How to turn on the Samsung Gear S3 watch. Smartwatch with GPS navigator - Samsung Gear S3

The Samsung Gear S3 is without a doubt one of the best smartwatches in the world. Their secret to success is very simple: great looks and lots of useful features. If a lot of different information (photos and video reviews) has already been written about the first one on the Internet, then little has been said about the smart capabilities of the watch. This Galagram article covers all the secrets and tips for setting up the Gear S3 smartwatch.

This instruction will be useful for both beginners who have just purchased a gadget and confident watch users. We think everyone will be able to learn something new for themselves and use the device to the maximum.

How to turn on Samsung Gear S3

To turn on your watch, press and hold the Power (Home) button until the screen lights up and the Samsung logo appears. If the device does not turn on, connect it to a power source for at least 15 minutes and then try again. Perhaps the watch was simply discharged at “zero percent.” To turn off the watch, also press and hold the Power button. In the menu that opens, select “Shutdown” or Power off. Everything is simple and clear here!

How to connect Gear S3 to Android and iPhone

The watch connects to Android (Android 4.4 and above) smartphones and Apple iPhone (iOS 10 and above) via Bluetooth. So this instruction is suitable for both operating systems. To connect your Gear S3 to your smartphone, install the Samsung Gear app from the Google Play Store or AppStore. It is worth noting that some functions may not be available on the watch depending on the smartphone model. Of course, phones from the Samsung Galaxy line work best with the gadget.

Turn on the clock
On your smartphone, open the Samsung Gear app
If necessary, update the Samsung Gear app to the latest version
Click "Connect"
Activate Bluetooth when prompted by the app
Follow the instructions on your smartphone to complete the connection

You can also connect a Bluetooth headset or wireless headphones to the watch. To do this, follow these steps:

On the watch screen, tap Settings
Then select "Connections"
Tap the Bluetooth switch to activate the connection
Rotate the ring around the screen and tap on the Bluetooth icon
When you see the Bluetooth headset name appear on the screen, tap on it to connect
If you don't see your Bluetooth device, click "Scan" and then click the device name when you see it appear on the display

Well, the reverse action, to disconnect from a Bluetooth device (speaker or headset), do the following:

On the Apps screen, select Settings
Click "Connections"
Click on the Bluetooth device
Click the Settings icon
Click "Disconnect"

How to choose a different watch face

There are many different replacement watch faces available for the Gear S3. Most of them are available in the Gear app on your Android device, you can view it directly from the app, select the one that suits you, and set it as your main watch face.

Switching between third-party watch faces can be done on the phone as well as on the watch itself. To do this without the involvement of your smartphone or app, long-tap on the current option on the screen, then swipe left or right to view preset watch faces. Once installed, you can click on the Styling tab and select the display colors and customize it as you wish.

How to pay with your Gear S3 using Samsung Pay

A very useful feature, since you do not need to carry a wallet or even a smartphone with you. Just spend hours near a compatible payment terminal. Here's how to set it up. You must activate NFC and set Samsung Pay as your default payment method before using Samsung Pay on the Gear S3

On the Start screen with apps, rotate the frame to the Settings tab
Tap Connections > NFC, then tap NFC to
enable this module
Now select the payment method “Samsung Pay”

Great, the setup is complete. Now, to pay for your purchase in the store, do the following:

On the Apps screen, rotate the frame and select Samsung Pay (or press and hold the Back key)
Scroll through the list of cards, select the card you want, and then
click "Pay"
Touch the top of the Gear S3 to the card reader
Payment must be successful
This is all!

How to enable Always On display

Out of the box, the Samsung watch screen is configured so that it only activates when you “request.” In order to turn on the screen, you need to either raise your hand or press a key on the body. But there is one secret to making the Gear S3 screen always active. It's something like Always On Display on . To keep your watch "active" and showing the time all the time, do the following.

Go to "Settings"
On your watch and select the “Style” tab
Click "Always On"
Ready!

How to take a screenshot on Samsung Gear S3

Continuing the topic of setting up the display, we’ll tell you how to take a screenshot on this watch. First of all, all the screenshots taken on your device are saved in the “Gallery”. You can transfer screenshots from your Gear S3 to your smartphone. Screenshots transferred to your phone will be saved in the Gear folder in Gallery.

To take a screenshot, simply press the Home key at the same time and swipe across the screen from the left edge to the right - as you can see, it’s very convenient! Go to the Gallery app to see all the screenshots.

