Smartwatches have been a dream of technophiles since the Dick Tracy days. While they have not yet reached the dream of the standalone phone, what they can do while partnered with a smartphone far outstrips anything Tracy’s wrist gear aspired to. Hot on the heels of Samsung’s Tizen-powered Gear 2 watch, the Gear Live watch will run the new Android Wear system. Just say “OK Google” and the world is yours on the 1.63″, 320 by 320 pixel color display. It lacks the built-in camera of the Gear 2 but you’ll pay $199 for this little gem. Compatible with any phone running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or higher, this watch is always on, always ready for you to ask questions of it, check messages and notifications in places where it’s not appropriate to pull out your phone. The downside? Battery life from the 300 mAh cell is rated as being about one day of average use (which, as we have learned from hard experience tends to be far short of an actual 24-hour period). The description says “The Samsung Gear Live display is always on, adjusting its color and style so that you can always glance for the latest information, and with one simple touch you can wake the display to see more:The Samsung Gear Live display is always on, adjusting its color and style so that you can always glance for the latest information, and with one simple touch you can wake the display to see more” but that isn’t clear as to whether the display turns off to conserve battery life. Anyway, it’s IP67 water and dust resistant so don’t take it diving into a pool but you don’t have to worry when you are washing dishes. This smartwatch will ship July 8th and is available for preorder right now at the Google Play Store for $199.
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Wow. Sloppy article. First it says the watch is $100. Then it says it “isn’t clear as to whether the display turns off to conserve battery life.” It’s actually very clear that’s an option if you read other articles.
@Dave I fixed the first pricing typo.
In the body of the article you state that this watch costs $100, however the $199 cited at the end of the article is correct. As to your question about ‘waking’ an always on display: the the super-amoled screen can power individual pixels. Thus, the small time display is the always on power saving mode, and when wakened, the full display becomes active.
Sorry, what I meant it to say was that you save $100 over the current Gear 2 watch and I was basing my news item off of what is on the Samsung and Play Store web site, the very thing that people will be using to order from and THAT wasn’t clear about whether the screen turns off. If the screen does turn off and you still only get a day of battery out of it I can’t see this being a viable product, especially since you have to mount it on a charging dock so portable backup batteries won’t be an option.
Nicholas, thank you for the clarification.
I keep my phone in my shirt pocket and fail to see any reason to waste money on this, unless, as you suggest, I find myself in a situation where pulling my phone out isn’t practical. Trouble is I can’t imagine such a situation.
If you don’t feel a need to buy it, then buying it would be a waste of money for you. For people who can use this kind of technology, then it wouldn’t be a waste of money. That’s the great thing about this plethora of gadgetry…no one is forcing you to buy something you don’t want to. 🙂
I waited almost an entire day before ordering this but that’s all the restraint I have.
I have this and LOVE it! It just adds a bit of convenience to my day. It’s better than the Pebble (which I now keep to the side).