Samsung launched its latest high-end smartwatch, the Gear S3, in Berlin on Wednesday. Samsung Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Young-Hee Lee announced the smartwatch will stand as the sole premium timepiece in the manufacturer’s collection.
Preliminary specs for the Gear S3 include a 1.3-inch circular AMOLED display with a 360x360 resolution and Corning's new Gorilla Glass SR+, a dual-core 1GHz Samsung Exynos chip, 768MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, a 380 mAh battery, IP68 water, wind and dust resistance, Bluetooth, Wi-fi and the Tizen Wearable OS 2.3.2 operating system. At this time, the Gear S3 supports only Android.
The Gear S3 will come in a more sporty model called Frontier and a fashion-forward model called Classic. The Frontier model is also military graded by the MIL-STD 810G standard and has 46 x 49 x 12.9 mm dimensions and weighs 62 g. Dimensions for the Classic are 46 x 49 x 12.9 mm, with a weight of 57 g.
Samsung markets the Gear S3 as having a long battery life, constant connectivity and seamless task management. The Gear S3 supports standalone LTE, allowing users to make calls directly from the smartwatch, through Samsung's S-Voice feature as well as a built in speaker and microphone. Users can accept and reject calls and manage notifications using the rotating bezel on the timepiece.
The Gear S3 supports Samsung Pay with the NFC and MST payment standard and Samsung’s Knox security standard. Users can also stream music from the Gear S3 using Spotify.
A new feature on the Gear S3 is its SOS mode, which uses GPS to notify family, friends and emergency professionals if users are in danger.
The Gear S3 also includes customizable watch faces with thousands of options and the ability for users to create and download their own custom watch faces. Users can also attach and standard 22mm watch strap to a Gear S3 base.
Samsung has yet to announce pricing for the Gear S3, but the smartwatch will be available at retailers including Best Buy, Amazon, Macy's and Samsung.com. The Frontier model, which includes calling and streaming ability will be available at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