How to set the time

There are two methods: automatic, which automatically updates the time zone. And manual - when you set the time on the Gear S3 watch yourself. Below are instructions for these two methods.

Auto:

Go to "Device"
Click Date and Time
Click the Automatic tab to enable or disable the automatic date and time update feature

Manual:

On the Applications screen, go to Settings
Click "Device"
Go to "Date and Time"
If necessary, tap Automatic to turn off automatic updates
To manually set the date, click “Set Date”
Select year, month and day to manually set the date
Then click "Set" (or install)
To manually set the time, find the "Set time" item.
Manually insert hours and minutes
Now click "Set" (or install)

How to install apps on your watch

Since Samsung Gear S3 runs on Tizen 3.0 OS, you can install popular applications on them, such as Yandex Navigator, Google Maps and others. To download apps to your Gear S3, you must sign in to your Samsung account on your phone. If you don't have a Samsung account, select "Sign Up" and follow the instructions.

You can download apps to your watch from your phone using the Samsung Gear app and the Samsung Galaxy Apps tab.
Swipe left on the watch screen or rotate the frame until you reach the Get more apps icon
Select the application you need
Select "Install"
Once the app has been installed, you can access it from your watch's full app list

How to download music to watch

On the home screen of your smartphone, go to Applications. Select Samsung Gear. The Samsung Gear app may be located in the Samsung folder on some phones. Then do the following:

Go to the “Settings” tab
Click "Submit Content for Transfer"
Tap Select Audio Tracks (may have a different name)
Check the box next to the audio files you want to move to the Gear S3
Then click "Done"

To have new songs automatically sync to your Gear S3 while your watch is charging, tap the slider next to Automatic Sync to turn sync on.

How to set and reset your PIN

Since smartwatches do not yet have a fingerprint scanner, data is protected using a regular PIN code. How to install the code and what to do if you forgot it, the tips below will help you with this.

To set a PIN:

On the Apps screen, tap Settings
Click "Security"
Tap Screen Lock
Tap Screen Lock Type
Press PIN.
Enter 4-digit password
Re-enter the 4-digit PIN to confirm

To reset your PIN:

Make sure the clock is turned off
Press and hold the power button until "Rebooting" appears on the display, then release the key.
On the “Rebooting” screen, use the “Power” key to confirm the device reset
After this, the watch will be reset to factory settings along with the PIN code

You should understand that a Factory Reset will result in a complete deletion of data from the watch. Use this method as a last resort if the information stored on your watch is important to you.

How to properly charge your Gear S3

The most important thing you need to remember is to always use the original charger and battery to maintain optimal battery performance throughout the life of your Samsung watch.

You can charge the watch through the original accessory that comes with the gadget. To do this, simply plug the USB cable into a power outlet and connect it to a power outlet or USB port on your computer. The device charges faster from a regular wall outlet. The charging process will be a little slower from a laptop.

Place the watch on the charging dock, making sure it is properly connected to the gadget. The device will now start charging. While charging, the watch screen will display a battery charging icon with the amount of time remaining until the battery is fully charged.

How to improve autonomy

Below are some tips to help you get the best battery life from your Samsung Gear S3. Follow these instructions and your watch will run much longer.

Set the minimum brightness
Turn off smart display activation
Disable Always On Display
Turn off continuous heart rate reading
Disable GPS in settings
Activate Power Saving Mode

Samsung's Gear S3 is a perfectly capable smartwatch, although I would like to see more apps for it.

Whether you received the Gear S3 as a holiday gift or recently purchased it, chances are there are some nuances and aspects of the watch you're yet to explore. We've highlighted 10 tips and tricks to help you get comfortable with your new gadget.

Box - charging stand.

Instead of throwing the box in the trash, you can turn it into a charging dock for your watch. Other than simply assembling some parts, there is no complicated work required on your part. Refer to the included user manual (page 5) for detailed instructions on how to assemble the stand.

During the setup process, the app will ask you to install two or three more apps that are necessary for the watch and phone to communicate with each other. Follow the instructions and install the required plugins and services.

Changing dials.

The Gear S3 has a lot of watch faces, most of which you'll need to use the Gear app on your Android device to view and set.

You can switch between watch faces on your phone or on the watch itself. Touch and hold on your current watch face, then swipe left or right to view your installed watch faces. If you see a Stylize option below the preview, click on it to change the color and customize the watch face to your liking.

Using Samsung Pay.

One of the important features in the Gear S3 is full compatibility with Samsung Pay. This means that you can pay for purchases on NFC terminals, as well as on older classic credit card terminals, using your watch. I spent the whole weekend using this technology,
and she's amazing.

