Samsung Gear S3 Frontier Review

The Gear S3 Frontier is undoubtedly Samsung's best-looking and best-made wearables to date. You can pair it with most Android phones, and it even works with iPhones. It is packed with everything you can possibly think about putting in a smartwatch.

DISPLAY The Gear S3 Frontier houses the 1.3 inch screen holding two clicky buttons on the right edge that control power/home menu and the back function. It looks and feels big on your wrist because of its 46mm frame.  Its face measures 46 x 49 millimeters (1.8 x 1.9 inches). It has a 1.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, which makes it bright and vivid having great sharpness. We had no problem in using it even in bright sunlight.  Samsung has protected its face by Corning’s Gorilla GlassSR, making its display a scratch resistant. The Frontier is IP68 certified water resistant, which means you can submerge it in water of up to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes. You can't use it for swimming too.

 DESIGN

The serrations on the rotating bezel in Gear S3 Frontier is something we really like a lot. The circular bezel is what makes the Gear S3 so effortless to use. It help in scrolling easily through widgets such as reminders, exercise, calories burned for the day and so on. Anticlockwise rotation takes you back to the watch face, and then to notifications on your connected phone. Once you’re into a menu or app, you can use it to scroll through options and features. Answer or reject phone calls, turn off alarms, control the volume and display brightness levels. Browse apps and scroll through emails. All it takes is a simple turn of the circular bezel.

PLATFORM

The Gear S3 runs on Samsung's homegrown Tizen operating system that works in sync with both Android and iOS. The smartwatch can be paired over Bluetooth with most Android phones and it even works with iPhones. It has built-in GPS for people who like to run outdoors and can also make calls, thanks to a speaker and microphone on board. From the main screen you can also swipe down to access quick settings like screen brightness, volume controls, music player, do not disturb mode or check battery status. To change your watch face, you'll have to hold press the screen.

You can change the look of your Gear S3 by just changing the watch face. With 15 preloaded designs and more available at the Gear App Store, it's really a matter of choice.

To go to the list of apps, press the bottom key on the right edge, then scroll through using the rotating bezel, and select any app you wish to open by tapping the screen.  You'll find eight apps are visible per page, but as you install more apps, additional pages will get added.

Maps for Gear is detailed given the S3's screen, rotating bazel will help you zoom in, out. The heart-rate monitor, in S3 frontier, proved more accurate than in other smartwatches. A thumbs up from our side.

The built-in speaker in S3 frontier was also surprisingly loud. You can take and make calls with its built-in speaker. You can also check voice messages and hear the alarms you set. S Voice enables you to speak to the watch to do things such as send an email, call people or check the weather. The Gear S3 also has 4GB of internal memory so you can take your music with you, without the weight of your phone.

BATTERY:

With the Gear S3, you can go for up to three days before putting it down for a charge. Its battery lasts that long. And when it needs a charge, just set it down on its wireless charging dock.  The ability to make phone calls straight from the smartwatch also demands a bigger battery since making those can cost you a lot of drainage. We were able to get about 48 hours out of the S3 before needing to charge it back up. The screen can be set to switch off when ever you're not using the watch. This feature is designed to extend the battery life. It also has power saving mode to extend the battery further.

VERDICT:

The Gear S3 delivers in both hardware and software, and to us is the smartwatch to get if you're an Android user. It is loaded with all the features a smartwatch should have.  With newly added features and apps, solid metal chassis with meticulous fine details, water-resistance, great clicky buttons and functionality like the rotating bezel, it clearly emerges as the winner in this category at the moment. In short, the Samsung Gear S3 is a brilliant smartwatch.