What Apps Do I Need to Use a Samsung Gear S3 Frontier Watch With a Pixel Xl UPDATED

What Apps Do I Need to Use a Samsung Gear S3 Frontier Watch With a Pixel Xl

It seems similar anybody is talking about how the smartwatch market is collapsing, but that hasn't stopped Samsung from taking another stab at high-terminate wearables. Who could arraign them, really? Last year's Tizen-powered Gear S2 was total of good ideas, from that rotating bezel to its compatibility with not-Samsung Android phones. Non trying to build on that foundation would take been a shame.

Enter the Gear S3 Frontier. Information technology'south a bigger, better, more refined take on Samsung's smartwatch formula, and the visitor threw in every characteristic it could think of. That rationale is Samsung through and through, and information technology makes the Gear S3 worthy of your consideration, even if at present might not be the best time to purchase a smartwatch.

Pros

• Still has the best smartwatch interface
• Excellent performance
• Respectable battery life
• OLED display is bright and crisp

Cons

• Not many good Tizen apps
• Automatic practice tracking tin be weird
• Will be as well large for some

Hardware

Last twelvemonth's Gear S2 had a sleek, pseudo-futuristic vibe -- so much so that the white model I reviewed looked like a prop straight out of THX 1138. Samsung ditched that make clean artful this fourth dimension around -- the S3 Frontier rocks a rugged await, with a knurled, rotating bezel and a chunky stainless-steel body. Generally, people who saw the S3 on my wrist thought it was just a well-congenital mechanical timepiece. If you're like me and enjoy thoughtful mashups of old and new, the S3 certainly scratches that itch. That is, unless you like your watches overnice and thin.

Indeed, the Gear S3 Frontier is a big spotter, and it won't work on every wrist. That'south not just because of the bright, 1.33-inch Super AMOLED brandish either. Betwixt an integrated LTE radio and a relatively large 380mAh battery, the Gear S3 could not take been much smaller. Speaking of the screen, information technology's a existent standout -- it can display up to 16 million colors (upwards from the Gear S2'south eight 1000000) when the always-on display mode is enabled, so it almost looks similar a existent sentinel even when you're non touching it. The Frontier tries to projection an paradigm of sturdiness, and that's just helped by a new Gorilla Drinking glass coating meant specifically for wearables. More important, the screen was crisp and readable in every situation I tested it in, even though its size and resolution (360 x 360) hateful it'south less pixel-dense than the Gear S2. Whatever -- when it comes to screens, bigger is near always better.

Gallery: Samsung Gear S3 Frontier review | xiii Photos

Then yeah, the Gear S3 Frontier won't fit everyone. By now information technology'due south probably clear that I don't mind the size, though. There'due south something undeniably cool near wearing a big timepiece, especially one as well constructed as this. Information technology likewise helps that Samsung used a more traditional -- and more than flexible -- design for its lugs. Last year's Gear S2 required you lot to buy a watch strap specifically made for it, but with the S3 you can attach whatsoever standard 22mm band. That's good news for people who don't love the included textured silicon strap.

And the style options don't end there either. If the Frontier'south masculine aesthetic doesn't do information technology for y'all, there's some other version of the S3 called the Classic that's a bit more elegant. To exist articulate, though, there are bigger differences here than just style: The Frontier has an additional LTE radio for messaging, vocalisation calls and the occasional SOS from the wilderness, while the Archetype is left with your standard Bluetooth/WiFi/NFC radios. Everything else is the same beyond both models, and that's a long listing of similarities. Both have heart rate sensors, a 1GHz dual-cadre Exynos processor, 768MB of RAM, IP68 waterproofing, 4GB of internal storage and MST (magnetic secure transmission) for Samsung Pay transactions.

Overall, the Frontier is impressive, but I'm still a little puzzled by Samsung's decision to omit LTE on the Archetype: The ii devices price the same! Spokespeople have said that it'due south near offering consumers dissimilar options, but surely some who prefer the more elegant Classic would besides want cellular data on their wrists. Samsung hasn't officially ruled out a cellular version of the Gear S3 Archetype, though, so it's possible we'll somewhen run across total feature parity between the two devices.

Software

The Gear S3 runs Tizen (version 2.3.i, for those keeping track) and, as usual, it'southward very smartly laid out to take advantage of that wonderful spinning bezel. Creepo it clockwise and y'all'll get all of your notifications in one place. Spin information technology the opposite direction to breeze through the widgets you've added (by default, the scout shows yous the current weather, favorite contacts, calories burned and what's in your agenda). If you can handle that, congrats: You've basically just mastered the Gear S3'south interface.

That said, people responded so well to the spinning bezel that Samsung decided to use it for a few more things on this twelvemonth's model. Instead of having to swipe on the screen to dismiss a call or disable an alarm, information technology at present takes just a quick twist of the dial. It'southward much more user-friendly this manner, but one could contend it's a little likewise piece of cake; I've woken up tardily but about every day this calendar week because I could just smack and twist my alarm to shut it up.

Y'all tin likewise theoretically use the bezel to play games on the S3, but I wouldn't recommend information technology, for ii reasons. First, you'll detect a tactile clicking whenever you plough the bezel, and that could brand precision control catchy for some games. 2d, and more than of import, there'due south a noticeable shortage of great games -- or other apps, for that matter -- bachelor on Tizen.

According to Samsung, there'southward something like x,000 apps in the Tizen Store, but just a fraction of those are tuned for the Gear's small-scale brandish. Fifty-fifty smaller is the number of apps that actually seem worth using, a fact made all the more ironic past the Gear S3's newfound power to install apps straight from the store, no smartphone connection required.

