecosystem – ties in with the first reason
- The price – you can’t get all these features in a modern-day “budget” or “cheap” smartwatch
This is again as a perspective of someone who never owned a smartwatch before and has been using regular analog watches till now. Another thing to point out about the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 is that it charges pretty fast and like any other smartwatch, the watch face customization is endless.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 still holds its own very well in 2019 so far, as the age of smart watches is fairly new, they advancements in the newer models is fantastic but not required to have a smart watch experience!
The Cons
As with everything in tech, this is not a perfect all in one device go to device. Here’s why:
- Battery life isn’t stellar – a day and a half for me regular use
- S-voice is the most useless feature on the device
- Fitness tracker sensor is horrible – it picks up every little happy movement that I do as a major exercise
- No speaker only a built-in mic = no phone calls or music playback on the watch itself
The final verdict
The Samsung galaxy gear s2 besides its quirks still feels like a premium device in 2019, it handles the little things so effortlessly for an enjoyable stress-free experience throughout the day. I’m always informed with this, I hardly miss any text messages, emails or phone calls on this thing. If you can get a $50 deal as I did on this than its a steal, even if you manage to get it for less than a $150 it’s still a steal compared to its competitors like the moto 360, especially if you own a Samsung phone.
This is great if your looking to get into the smartwatch arena but don’t want to compromise spending $300-400 on hardware that is still in its infancy stages across all boards but you do not want to cheap out by getting those “budget”, “cheap” models from manufacturers and brands that you never heard of before. It doesn’t have to be Samsung, it can be any brand that you feel comfortable with.
I hope with this article that I was able to provide you with insights, on your next purchase. If you want more check out the video I did below on the Samsung Gear S2. I always strive to give you different perspective through my companion blog posts and the product video.
The video portion usually comes first, their not scripted, just bullet points to keep me on topic. Their my most raw emotions as I get crazy excited about the tech I talk about. The articles usually come second as I refine my thoughts a bit more and talk about experiences in depth that I didn’t cover as much in the video.
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