Press and hold the top button on the right side of your watch for a couple of seconds to begin the setup process. You'll need to add a plastic card to your phone, but the app will guide you through the process.

Then, when you need to pay for your purchase, click on the desired card and bring the watch to the payment terminal. It's just some kind of magic.

Access to quick settings.

Swipe down on your watch face to access quick settings. Here you can turn on airplane mode, manually turn on Do Not Disturb when you're going to a meeting or going to the movies, adjust brightness, adjust speaker volume, and control your music app.

Add widgets and change their location.

When you rotate the ring around the watch face to the right, you can view app widgets that are currently installed on your watch. While viewing a widget, long-press on it to customize, edit, delete, or add new widgets.

Application management.

The default app circle is also customizable, and can be brought up by long pressing on the app icon. A ring will appear outlining the edge of the watch screen, letting you know you're in edit mode. Drag, drop, and delete apps right from your watch screen.

Set the Home button shortcut.

Double-pressing the bottom button on the Gear S3, also called the Home button, launches "S Voice" by default. However, you can configure this setting to launch other apps, ranging from Calendar to S Health.

On your watch, go to Settings > Device > Double Press Home Key and select a shortcut from the list.

Do Not Disturb setting.

With the Gear S3's long-lasting battery, you can leave your watch on overnight and let it track your sleep. But waking up at night to calls and text messages on your wrist won't help you get a good night's rest, so you'll probably want to turn on Do Not Disturb mode.

On your watch, go to Settings > Device > Do Not Disturb. Select the days and times you want to block notifications, then double-check to turn them on as scheduled.

Turn off reminders to move.

Some people find hourly reminders to get up and move annoying. You can turn off these alerts in the S Health app on your watch. Scroll to the "Settings" icon and select it, then click on "Not active time".

Samsung Gear S3 is the latest generation wearable gadget from the South Korean manufacturer. For some users, smartwatches lose charge relatively quickly during the day. The developers have fixed the problem in the latest Tizen 3.0 update.

To fix the operating time in Samsung Gear S3, install the R760XXU2CRC3 update through the “Settings” section -> “About” -> “Update Gear” button.

After installing it on the Samsung Gear S3 smart watch, you will also receive increased stability of the Bluetooth connection, optimization of Tizen interaction algorithms with communication modules, and a number of bug fixes in the software.

Samsung Gear S3 battery autonomy and operating time

In 2017, the manufacturer invited users to update the Samsung Gear S3 smart watch to Tizen 3.0. Significant improvements to the operating system have increased performance and had a positive impact on battery life.

Currently, in an ideal scenario, the Gear S3's battery life is about 4 days.

The latest update R760XXU2CRC3 will slightly improve the autonomy of your smartwatch if you were not already experiencing problems. But in case of software failures, when the Gear S3's battery drains quickly, installing a fix will significantly reduce battery consumption.

A stable 4 days on a single charge of the Samsung Gear S3 is how long the battery lasts after installing the update, regardless of errors in the OS.

What to do if the operating time of Samsung Gear S3 is still short?

In a situation where you need to increase the autonomy of the Gear S3, and installing the Samsung update does not help, then most likely the smartwatch battery is worn out. This scenario is especially likely if more than a year has passed since the purchase, and the use of the gadget has been very active (many discharge-charge cycles).

A new battery will help restore autonomy to smart watches. Almost any user can install it - all you need is a tool and a little free time.

Buy a Gear S3 battery in the online store (delivery throughout Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan).
Instructions for replacing the battery in the Gear S3 (disassembling the watch yourself and installing the battery).

13.07.2018

In April 2017, I came across a very profitable and successful promotion, and I purchased a Gear S3 frontier. For more than two years, Samsung has not reduced the price of this accessory. However, at that moment, a random discount of 10 thousand rubles did not leave me indifferent, and the watch was purchased. However, I also wanted to change the old gadget.

The first emotions, according to tradition, were vivid. Excellent stylish watch, which is made in a sporty style. They go great with a white shirt and look good with sports T-shirts. In principle, in all situations, frontier looks natural on the hand. An incredibly successful design for a watch, especially a smart watch. Such a 100% hit rate is surprising for Samsung designers.

But in addition to its interesting appearance, the watch has many interesting advantages that, in general, set the device apart from the army of competing gadgets from Apple and other manufacturers. However, over time, for me personally, all these advantages somehow came down to contactless payment and periodic change of dials. All other features remained not very popular, and the manufacturer is partly to blame for this.

