Samsung might have moved to new watch hardware, but that does not mean it has forgotten the older models. On Monday, the Korean firm came up with an update for the Gear S3 and Gear Sport adding several new useful features, including fitness focused.
Gear S3 update – what’s new?
With the latest update, the Gear S3 Frontier, Gear S3 Classic and Gear Sport get Tizen v4.0.0.2 along with several new features and improvements. The update, it seems, is first rolling out in the U.S., but would reach more regions in the coming days. The file size is about 300MB.
Talking of the new features, the Gear S3 update brings several improvements to help out with Samsung Health. The update adds support for more indoor workouts and back-to-back workouts as well. Further, the update also brings support for sleep stages for better sleep tracking.
Two new modes have been added as well to the older watches – Theater mode and a Sleep mode “to keep user from disturbance during specific time and place.” Both the modes are added to the Quick Panel, which has been updated with new quick settings to facilitate easier and faster interaction.
Also, the notification panel is updated to show MMS messages and play GIFs automatically. The Messages app now supports over 1,000 emojis and can save a draft message as well. Further, users can switch to other music play sources from the watch itself rather than using a phone.
Samsung’s latest update also tweaks the Settings menu, making it easier to discover features and items. Also, users are now allowed to toggle to other screens or use any other features and apps while on a call.
More changes – not mentioned in Change log
Apart from the changes mentioned in the change log, XDA Contributor linuxct found many other interesting changes. As per the XDA Contributor, it is possible to take screenshots now by pressing and holding the power button and swiping from left to right. Also, sliding down the Quick Settings menu is easier now. Another feature is the ability to read any message in the messaging apps in a chat bubble view.
Additionally, the user found changes in the Permissions Management as well. Users now get an option to allow or deny the request from an app that prompts for Storage or Microphone permission. Previously, the permission was granted by default. Also, users can manage the permissions from Settings > Apps > Permissions.
Though these changes (found by the XDA Contributor) are pretty useful, the user, however, found these on the Gear Sport. So, it is not confirmed if the Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic users would also see these changes.
Nevertheless, the latest Gear S3 update sounds exciting and users like it as well. “Battery life seems good. The actual process of updating used up around 10% of the battery…. Massive improvement on the UI experience. The quick setting pulldown is super smooth…. Overall the animations are way smoother than v3 but snappy at the same time,” one Reddit user said.
Samsung Galaxy Watch
It’s good to see that Samsung has not forgotten the older watches even though it launched a new model just a few months back. In August, Samsung announced its next-gen smartwatch, called the Galaxy Watch. The watch can charge wirelessly and features 3G / LTE connectivity.
Samsung launched two models – a 42mm black or rose gold version and a 46mm silver version. With its new smartwatch, Samsung adopted new branding, tying it more closely to its Galaxy brand.
In the U.S., the 42mm version costs $329.99, while the bigger version is priced at $349.99. The Galaxy Watch comes with IP68 dust resistance and 5 ATM water resistance. Further, the watch features a Super AMOLED touch display with Gorilla DX+ glass and is powered by a Exynos 9110 dual core 1.15 GHz processor.
Additionally, the watch features an accelerometer, gyroscope, a heart rate monitor, ambient light sensor and barometer. The LTE version sports 1.15GB RAM and 4GB storage, while the Bluetooth version gets 768MB RAM and 4GB storage.
Similar to the earlier Samsung smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch also gets a rotating bezel. One can use the rotating bezel to interact with the device. In terms of battery, the watch comes with either a 270mAh or 472mAh battery, which the Korean company claims can last for 4 to 6 days on a single charge.
