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Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 vs Gear 1 (comparison)

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Updated January 28, 2020

Wearables are on the rise, and it seems Samsung is not giving up this industry so easily. The company’s first venture with the Galaxy Gear didn’t turn out to be as fruitful as they imagined, and resulted in a sequel almost six months after the its launch. This time, Samsung didn’t just launch one, but two successors of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, dubbed as Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. The latter one appears to be a budget offering as it lacks a few features that are present in the Galaxy Gear 2. Here are the major changes that you would find in the latest Galaxy Gear 2 compared to its predecessor.

Good-bye Android

Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear 1 with Android as it’s operating system, but the sequel of the wearable doesn’t come with it. Yes, Samsung decided to ditch Android in the favor of Tizen, which as they describe it as “Tizen based wearable platform.” As a result, you won’t notice the “Galaxy” branding with the latest smartwatches as it’s more dedicated towards its Android line of products.

As far as the software differences are concerned, we don’t know about them as the smartwatch is yet to hit retail. The wearable is expected to go on sale in April, along with Samsung Galaxy S5, and we could tell more about the software once we get our hands on the device.

Camera

As far as the camera is concerned, both smartwatches come with a 2MP camera, but the camera in case of Gear 2 is in the watch itself. Unfortunately, Samsung Gear 2 Neo doesn’t feature a camera, and we’re wildly guessing that might be one of the reasons for its lower price compared to the Gear 2.

More Options, Faster Processor, But A Smaller Battery

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear back at the IFA 2013 in Berlin, but this time, Samsung didn’t only launch one but two smartwatches, with Gear 2 Neo reportedly being an option for budget-conscious users.

In addition, the Gear 2 comes with a faster 1GHz dual-core processor compared to the 800MHz one. As far as the display is concerned, both the Gear 1, Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo comes with a 1.63-inch display boasting a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels.

Coming over to the battery, the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo comes with a smaller 300mAh battery compared to 315mAh in its predecessor. But, it still claims to provide users with a typical usage of two to three days with a low usage of up to six days.

Both devices feature 4GB of internal storage to store music or any other file on the smartwatch.

Colorful options

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Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo comes with changeable straps, allowing users to use different colored straps with the smartwatch. Samsung Gear 2 comes with charcoal black, gold brown and wild orange, while the Gear 2 Neo ships with charcoal black, mocha grey and wild orange colored straps.

As far as the Galaxy Gear is concerned, the smartwatch came in different colors at launch, including jet black, mocha gray, wild orange, oatmeal beige, rose gold, and lime green.

Stay Fit With Fitness Tracker

Samsung Galaxy Gear didn’t come with hardware that could help you track fitness-related metrics, but did feature apps that could be installed on the connected smartphone to help you track different aspects. However, Gear 2 Neo and Gear 2 comes with a fitness tracking features such as Pedometer, heart rate monitor, exercise tracking modes for walking, cycling, etc. and an accelerometer.

Samsung also says both the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo can monitor sleep and stress levels right from your wrist.

Apps, Apps and Apps?

Several popular apps are expected to make their way on the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo once it launches, including Banjo, BMW, CNN , Conde Nast, Expedia, eBay, Evernote, Feedly and many more. Additionally, it also comes with WatchON Remote app that lets you control your TV from your wrist, thanks to the IrLED sensor present in the smartwatch.

As far as the apps for Galaxy Gear are concerned, it shouldn’t take a long time for developers to port them over to the new Gear line up.

Wrap up

Now, the question is, will we recommend the smartwatch? Well, it’s a little too early to talk about recommendation as the smartwatch is not yet available in the market. Both Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo will hit the retail shelves on April 11th, alongside the Samsung Galaxy S5. And we can only say how good it is once we get our hands on it.

On paper, they look pretty good, and it seems Samsung learned from their mistakes with the Galaxy Gear, and introduced many features that were not present in its predecessor. The health-tracking sensors can be of great help for fitness-oriented individuals, giving them access to different tracking measures right on their wrist. It also depends on the pricing of the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. Let’s hope it’s not overpriced.