- [Michael] Smartwatches are in a weird place right now.
Android Wear is on more wrists,
but the software is kind of a dog.
The Apple Watch is basically useless
if you don't carry an iPhone,
and old stalwarts like Pebble have
been swallowed up by bigger fish
to produce stuff like this.
So when Samsung launched its newest smartwatch
in September, I was excited for another contender
from a proven company.
And it turns out, you don't even need
to be a fitness fanatic to appreciate it.
I'm MrMobile, and this is the Gear Sport review.
Also touching on the Samsung IconX Bluetooth earbuds,
brought to you by Man Outfitters.
(motivating music)
If you saw my hands-on from Berlin this fall,
the Gear Sport hardware won't surprise you.
The circle-on-squircle watch body,
20-millimeter watch band, and bright round AMOLED
screen are all unchanged.
I wouldn't say this is my favorite design of Samsung's,
and it only just approaches the style
of a traditional designer analog watch,
but the Sport is good enough looking
and it's on the small side, which
is refreshing in a world of clunkers.
That size carries some compromises though.
There's no LTE, so the Sport is dependent
on the phone in your pocket, or a WiFi connection
for its smart features.
Also, while Samsung Pay is still
on-board, it only works at NFC-enabled payment locations.
You can't spoof a magnetic stripe reader,
like you can with the bigger Gear S3.
And the battery size has also been cut relative
to the S3 by 21%.
Surprisingly, the Gear Sport still lasts longer
than the big LG Watch Sport that normally graces my wrist.
In the out-of-box configuration,
the watch averages three days
to go from full to empty.
But, be advised that enabling that Always On Display
to keep the watch face visible at all times
will cut you down substantially
to about two days between charges.
If there's one area where Samsung really kills
it in wearables, it's the interface.
The Tizen software is zippy and the high-contrast approach
makes navigating it very easy.
The best part is the rotating bezel,
whose mechanical ratcheting clicks
are really addictive, especially
if you're like five years old at heart.
When you consider all the features crammed
into this thing, it's impressive
that it's this easy to navigate.
Most of those features are for fitness.
I especially like its automatic workout detection,
which tracks my walks for me without me having
to punch them in.
That said, it sometimes gets confused.
It interpreted a rousing round of Tetris
in an arcade as bicycling, for example.
And it also overestimates the number
of calories I burn on a daily basis.
So if you need more advanced or accurate tracking,
you can take advantage of the Under Armour suite.
Samsung has struck a deal with them where you get
a free premium membership for a year
if you buy a Gear Sport.
There's also Speedo for swim tracking,
which you can use even in the ocean,
because the watch is certified
for saltwater in addition to its mill
standard and IP ratings.
There are a couple of things not to love.
Even though the wireless charging
is based on the Qi standard, you can't recharge
it using any old Qi charger.
You need to bring along the pedestal
that comes in the box.
And that pedestal uses the older micro-USB port.
So if you have a modern phone,
you also need to bring along a non-modern charging cable.
Progress, am I right?
Alongside the Gear Sport, Samsung also let me try out
a set of its new IconX earbuds for 2018.
These are wireless in every sense
with a special carrying case that provides
one additional full charge.
This one has the good sense to use USB-C.
There are cool features here.
Four gigs of space on-board, so you can transfer music right
onto the buds and they don't need
a phone or anything.
They're rated for seven hours of listening in this mode.
The more common use of course is streaming
from a phone, but you can also pair
the buds directly to the Gear Sport watch,
onto which you can either load your own music
or download your playlists to the Spotify app,
which yeah, supports offline listening.
In this mode, the buds are ready
to last for five hours, and I have
to say, it's just a stupid amount
of fun to know that I'm streaming audio directly
from my wrists to my ears with no phone in sight.
I'm not really the target market
for the IconX, so I didn't get
as much use out of the built-in running coach or anything.
But I do think it's cool that so much tech
is packed into such a small package.
On top of that, phone calls work very well.
People said I sounded great.
And I had no trouble hearing anyone.
But like most buds, these do get uncomfortable after
about an hour, and the function
that's supposed to let them detect
when they're in your ear doesn't work well.
Several times I was listening
to a podcast on a speaker and I'd pick up
the buds just to move them across
the table, but that motion would automatically wake up
the connection and move the podcast to the buds.
Very annoying.
Also, you need to get into the habit
of putting them back in the case when you're not using them.
Just leaving them out overnight will result
in a nearly-drained battery by morning,
if you've used them much at all.
Both of these products were designed
for folks who need fitness gear first.
But one of them pulls double-duty
as a product even I might buy.
That would be the Gear Sport.
It's a great smartwatch, and even though
it's steep at $299, I think
it's definitely worth considering,
especially given how narrow the field has gotten.
And for the IconX, again I'm not really
the target customer, but I do think
it needs a bit more polish in the form
of software updates in order to be worth
the $199 Samsung is asking.
Both are on sale right now.
Some of MrMobile's wardrobe
for this video was provided by Man Outfitters,
an online specialty retailer
of premium men's apparel and accessories.
They carry the best products from the coolest brands,
Patagonia, Columbia, North Face, Southern Marsh,
and my personal favorite, Sperry Top-Sider.
Oh and that analog watch I showed you
at the top of the video, that
is a Jack Mason Aviator Chronograph
at Man Outfitters that I dearly love.
That's just a few of the more than 50 labels
in the Man Outfitters collection,
and you get free returns and exchanges
for a painless, risk-free shopping experience.
For 10% off your entire order, go
to manoutfitters.com/mrmobile and stock up
for fall before all the best designs sell out.
That link is down in the description.
Until next time folks, thanks for watching,
and stay mobile my friends.
(offbeat music)