Samsung splurges on GPS in new Gear Fit 2 fitness watch
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by Valentina Palladino
NEW YORK—Samsung came out with the original Gear Fit
activity tracker in 2014, but the company has remained mostly quiet
about this device line until now. At an event today, the
company announced an upgrade to its fitness tracker offerings with a new
model, the Gear Fit 2. It'll cost $179 (the first Gear Fit came out
priced at $200).
The new wearable matches the leaks
we've witnessed within the past few weeks. While it looks very similar
to the original Gear Fit, the Fit 2 is more curved to better hug the
wrist. Its 1.5-inch super AMOLED display takes up most of the module
that sits on the top of your wrist, and its band is nicely flexible. The
curvier design should make the Gear Fit 2 easier to wear since there's
much less distinction between the module and the surrounding band.
To upgrade the fitness specs, Samsung added a GPS to the
Gear Fit 2. Both the original Gear Fit and this new device have heart
rate monitors, but as wrist-bound HRMs become increasingly common, GPS
has become more of a differentiator. This feature also tends to increase
the size of a device (since it's a separate chip) and usually the
price, too. Surprisingly, the Gear Fit 2 has been slimmed down from the
original design in spite of the addition. Samsung also emphasized the
ability to track a workout using the GPS and share it to Facebook
instantly.
Samsung's Gear Fit 2
Samsung's Gear Fit 2
The band adjusts to fit more comfortably around your wrist.
The underside has an optical heart rate monitor; inside the device is a built-in GPS.
The 1.5-inch OLED touchscreen is pretty bright with bold colors.
Unlike the original Gear Fit, this device can auto-track certain activities.
Valentina Palladino
You can see a small map of your running route on the display, thanks to the GPS.
Also inside the Gear Fit 2 are a Samsung 1GHz Exynos 3250
chipset, 512MB RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. So in addition to
mapping runs without your phone present, you can download music to the
device and listen to it while you workout sans smartphone. To give users
even more options, Samsung partnered with Spotify to include an app on
the Gear Fit 2 with curated playlists made by athletes. The band itself
is rated IP68 water and dust resistant, so it can be submerged up to 1.5
meters for 30 minutes. In terms of battery life, the Gear Fit 2 should
get three to four days with its 200 mAh battery. If true, that would be
slightly better than the two days of life that the Microsoft Band can
get.
In a similar fashion to Fitbit devices and others, the Gear
Fit 2 will be able to auto-recognize activities. That feature makes it
much easier to simply go on a run or a bike ride, knowing that even if
you don't play with your device first, your data will be tracked. While
we can, and will, compare the Gear Fit 2 to Fitbit products, it's most
akin to the Microsoft Band in design and functionality. Both products
try to pack in as many features as possible, including heart rate
monitors, GPS, skin sensors, and more, while running their own software.
Microsoft has it's own UI for the Band while the Gear Fit 2 runs
Samsung's Tizen OS.
Samsung also announced the completely wireless Gear IconX earbuds
that double as a fitness tracker, relaying your stats to you via voice
as you work out. The Samsung Gear Fit 2 will be available for preorder
on June 3 and widely available on June 10 for $179. Samsung provided few
details about the Gear IconX, only saying it would be available "soon."
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