You probably already know that nothing ever stays the same for long in the gadget world, and while smartwatches have seen a decline in sales during 2016, this isn’t about to stop Apple and Samsung from going toe-to-toe again. However, this time it’s with two new devices: the Apple Watch Series 2 and Samsung Gear S3. The tech giants hope their devices can take the gadget world by storm and save the weak smartwatch market.
In this comparison, we’re going to pit the latest devices from the two current leaders in the smartwatch world against each other in a bid to determine which is most worthy of your hard-earned money.
Size and weight
Depending on your personal taste, you’re going to either like a big watch on your wrist or something a little less daunting. The Galaxy Gear S3 is on the large side of the wearable market. In fact, according to some critics, it’s as if Samsung has completely abandoned its female customers and instead has seen that men who like big devices on their wrist purchase the Gear. The Gear S3 Classic measures in at 49 x 46 x 12.9mm, and the Frontier model measures 49 x 46 x 12.9mm.
The Apple Watch 2 comes in two much smaller sizes: 43 x 36 x 11.4mm and 39 x 33 x 11.4mm.
The Apple Watch 2 is, of course, the lighter of the two watches, with its variants weighing in at 34 grams and 28 grams. In stark contrast, the Gears weigh in at a hefty 57 grams and 62 grams, with the Frontier being the heavier of the two.
Design
In terms of design, the Gear S3 Classic has been cut from stainless steel and given a polished finish. The larger Frontier, on the other hand, has a matte black finish, which gives off a fashion statement vibe. Of the two Gears, it’s clear from the stats above that the Frontier is the larger. However, it also has a bigger, more raised bezel. Rather than going over the top with design, Samsung has tried to keep things simple, and this can be seen in the straps that are on offer; they are 22mm leather or silicon.
The Apple Watch 2 is a different beast altogether. It comes with a plethora of styles and designs. For instance, there are two different size watch faces, 42mm and 38mm, with some variants available in one or both. There’s also a choice of build material; you can have ceramic, stainless steel, or aluminum cases, plus there’s a choice of leather, sport, or stainless steel straps, each with different color options.
Display
The display on the Apple Watch 2 uses OLED technology, with the lower end Sport not having any protection. However, if protection is necessary, an upgrade to the steel or ceramic model brings with it a tough sapphire covering. As for resolution, it depends on the size of the case you choose. The 38mm model comes with a 340 x 272 display, and the much brighter 42mm model gets a resolution increase to 390 x 312.
Both Galaxy Gear S3 models come with a 360 x 360 resolution, which means they have a slightly lower resolution than the Apple Watch 2. However, the screen on the Gears is much larger than the on on the Apple Watch, with the display taking up 100% of the front, compared to the 83% and 64% of the front of the two Apple Watch models.
Under the hood
Moving on to what powers these two devices and gives them their appeal beyond just design and weight, we’re going to start with the Gear S3, which is equipped with an Exynos 7270 dual-core CPU running at 1GHz. This means the Gears are going to be really fast, especially when you throw in 768MB of RAM. They also have 4GB of storage, but unfortunately, there is no SD card slot. This is rather disappointing, considering that 4GB is nothing in today’s world.
With a dual-core S2 chipset, the Apple Watch Series 2 is 50% faster than that of its predecessor. That’s what Apple says; however, real-world testing may prove differently. As for RAM, nothing is certain because Apple has given nothing away, but it’s thought that they will have at least 2GB.
Battery
Apple has failed to release any details about the battery in its Apple Series Watch 2, so there’s nothing to say, only that Apple says it will offer an improvement over the older model.
Both Galaxy Gear S3 variants house a 380 mAh battery. It’s thought that this should provide up to four days of use on a single charge.
Price and launch date
The Apple Watch Series 2 was released to the world on Sept. 16. The prices are $399 for the 42mm and $369 for the 38mm.
There has been no firm release date for the Galaxy Gear S3. However, it is believed that a starting price of around $499 is realistic.
Which one should you buy?
The answer to this question is an easy one if you have loyalties to either tech giant, but assuming that you don’t have such loyalties, it really depending on many things like price, design, and weight. However, if connectivity is important to you, the Apple Watch Series 2 does lack some options, while the Gear S3 has features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE and cellular connectivity, meaning that you don’t have to have it connected to a smartphone. It can receive calls wherever you are.
