Samsung Unveils $299 Galaxy Gear Smart Watch With One-Day Battery Life

Samsung today announced its Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, a wearable device that features a 1.63-inch 320 x 320 resolution AMOLED touchscreen, built-in speakers, and a 1.9-megapixel camera in the strap. It has an 800MHz processor, 4GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM.

Samsung’s watch will support voice control with S Voice and is able to make and receive calls and video memos. Designed as a companion for the newly introduced Galaxy Note 3 and new Note 10.1, the Galaxy Gear also notifies wearers of text messages and other updates. It does not function on its own, requiring a Bluetooth 4.0 connection to work.

galaxygear
The Galaxy Gear is not currently compatible with Samsung devices beyond the Note 3 and 10.1 as it runs Android 4.3, but it will support 70 third-party applications at launch, including popular offerings like Evernote and Path, along with many health oriented apps like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal.

It includes a pedometer to measure fitness levels, an accelerometer, and a 315 mAh battery that provides up to one day of regular use, according to Samsung reps that spoke to Engadget.

Poor battery life is said to be one of the main factors that Apple is working to overcome with its own iWatch, which is currently in development. In March, a report suggested that Apple had yet to reach its target goal of four to five days of battery life for the device.

The Verge went hands-on with the Galaxy Gear, criticizing the battery life and finding it to be "bulkier than the Pebble" with a "tangible lag."

There are a couple of significant downsides that temper my enthusiasm for the new Gear. First and foremost is the speed and intuitiveness of the user interface — or rather, the lack thereof. There’s a tangible lag to anything you do with the Gear, while the swipe gestures are hard to figure out and do different things depending on where you are in the menus.

Samsung promises "about a day" of endurance from the Gear, but by the end of our briefing with the company, the cameras on most of its demo units were refusing to turn on due to the watches running low on power.

Samsung is offering the Galaxy Gear in six different colors, including Jet Black, Mocha Gray, Wild Orange, Oatmeal Beige, Rose Gold, and Lime Green. It will also come with 10 different clock options with more choices available for download.

"I believe it will become a new fashion icon around the world," said Samsung CEO JK Shin.

The Galaxy Gear will be launched alongside the Galaxy Note 3 in 140 countries beginning on September 25 and will be available worldwide in October. It will be priced at $299.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Announces 13 Automakers Planning to Offer iPhone Car Keys

Friday June 27, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
anker power bank recall

PSA: Anker Recalls Multiple Power Banks Due to Fire Risk

Friday June 27, 2025 4:16 pm PDT by
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk. The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in a Few Months With These 12 New Features

Thursday June 26, 2025 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Here's Which Vehicle Brands Will and Won't Offer Apple's CarPlay Ultra

Friday June 27, 2025 9:52 am PDT by
Apple last month announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. There was news this week about which automakers will and won't offer CarPlay Ultra, and we have provided an updated list below. CarPlay Ultra is currently limited to newer Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Fortunately, if you cannot...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Tuesday June 24, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...

Top Rated Comments

Ryth Avatar
154 months ago
Epic Fail.

This is exactly what everyone would say Samsung would come out with...basically an iPod Nano with limited features. And these features are pretty bad and horrible battery life and interface. Relying on 3rd party apps is also bad. Not shocking at all, this is what I expect from an 'engineering/tech spec' focused company and not a design/usability company like Apple.

They did this so they could beat Apple to market so they cannot be caught up in another lawsuit with Apple.

Whatever Apple comes out with will not be a smartphone on your wrist like this thing is.

It will be a new device that combines multiple things into something you won't want to leave home without. From NFC, health monitoring, connectivity and other features along with a design that doesn't look like a watch (I mean seriously, it was SOOOO obvious what Samsungs watch was going to look like).

In fact, Apple will probably not even use the term Watch. They will use something that relates to a wrist band/bracelet/or device always with you.

I also find it funny that people defending Samsung are saying things like "You don't know what Apple will come out with..they could have come out with something just like this" and I think the majority of us know that Apple would never come out with something like this epic fail of technology.

I was going to post the Joker meme "And here we gooooo..." to signal the start of the smart watch wars....but I mean seriously this thing is just so awful I think this is more appropriate of a look from the Joker.

Score: 167 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NutsNGum Avatar
154 months ago
All so they could shout "First!"

Gadget equivalent of a forum troll.
Score: 133 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nostaws Avatar
154 months ago
red herring

I wouldn't be surprised if apple leaked to the world that they were working on a watch (even had some people working on it) just to get other companies to make one, and apple won't ever release it. lol
Score: 91 Votes (Like | Disagree)
palmharbor Avatar
154 months ago
Watch

P A S S I can think of many other things to do with $300!
Score: 78 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmChimera Avatar
154 months ago
Wow. This is actually worse than I expected. Can you innovate failing? Samsung seems to be doing just that.
Score: 73 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Risco Avatar
154 months ago
1 day battery life, are they freaking serious? This is not a smart phone; it is a watch, and I don't want to be plugging it in every 24 hrs!

Massive fail, as usual wait for the real McCoy from Apple. This is a prime example of why Samsung copy, their original ideas suck!
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)