Shapely smartwatch for fit

- But this is a gadget for lazy ones as well, who would like to monitor their everyday activity and notifications.

Samsung Gear Fit represents the wearables category; more precisely it is an intelligent watch (a smartwatch) and a fitness band in one. It was shown during Mobile World Congress, where it has been presented along with other watches from Gear family. And though it has the weakest parameters and the smallest display of them all I think that it can achieve the biggest success. It is small, handy, shapely and it has functions aimed for a specific target group – without any unnecessary improvements that would only garbage the interface and unnecessarily deplete the battery.

People who would like Gear Fit must be aware that this device is compatible with a relatively small list of smartphones and tablets produced by Samsung (for now, the list consists of only several models beginning with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, with at least 1 GB of RAM and a Bluetooth 4.0 module) – in my opinion it will drastically limit the potential number of this product’s customers. After all, not everyone would change a smartphone for a model from Samsung, in order to work with the accessory for working out…

Contents

• Construction
• Display, turning on
• Interface, menu
• Efficiency, battery, accessories
• Summary, advantages and disadvantages

Construction

The construction of this device is not complicated – the front is an 1.84-inch display, at the bottom we have a heart-rate sensor and connectors to the docking station. On the side-edges we can find small cracks to connect the docking station mentioned earlier and only one physical button, which enables to turn the watch on and off, lock and unlock the display and, what is more, it serves the function of the Home button (returning to the main display). Visually Gear makes a positive impression, both with the quality of construction and a minimalistic design.

Let us not forget that Gear Fit is a watch – and watches needs straps. This device is equipped with a rubber, elastic strap with a comfortable lock in a black colour – which can be exchanged for a different, compatible with Gear Fit without any problems. Samsung in its offer has six colours of straps – a dark green, blue, green, orange, red and grey. There are no locks – the main element needs to be pushed out of a rubber bezel surrounding edges of the device. The strap connects on the wrist on the one side thanks to thirteen rounded holes, and on the other one thanks to two metal pegs. This is a solid solution – there are no chances for the watch to slide down or unlock during any user’s activities. What is more, a perfect ergonomics and a small weight (27 g) commits to the fact that after putting it on we forget that we even have it on our hand. The IP67 certificate means that the phone can get wet (and even be submerged for a longer while).

Display

When it comes to the visual aspect, the display looks perfect. It is slightly bent, with panoramic proportions, 128x432-pixel resolution and with really good parameters when it comes to the contrast, colours and brightness. The touch panel works without any problems as well. What is more, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 is responsible for its durability. Unfortunately, the visibility during a sunny day is not the best.

To prevent the user from constantly looking for the lock button (for example to simply check the hour) the manufacturer equipped Gear Fit with a useful function of an automatic wake-up. The sensor detects a rising hand and activates the display for a moment – long enough to check activity parameters or time. It usually works properly – usually, because it turns on in moments when the user does not want and does not need it too often.

Turning on and configuration

Unfortunately without a Samsung’s smartphone or a tablet we will not be able to begin working with Gear Fit. That is why this gadget is more of an addition to any device from Galaxy family than a device by itself. In order to connect and synchronize devices we need to download and install Gear Fit Manager from Samsung Apps (we will not find it in Google Play). The first step after turning the gadget on is to pair it with the other device. Bluetooth module is used to communicate between devices. Below you can find several desktop’s screenshots from Gear Fit Manager app (for Samsung Galaxy TabPro 10.1 tablet).

Gear Fit Manager app allows personalizing the interface and watch’s functions (wallpapers, looks, and icons’ order) set notifications and choose applications that will send them. Next, we can start to set up our own profile (gender, birthdate, weight, height) in the watch. And start using this accessory.

Interface

The interface of the device – described by the manufacturer as Real Time Operating System – is simple, clear and intuitive. Even a complete novice will handle it without any help from paper manuals. In addition everything works smoothly, quickly and without lags, even when there is a pedometer or a heart-rate monitor working in the background. An advantage is the possibility to use the display vertically (the most comfortable when wearing the watch on top of our wrist) or horizontally (works well when we have at the bottom of our wrist).

