Samsung has announced two new smartwatches, the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, improving over the original Galaxy Gear smartwatch which was powered by Android, while the new Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will be running on Tizen operating system.
Samsung calls them just ‘Gear 2’, and not Galaxy Gear 2
Samsung has dropped using “Galaxy” for these new smartwatches, as the company wants to use that brand exclusively when selling Android devices, and since the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo doesn’t run on Android, the company has decided not to insert the “Galaxy” moniker into it.
The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo expands Samsung’s wearable range of smartwatches. The main difference between the two is that the Neo lacks a camera, while the Gear 2 features a camera in its main body, and not on the strap as before which means it would be safe to remove and replace the strap. Apart from that, there are many similarities between both the devices, and by omitting the camera, the Neo seems to be the more affordable version.
Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo tech specifications
The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo each have a 1.63-inch 320 x 320 Super AMOLED display and runs Samsung-led Tizen OS on a 1GHz dual core processor. Both the smartwatches have 512MB of memory and 4GB of internal storage, along with Bluetooth 4.0 LTE for pairing it up with a phone or a tablet, infrared for controlling home appliances, gyroscope, accelerometer and a heart rate sensor.
The Gear 2 will be offered with Charcoal Black, Gold Brown, and Wild Orange straps, while the Gear 2 Neo will have Charcoal Black, Mocha Grey, and Wild Orange straps; the body of both versions is IP67 certified for dust and water resistance. Talking about the battery department, then they come with 300 mAh, and both of them is expected to last 2-3 days of “typical” usage.
You will of course need a Galaxy smartphone from Samsung to actually use both these new smartwatches from Samsung, and for now, the company hasn’t given any list of compatible devices yet, but it’s safe to assume that they should work well with Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S4, and also with the upcoming Galaxy S5.
For now, Samsung has not announced any prices yet, but they’re going to hit the shelves in April. We do expect the Gear 2 to be priced similar to the original Galaxy Gear, and Gear 2 Neo to be priced a few bucks lower than the Gear 2, as it lacks camera.
