Background
Samsung and Apple are two of the biggest names when it comes to smartphones and smartwatches. With Apple still dominating the market,
Samsung has developed the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Classic in a bid to compete. The Gear S3 is packed it full of features – but is it an Apple beater?
Design
Smartwatches need to be functional but they also need to appeal with their design and the Gear S3 Frontier was made with sports in mind. It has a huge screen that offers crystal clear information on your workouts and notifications.
It’s no lightweight at 62 grams and becomes more noticeable over the course of the day. However, it has been made to high specifications. If you buy one of these watches you are getting hold of something that is made of quality materials and should stand the test of time.
Functionality
The watch is easy to use and has a bezel that you turn to scroll through all the features – it’s quick to move from one to the other. Tapping the screen confirms choices and two buttons are there to take you back or to the home screen, so you are never far away from knowing the time. It’s simple but effective, as no one wants to have too many options when it comes to using a watch.
Features
Samsung’s choice of the Tizen OS means that there are not the range of choices that we have come to expect. However, what is on the watch works well and will help to keep your fitness goals tracked and health stats updated.
Some of the key apps that help keep you in shape are listed below:
- A heart rate monitor to keep you on top of heart health.
- Spotify so you can run without your phone in your pocket.
- Nike+ Running to get the most out of your runs and allow friends to track each other too.
- MyFitnessPal – tracks exercise, water and food goals.
- Smart home apps like Nest and Hive so you can stay connected to your home wherever you are.
Music
Playing your favourite music has never been easier as it’s quick to scroll and flip through songs until you find the tune that ticks your boxes.
The speakers are great and can play your music loud directly from the watch. You can connect the watch to headphones too. So when you are running, you can have the in-ear music experience that can push you through the hardest moments and see you improve your own performance time after time.
Fitness
There are loads of great ways to track your fitness on the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier; from movement nudging to on-board GPS. If you want to count reps then the watch can do that for you. If you want to track everything during your day and then use the Samsung Health options to review your stats and progress.
Sedentary behaviour is one of the most damaging aspects of human life. The Samsung watch will intuitively check that you are moving when you need to and remind you to get up whenever you need to in order to combat this negative behaviour.
The watch will even encourage you to stop and stretch if you are moving a lot. It’s like having your good conscience sat on your wrist looking out for you all day long!
Battery
Samsung has been known to claim that the battery can last up to a week but this is highly unlikely. If you are sensible with usage then you will probably get three days before it needs to be recharged. However, it doesn’t take too long to charge.
The Final Frontier
Samsung may have wanted to take the top spot, but this isn’t the watch to do it. However, it’s still a great choice if you want a big, easy-to-use watch with a great screen.
You’ll love this watch if you are mainly focused on using it to improve your health and fitness and don’t want access to hundreds of confusing apps that distract you from your goals.
But in the end, we think you should also consider other Samsung watches that may weigh less, cost less and do more if you want to use your watch for much more than just fitness.
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Last Updated on December 13, 2020
Jacquelyn Ellis has written content, managed our social media, and edited our blog. Apart from that, she was our bookkeeper and management accountant for many years.