I have been persistently writing for many years that Samsung devices cannot be reviewed even after a month of use. Koreans are incredibly talented at changing the capabilities (software functions) of devices, so with each new firmware the user experience changes. These feelings change either for the better or for the worse. They add something, often remove a lot of stuff (that users might like) and forget about it forever. As a rule, Samsung does not care about the interests of users. It all depends on the specific device. Perhaps for their devices it is necessary to write several reviews at different time intervals in order to fully reflect the operating experience. In any case, the durability of the Gear S3 on my hand is decent and is just over 15 months. I’ll try to talk about why cognac only gets better over time, and smart watches become less useful.

I will describe my typical day with a smart watch, which remains on my wrist 5 days a week out of 7 possible, because at least on the weekend I need to stay without all these gadgets - to take a break from electromagnetic radiation...

My morning begins, probably like that of any average Russian, at 6 or 7 am. You need to wake up to go to training or run to work. It depends how it turns out, depending on whether you got enough sleep today. Of course, almost immediately, as I get ready, I put the watch on my left hand.

The experience of using the Gear S3 as an alarm clock was not successful. Firstly, the watch is quite bulky. Sleeping with a rubber strap that tightens your wrist and a massive watch is not very comfortable. This is not a thin bracelet, but a full-fledged noticeable device. Secondly, the watch does not have a “smart” alarm clock that could analyze the phases of sleep and wake you up at a potentially convenient time interval for the body. This function remains with fitness bracelets. Thirdly, there is no certainty that during sleep you will not simply turn off the clock or begin to unknowingly contact the settings. Of course, when activating the PIN code, the chances of unconsciously changing the settings are reduced, but you can still situationally turn off the alarm clock at the awakening stage and continue to stay in the kingdom of Morpheus. But most likely you won’t fall asleep with them on your arm, at least I managed to only once, but that’s a completely different story...

The adjustable vibration intensity is enough to feel the wake-up signal. In addition, you can even choose the type of vibration. Of course, vibration can be accompanied by a sound signal, but you won’t be able to set your favorite melody as an alarm sound.

Are we still going to training today? Yes, the watch is great for training analytics. Fitness functions can be launched in two modes: automatically and manually. The automatic mode starts working when, for example, you climb onto the simulator. You start running on the treadmill, and literally within a minute the watch starts automatically counting your activity. The problem with this function is that there is no “hot start” as such, and activity counting does not start immediately. In principle, the data on simulators and watches vary. In some situations the clock is undercounted, and in others it is overcounted. But personally, I’m very happy that the watch can at least distinguish between an elliptical trainer and a treadmill.

You will need the manual mode for activating the fitness function when you decide to climb on an exercise bike in the gym. The watch only understands cycling on its own if you are riding on rough terrain. In the gym, cycling training needs to be manually activated because your arms are likely to be in a relatively static state to recognize cycling activity. Do these indicators differ from what the simulator shows? Certainly.

Strength training must be entered manually for it to be reflected in S Health. But who is ready to spend time on this? The watch recognizes various activities in the form of jumps, planks and other movements with apparatus as mixed activities. But it’s better to add them manually, just like the amount of water you drink. Are you ready to do this? I am not ready.

From this we can conclude that there is practically no point in using a watch in the gym. We need full integration with sports equipment so that the most accurate indicators can be recorded. Someday we will come to this.

I almost forgot about one important parameter - the heart rate monitor. If you record your pulse and monitor your heart rhythms, then this is perhaps the only criterion by which a gym watch will be useful to you. The watch reads your heart rate during workouts very accurately. The watch can count your heart rate continuously, with changes in activity, at intervals, or at a specified time. Yes, and the function is implemented quite conveniently. The watch notifies you of all activities and new indicators with light vibration and a calm melodic sound. The pulse is counted even while moving, which can be called a kind of progress.

What do you usually do during training? I listen to music. Google in Android Wear 2.0 shamelessly ruined the ability to download tracks to a wearable gadget, making the only possible listening to music through the proprietary Google Music service. Of course, in the conditions of high competition among streaming services, in my opinion, it does not stand up to any criticism. I use Apple Music and Yandex.Music. But here's an insider. Wangyu, Google is slowly rehabilitating itself, and will soon launch the ability to preload podcasts on watches with OS Wear 2.0 through its new proprietary service. It seems to me that this will become a new competitive (software) advantage for smart watches on Android.

