The original Gear S was a beast of a smartwatch experiment, blending a large curved display with a 3G cell radio. Their follow up looks to be more subtle and refined.
The Gear S2 aims to blend in more, looking like a more traditional timepiece, and it’s the company’s first circular watch face. A 1.2″ screen with a 360×360 resolution, in an 11.4mm thin frame. The smaller screen means Samsung can also shave a little size off the battery and continue offering 2-3 days of use on a charge.
This will not be an Android Wear affair, powered by Samsung produced dual core CPU, it’s a Tizen OS watch designed specifically to pair with Samsung phones. NFC on board will tie directly into Samsung Pay for mobile payments.
Samsung has a number of partners on board supporting apps utilizing the new round display, and it will be interesting to see how current apps might eventually work with this smaller screen.
There will be two flavors of Gear S2, a BT and WiFi only model and the S2 3G which incorporates an “e-SIM” for voice and data services when not directly paired to a phone. Two color options will be available, silver and dark grey, and there will be different band options for those watch bodies.
We don’t have pricing info yet, but Samsung expects the Gear S2 to start shipping in October. You can read the full press release below.
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