That'south not to say the platform is completely bereft of good software; the preloaded Flipboard app is excellent for skimming headlines at a glance, and Uber does a fine job telling you lot when that dude in a Toyota Camry is going to show upwards. Trulia, meanwhile, is a capable tool for learning about the existent estate for sale effectually y'all; in add-on to showing you lot pictures, the app delivers a primer on local crime levels and school quality before offer you directions. If every major web service could be this conscientious about creating Tizen apps, we'd be golden. Too bad that's definitely not the case.

At the very least, the rest of the features here work well. Southward Voice springs to life when you tap the bottom push button, and y'all can apply it to send messages, initiate calls and launch apps, amongst other things. I rarely had problem with S Vocalization interpreting what I was saying, but the delay betwixt issuing a control and seeing the watch respond usually took just a moment longer than I expected. Then once more, this sort of delay seems typical of wearables; information technology's slower than Siri on the Apple Watch Series 2, but simply very slightly.

As far as new input methods go, yous can as well answer to messages past scrawling individual letters on the screen when a notification rolls in. I assumed this would be my to the lowest degree favorite way to respond to people, merely I was incorrect. Trying to peck out texts -- even short ones -- using a nine-primal, telephone-style keyboard on my wrist is all the same more cumbersome.

In use

In general, the Gear S3 Borderland nails the nuts, but there's also a lot of stuff hither that doesn't come standard on other smartwatches. Accept that cellular radio, for example. Every bit mentioned, information technology allows you talk into your wrist Dick Tracy manner, which somehow feels a niggling silly even in 2016. Still, call quality is surprisingly practiced, though you'll take to crank the volume on the speaker all the way up if you ever want to apply it exterior of quiet spaces. The experience works even better when you lot add AT&T's NumberSync to the mix -- information technology routes phone calls and messages from your main device (and phone number) to the S3, provided you've added it to a Mobile Share plan. The truth is, most people will never need to practise any of this, merely either way, it'south squeamish to know that the cellular feel works well.

This is also the first Gear smartwatch to come with MST for mobile payments. I'll spare you lot the tale of Samsung's LoopPay acquisition -- all you lot need to know is that you can use the sentry to pay for your stuff regardless of the registers your favorite stores utilize. In other words, y'all're fine whether in that location's an NFC/contactless terminal or a traditional card-swiping ane. Just hold down the S3 Frontier's meridian button for 3 seconds and tap abroad. Yous can do this upward to 10 times before yous have to re-authenticate the S3 from a smartphone, which was more than plenty to get me through days at the office when I left my wallet at home. You'll accept to punch in a Pin every time y'all want to try this, though, which can be a pain on such a small keypad.

While Samsung makes fitness-focused wearables like the Gear Fit two, information technology built a slew of health-tracking features into the Gear S3 equally well. The GPS radio, for instance, tracked my trail runs equally accurately as the Apple Watch Series 2 did. Neither will replace a full-blown running watch, though it's not equally if Samsung and Apple tree are even trying to put Garmin out of business.

At kickoff, I had the Gear S3 connected to a Galaxy S7 Samsung provided. Is it any surprise, then, that everything worked well? But what happens when you lot try to use the S3 with a non-Samsung Android phone? Long story brusque, y'all'll enjoy nearly the aforementioned level of functionality, just with more setup involved. Encounter, the dazzler of keeping everything inside Samsung's walled garden is that almost of the software components needed to make a Galaxy play dainty with a Gear are already on the phone itself.

By contrast, when I reset the Gear S3 and continued it to the Google Pixel Xl, I had to wait for iii apps to download and install before I could outset using the watch in earnest. And if you want to utilise features like Samsung Pay, that requires notwithstanding another app download; make sure your phone is prepare to install apps from outside the Play Store. All told, the procedure took simply a few extra minutes, and the Gear S3 experience was mostly identical regardless of which telephone it was connected to.

The competition

The smartwatch market place might be shrinking, simply the Gear S3 nonetheless has plenty of rivals. On the Android Vesture side, two devices stand out. Fans of the Gear S3's rugged style might dig Nixon's the Mission, a similarly masculine article of clothing. Beyond the peculiar name, Nixon says the Mission is the world'southward commencement "action sports smartwatch," because it's built to be water-resistant upwards to 100 meters and tailored for days at the embankment or on the slopes. At $400, information technology'due south $l more than expensive than the S3 Frontier, but you practice get Android Wear's broader app support, a customizable blueprint and software specifically tuned for surfing and skiing.

For folks who take their practise seriously, at that place's also the Polar M600 ($330). It's nowhere near equally good-looking as the Gear S3, but you weren't going to buy i of these for its fashion cred anyhow. Indeed, the M600 is the well-nigh fettle-friendly Android Wear watch to date, pairing an accurate eye rate monitor with an interface tailored to tracking your vitals and workouts.

And of course, there's still the Gear S2, now priced at $230. Rather than discontinue the year-old smartwatch, Samsung is keeping it around as a toll-witting selection and has updated it with some of the S3's features to boot. If Android Wear feels stale to you -- and it does to me -- the Tizen-powered Gear S2 is a fine way to try something new without blowing through your budget.

Wrap-upwards

With the Gear S3 Borderland, Samsung did a commendable task building a vesture with a little something for everyone. The device all the same falls short in a lot of ways, including its overzealous automatic fitness tracking and a limited app choice, even after a yr. Still, with so few truly interesting smartwatch options out there, the Gear S3 tin can't help just experience similar a refreshing change of pace. If y'all're in the marketplace for a high-end wearable, the S3 is worth because. Just remember: Android Habiliment 2.0 is coming early next year, then waiting for the next crop of watches is probably the smartest move.

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What Apps Do I Need to Use a Samsung Gear S3 Frontier Watch With a Pixel Xl UPDATED

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