Galaxy Gear (1st Gen)

[ibex333]

Anyone own the Galaxy Gear? I just got one in white on A4C for sale(refurbished) for $80! (well, $92 after taxes to be fair)


The thing came in the original box, (few scratches and scuffs on box) but the watch itself was pretty much new. Not a single scratch, protective film still on camera lens.

Anyway... Setup was a nightmare. The thing would not sync with my Note 3 no matter what! The NFC app which starts and needs to install for sync to work would crash every time. I was forced to download the older version of this app from a website, and then I updated it via an official update. At that point, after about 5 tries, everything synced, and I haven't had a single problem since.


I gotta admit - all the negative reviews are wrong. Well, maybe they are not wrong at $300, but they are sure wrong at $80.

The watch is definitely not a standalone device but an extension of the phone. It makes getting calls, and notifications much faster and easier, especially for someone with a big bulky phone. No need to take it out from your pocket.

Making a quick voice memo is great too.

By far the coolest thing imo, is the camera. I don't understand why its missing from Gear 2, and Moto 360. For its size, the camera is actually pretty decent, and great for snapping documents. Even small print is very visible and clear.

Another awesome thing about the Gear Gen 1 is that it runs on Android, not Tizen. While Tizen does offer improved battery life and a few other things, Android can be rooted, and the Gear can be used as a standalone Android device. Even the internet features can be enabled via tethering.

Right now, I cannot decide if I want to install Tizen or play around with custom ROMs and rooting. Either way, as I can see smart-watches are definitely not "stupid" or "useless" as some say.

 

[Raduque]

I don't need or want a camera in my smartwatch. I also don't want all the fluff and BS that comes with a general use android device.

I JUST want my watch to pair with my phone, show me notifications and allow me to reject calls, control music and show me the time.

I also don't think square watches are nice looking, but if I could get a Gear for $80 locally, I'd probably buy one too.

Edit: I definitely don't have a desire to flash roms to my watch!

 

[OS]

I got one from the $60 best buy clearance, but did not find it useful. Like mentioned, it does not work standalone out of the box. I used the gearmanager APK to pair with a one plus, but it just works like glorified notification bar.

The biggest problem however is that it makes the wearer look like a futuristic dork, which I couldn't deal with it and went back to my automatic watches.

 

[MagickMan]

The Pebble is probably (still) the best smart watch out, and if you look around you can find them for <$100.

 

[lopri]

Creep cam possible?

 

[webdave]

The Pebble is probably (still) the best smart watch out, and if you look around you can find them for <$100.

I agree. I recently tried a Gear 2 and a LG G Watch (Android Wear) and returned them. Picked up a new sealed Pebble on Ebay for 115 and it is great. Battery life lasts for a week instead of a day, it is fully water proof up to 5 meters so I can shower with it, and I get all of my notifications. Plus it has tons of apps. You can only have 8 loaded at a time but I'm happy with an Authenticator app, ESPN, Evernote, and Google Navigation. So far I'm very happy with the Pebble.

 

[ibex333]

Creep cam possible?

Not that I know of. Whenever you snap something, it makes a loud shutter noise to alert everyone in the vicinity you are taking a picture. ; (

The biggest problem however is that it makes the wearer look like a futuristic dork, which I couldn't deal with it and went back to my automatic watches.

It's all in your head. No one in the last few days noticed or commented on my watch. And I ride the train A LOT. No one gives a damn. No one cares. If I was to mention it to someone, they'd probably just show slight interest at best. And that's fine by me. I got it for me, not to get someone to notice.

 

[ibex333]

Battery life lasts for a week instead of a day, it is fully water proof up to 5 meters so I can shower with it, and I get all of my notifications. Plus it has tons of apps. You can only have 8 loaded at a time but I'm happy with an Authenticator app, ESPN, Evernote, and Google Navigation. So far I'm very happy with the Pebble.

Battery lasts about 2 days on my Gear. Maybe one of the updates fixed it, but I am actually getting pretty good timing. Battery charges literally in about 30 min. It's super fast.

Water proof is cool, but I usually don't swim or take showers in my watch anyway, and I have Evernote, innkeeper, and most other things on the Gear too.

 

[webdave]

Battery lasts about 2 days on my Gear. Maybe one of the updates fixed it, but I am actually getting pretty good timing. Battery charges literally in about 30 min. It's super fast.

Water proof is cool, but I usually don't swim or take showers in my watch anyway, and I have Evernote, innkeeper, and most other things on the Gear too.

Is there an app for Google Maps navigation for the Gear that gives you turn by turn direction updates on the watch? WHen I had my Gear 2 I couldn't find a decent one.

 

[Raduque]

The biggest problem however is that it makes the wearer look like a futuristic dork, which I couldn't deal with it and went back to my automatic watches.

A guy came in to my work wearing a smartwatch, and when he moved his arm the watch came on, showed the time for a few seconds, then switched to a slideshow. Looked like pics of his kids. Seemed like a cool feature.