Samsung splurges on GPS in new Gear Fit 2 fitness watch

by Valentina Palladino

You can see a small map of your running route on the display, thanks to the GPS.

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

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   Samsung's Gear Fit 2
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   The band adjusts to fit more comfortably around your wrist.
   
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   The underside has an optical heart rate monitor; inside the device is a built-in GPS.
   
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   The 1.5-inch OLED touchscreen is pretty bright with bold colors.
   
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   Unlike the original Gear Fit, this device can auto-track certain activities.
   
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   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."