Gadgetory

the age of the SmartWatch has arrived if you don't believe it turn on your TV to see Samsung's near constant barrage of nostalgic ads pushing its new Galaxy gear we've been using the gear for about a week and we found a lot to like about Samsung's take on the future of wearable computing this is Michael Fisher with pocket now and here's five awesome things about the Samsung Galaxy gear the list of things Samsung gets right with the gear starts with the unboxing the packaging is finished in the now-familiar faux wood grain but the cube shape evokes the sense of an expensive wristwatch which of course the gear is and the good first impression continues as you dive deeper into the box the presentation of the watch front and center is excellent with the tightly packed accessories flanking it speaking of those accessories Samsung seems to be fully aware that it's weird charging cable is well weird but rather than hide from it the company's embraced it highlighting the cradle with the same stitched leather analog as found on the new Galaxy Notes whether this presentation suits your particular tastes depends on you but the company has definitely made an effort to make you feel like you're getting your $300 worth that goes for the gears build quality as well Samsung isn't necessarily known for pushing out premium feeling hardware but if it keeps building devices like this that reputation is going to start turning around pretty quickly the gear might be a little on the large side but it's steel and sapphire construction makes a great impression right off the bat the main body of the watch feels solid and reliable as does the latch mechanism containing the speakerphone the adjustable band retains its soft curve whether it's being worn or not and the watch feels great on the wrist our black and silver model here is a watch that doesn't scream out for attention that once people do notice it it definitely makes an impression and usually it's a good one an impression that persists with the gears software you can get a lot wrong trying to run Android on the small form-factor of a wristwatch of course but Samsung has come out on top here with an inner face that's clean responsive and generally intuitive using the top-down swipe as a persistent back gesture is very easy to pick up and the gears single button can be programmed to launch custom apps with a double click the two-finger tap for status indicators and to finger tap and hold for multitasking might not be intuitive at first but these gestures are handy once you get used to them and the shortcuts on the watch face for quick access to the dialer and the camera are real time savers if you want to avoid that app ribbon speaking of which there's a dialer and a camera here now look taking phone calls on your wrist might get you the atomic wedgie treatment if you let the Cretans on the playground catch you doing it but if you watched any of the classic shows Samsung calls out and it's gear commercials as a kid doing the old Dick Tracy is bound to put a smile on your face what's more it doesn't actually sound half-bad especially on the other end where some people couldn't even tell we weren't using a phone on the other side of the device then the optical end of the spectrum putting a camera on a SmartWatch may not seem the best use of space or resources at first but it has applications other than being a creep in public as we demonstrated in our gear versus pebble comparison the app cam dictionary uses the gears camera to translate text on the fly while keeping your phone in your pocket which could be huge for Globetrotters then even if you're just looking to snap a few photos when you're out and about the gears 2 megapixel camera does a passable job at capturing stills about 10 years ago when the first camera phones came out people used to say not a bad photo for a phone now we can say not a bad picture for a watch and that goes for video as well the gear shoots in 720p and the output ain't bad and yes both formats can be transferred wirelessly to the phone to be shared via the social media app of your choice speaking of apps Samsung has really done a solid job of kick-starting the ecosystem for the gear firing up the Samsung App Store reveals a pretty hefty helping of titles ready to load onto the watch the miniaturized versions of everything from big names like Evernote and snapchat to lesser-known titles like the after mentioned kam dictionary these pared-down apps don't all give you the kind of functionality you're used to but for now they serve their purpose of extending their parent titles experience to your wrist and the net effect of all these apps sitting there waiting for you after you unbox the gear is twofold one it multiplies the fun of your new toy exponentially knowing you can augment it with a lot of new features and two it reassures you that you've bought into a product with the future something whose functionality will grow rather than stagnate over time and even with rumors of the galaxy gear 2 already starting to simmer in this crazy accelerated tech world of ours we believe this first Samsung product of its class will enjoy a fairly long usable life especially once its price drops to a level that will attract more than just early adopters and gadget lovers like us if you're looking for a different perspective on this device hop on over to our companion video 5 awful things about the Samsung Galaxy gear and if you have a gear of your own feel free to let us know what your experience has been like drop a comment down below head on over to our comparison video to see the Galaxy gear compared against the pebble smartwatch that is also available for you but before you go anywhere please toss us a like if you enjoy the video and stick around for much more from PocketNow follow us on social media so you don't miss any of that but until next time this has been michael fisher with PocketNow thank you so much for watching and we will see you soon