Samsung today debuted its newest wearable, the Gear S3 smartwatch, at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, Germany, showing off iterative changes and a bulkier look.
There are two versions of the S3 — the rugged, matte-black Gear S3 Frontier and more design-focused, stainless steel Gear S3 Classic. Both appear much larger than the S2 versions, yet the new line of devices is in fact only slightly bigger, bumped from a 1.2-inch to a 1.3-inch display. In terms of casing, the Gear S2’s was 42.3mm, compared with the equivalent S3 Frontier’s 46mm. The S3 Frontier is also 62 grams, in comparison to the S2’s 47 grams.
The new sizing means the Gear S3 is compatible with third-party 22mm standard watch bands, so consumers have a wide range of options for customization. Previously, the S2 featured a 20mm band.
The 1.3-inch display sticks with a 360 x 360 pixel resolution, but now features an always on color display, meaning it’ll look better while sitting idle.
Both models of S3 include a speaker and GPS (only present in the S2’s 3G model). The wearable also has NFC with MST, allowing for use at older swipe-only terminals, and offers a model that supports LTE.
The smartwatch’s OS is Tizen, continuing in the tradition of its predecessor, and is driven by a dual-core 1.0 GHz processor, with 4GB of internal memory and 768MB of RAM.
Not much has changed when it comes to the interface, but the new device does allow users to control more things using the rotating bezel rather than having to swipe the screen.
Samsung states that its 380mAh battery with wireless charging should last for three to four days, even with the LTE model.
The wearable is likely to arrive by the end of the year, but availability and pricing have not yet been announced. We’ll update this story when we learn more from Samsung.