Watch’s menu

The Gear Fit menu has following options:

• notifications - they appear with a short vibration and information on the display. Even though I tested this function partially (using Samsung Galaxy TabPro 10.1 tablet without a SIM card, which made it impossible to receive notifications about calls or texts), Gear Fit proved to work perfectly when it comes to notifications from emails or social media. It manages notifications about calls – they can be rejected (we cannot receive them, there is no speaker nor microphone), including (or not) a form for a text to the person calling.
• media controller - its task is to make controlling music played with a smartphone easier: pausing and stopping songs, switching between them and controlling the volume.
• settings - for such a small device, Gear Fit has a wide range of settings from the level of the watch itself: watch’s looks, background, brightness and backlight, Bluetooth, action after a double tap the physical button, user’s profile, privacy lock, resetting the accessory and information about it.

• find my device - it is useful when we will lose somewhere our smartphone or tablet paired with Gear Fit. Pressing one icon in the watch will trigger a sound effect in the device we are looking for – that is if it is in Bluetooth’s range.
• watch,
• stopwatch,
• sleep - it allows measuring movement while sleeping – after measuring the time of sleeping it shows the immobility time in percentages.
• pedometer - it allows monitoring everyday activity and setting a target, for example taking 10 000 steps a day. Steps are measured to kilometres and burned calories.
• exercises - four modes of physical activity: running, walking, cycling and strolling – the last two require a connection with a smartphone/tablet and a GPS.
• heart-rate - the heart-rate monitor is based on a sensor located at the bottom of the device. When we want to achieve the right measurement, we cannot move nor talk. What is more, it is important whether we are wearing it on the top of the wrist (79 beats/min) or when we are wearing it at the bottom (87 beats/min). The heart-rate monitor can be used as a separate function, but it is more interesting in specified cycles when exercising (cycling, running, walking and strolling) – then the measurement is done automatically every now and then.

If we will decide to install additional app by using “Search in App Connect" add-on in Gear Fit Manager, for example a torch (Gear Fit Flashlight) or a calculator (Gear Fit Calculator), there will appear an additional icon – AppConnect – that will allow access to the installed software.

Efficiency

The heart of Gear Fit is a 180MHz ARM Cortex M4 CPU, in addition we have a not impressive 8MB of RAM and 16MB of ROM (specification according to manufacturer’s data). Though it seems as a week specification, for a watch it is perfect. We do not have any lags or delays.

Battery

Samsung declares that with a moderate usage the accessory will last 3-4 days, and with an economical usage – even five days. In practice, with the pedometer, sleep measurement on and measuring the heart-rate from time to time I achieved around four days away from the charger. When I added exercises’ cycles (walking) and notifications and music control, the energy lasted for two days. Saying that the lifespan of 210mAh cells depends on the usage would be a truism… Fortunately, the accessory charges very fast.

Accessories

I received Gear Fit without an original package that is why it is hard to tell if Samsung will surprise the buyer with something unusual or only by things that are necessary. The charger and – what is most important – a miniature docking station belong to the second group. I consider its presence as one of disadvantages of the device – a small piece of plastic can be easily lost and then there would be no possibility to charge the battery of the device. It would be a better solution to install a microUSB port directly on the watch (for example under a sealed flip, to maintain its water-proof properties).

Summary

Samsung Gear Fit is attractive, it connects minimalism and a sporty character and I can admit without any hesitation that it looks really well on a wrist, at the same time being unobtrusive. I am not quite convinced that possibilities that it offers will be enough for runners or cyclists (for example there is no GPS) – but it should be enough for beginners. The fact that without pairing it with a smartphone its functionality is greatly limited and that it only works with Samsung’s devices is a disadvantage.

The last, but not least – the price. Gear Fit came along in an offer with Samsung Galaxy S5, but it can be bought separately. It will cost around 120 euros.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• bent Super AMOLED display
• horizontal or vertical interface
• functions: heart-rate sensor, pedometer, smartphone’s notifications
• water-proof housing (IP67 certificate)
• ergonomic, comfortable

Disadvantages:

• automatic wake up does not always work well
• compatible only with several Samsung’s devices
• greatly limited functionality on its own
• the presence of docking station is necessary for charging the battery
• inconsistent results from heart-rate sensor (not only those)
• battery’s lifespan could be longer
• it does not work with apps from external manufacturers, like Endomondo