Samsung Gear 2 ditches Android, adds music player

Samsung's Gear 2 updates the original Galaxy Gear with a new operating system and a camera on the watch body.

(Credit: Samsung)

BARCELONA, Spain -- The time has come for Samsung to say goodbye to Android as the operating system powering its smartwatch. On Sunday, a day ahead of its press conference here at Mobile World Congress, the electronics titan announced two new cogs in the Gear smartwatch machine, the Samsung Gear 2 and Samsung Gear 2 Neo.

Both wearables drop "Galaxy" from their names, a nod to the fact that the smartwatches runSamsung's homebrewed Tizen OS and not Google's Android platform.

The move to clock Tizen in and check Android out is the biggest change to come to the Gear 2, though one that may not be as obvious to customers who strap on the watches. More obviously, the Gear 2's camera gets a boost to a 2-megapixel resolution, and moves from the wrist straps to the body of the smartwatch.

Thus liberated, the straps are now in a position for you to pop them off and exchange them with differently colored bands. For the Gear 2, your color pool includes Charcoal Black, Gold Brown, and Wild Orange, all similar shades carried over from the original Galaxy Gear.

Some of us weren't fans of flipping our wrists to talk into the microphone embedded in the original Galaxy Gear's clasp, and Samsung listened, placing the mic into the phone's body instead.The watch also picks up a few more hardware and software tricks, like an infrared sensor and a standalone music player that means you can leave your phone at home while you go for a jog (so long as you sync it to a Bluetooth headset.) Samsung has also added a heart rate sensor as well.

Lest you think Samsung left the watch's guts alone, it make internal adjustments, like increasing the processor from an 800MHz single-core unit to a 1GHz dual-core chip. Interestingly, the Gear 2 looses a tiny bit of juice, dropping from a 315mAh battery to a 300mAh ticker.

Smart watch	Samsung Gear 2	Samsung Gear Neo	Samsung Galaxy Gear
OS	Tizen	Tizen	Android
Processor	1GHz dual core	1GHz dual core	800MHz single core
Screen	1.63-inch Super AMOLED; 320x320 pixels	1.63-inch Super AMOLED; 320x320 pixels	1.63-inch Super AMOLED; 320x320 pixels
RAM	512MB	512MB	512MB
Internal storage	4GB	4GB	4GB
Camera location	Main body	No camera	Strap
Camera resolution	2 megapixels	N/A	1.9 megapixels
Bluetooth music player	Yes	Yes	No
Bluetooth version	4.0	4.0	4.0
Infrared	Yes	Yes	No
Heartrate sensor	Yes	Yes	No
Battery	300mAH	300mAH	315mAH
Dimensions (mm)	36.9x58.4x10	37.9x58.8x10	36.8x56.6x11.1
Weight (ounces, g)	2.4, 68	1.9, 55	2.6, 74
Colors	Charcoal Black, Gold Brown, Wild Orange	Charcoal Black, Mocha Gray, Wild Orange	Jet Black, Oatmeal Beige, Lime Green, Mocha Gray, Wild Orange

Credit: Nick Hide

Aesthetically, the Gear 2 looks much the same as the original Gear, though its rectangular face is very slightly larger and slimmer. You'll still see that finish made to look like brushed metal, the textured straps, and a clip-in clasp closure. You'll also continue to charge the smartwatch with a separate charging cradle. With the Gear 2 (and also camera-less Gear 2 Neo), Samsung says it's serious about smartwatches.

Outlook

Samsung's updated Gear 2 has nipped some annoyances, like having to keep your phone on-hand to stream music. Mostly, though, the quick update cycle reflects Samsung's ambitions to strengthen its in-house Tizen brand and gain some distance from the Googleplex.

I'm interested in seeing how the new camera and microphone placement work in every day life -- if they're both more practical locations than before, or if new usability bobbles arise.

I'm also wondering how the switch to Tizen will affect the software update cycle in ways the users care about, like making more Samsung phones and other phones compatible with the Gear family of wearables, and bringing other app-makers on board. Hopefully we'll have more answers to these questions and more when we get a chance to wrist-drive the Gear 2.

In the meantime, catch all the mobile news from Mobile World Congress 2014.