You can transfer downloaded tracks to this Tizen OS watch using your smartphone. This is cool. The process of sending files does not take much time, but you will have to wait. Approximately 30 songs will be copied to the watch memory within 5 minutes. Using the built-in player, you can play songs both through the device's speaker and directly through headphones connected via Bluetooth. In addition, you can duplicate music to your watch via your smartphone, but it won’t work the other way around. Don't forget that you can control playback on your smartphone using the watch player, even if the music is playing through third-party applications.

Unfortunately, the built-in memory is 4 GB, part of which is occupied by the system and applications. Therefore, it will be difficult to fit even Christina Aguilera’s discography here.

The watch is not afraid of absolutely any dust or moisture. For some users, dust gets under the rotating bezel, and it turns with clicks and begins to scroll under force. Fortunately, this problem never took me by surprise during the year. But I didn’t sit in the sandbox with a clock either. It even turned out that I went to the sandy beach without a watch. But the watch successfully survived the rain and swimming in ponds and pools. I have not tested their viability in salt water, but I am convinced that if possible, it is better not to test gadgets in such conditions. I saw people in a sauna a couple of times with the Gear S3, although resistance to high temperatures is not stated as a characteristic. I didn’t test my own, but others’ watches seemed to survive even after such extreme tests. The Frontier version, according to some friends, has protection against vibration, shock and temperature, but I have not found any documentary evidence anywhere...

The watch has one small nuance. For example, if you have a wet hand and you take off a watch whose back is still wet and place it on a smooth, flat surface, it will continue to “believe” that it is on your hand. In such a situation, they notify that the pulse cannot be counted and that you have not had any movements for a long time. At the same time, the device does not give up trying to read it if it does not work initially. It’s good that the program does not include the possibility that the user could potentially leave this world. This bug was noticed a long time ago, because after training I left the watch in my locker for half an hour, and upon returning I found the corresponding notifications. To avoid additional consumption of battery power, you should immediately wipe the watch dry after use if necessary.

Sometimes, instead of going to the gym, my morning starts with a jog in a nearby park. But now it’s summer, so it’s quite hot here very early in the morning. At this time of year, you want to hide somewhere and attach a split system to your back so as not to be separated from the coolness until November. The fitness capabilities of the watch are fully revealed not indoors, but outdoors.

Select the required running pace on your watch and hit the road. The report starts within 5 seconds, which are required to activate the GPS. In case of inactivity, the sensor automatically turns off, because if it were constantly running, the clock would hardly survive until the evening. During a run, the watch shows the duration of the workout, elevation changes, heart rate, distance and speed. After completing the workout, you can see full information about the workout and brag (okay, if so) about the information on social networks. The specified information is saved in the log on the watch and on the smartphone. The watch syncs via the cloud and can connect to Wi-Fi itself, so you often don't need active Bluetooth on both devices. In addition, the watch can be managed via a cloud service. This is such an interesting alternative to Bluetooth.

Every kilometer, the watch notifies you about the distance covered and gives you hints if you initially planned to maintain the same speed for the entire distance. If you speed up too much, the watch starts to vibrate. Similar actions occur if you slow down unduly. The tooltips display encouraging phrases. The path can be viewed on the map, because the track itself is recorded and visually displayed. The gadget calculates speed and distance accurately.

It's time to go to work. I'm lucky because my commute to work takes about 15-25 minutes, and sometimes I walk and sometimes I take public transport. Step counting, according to my measurements, is very accurate. The watch copes with this successfully. As a pedometer, this is a great solution. The pedometer cannot be fooled, even if you plan to stand still and joyfully wave your arms in one direction. It’s difficult for me to say anything about the calorie calculator, but it definitely records something and somehow converts your activity into energy expended. How accurate is difficult to say.

The world is so amazing that each of us is individual. It is, of course, impossible to adjust software algorithms in mass devices for each user. Perhaps someday artificial intelligence will reach wearable electronics, then we will be able to fully experience the accuracy of all calculations, but for now we have to be content with the average statistical “this is the norm.” But again, the norm for a Chinese is not the norm for an American, and vice versa. I'm talking about walking intensity and step length.

Krasnodar has long become the world capital of traffic jams. But the Gear S3 can run two very useful apps. Of course, these applications do not help in the fight against traffic jams. Yandex.Traffic allows you to evaluate the traffic situation in points and get upset in advance, and Here Maps allows you to build a route. The watch can be used for navigation, but you need to download maps in advance or activate a connection with your phone to access the Internet. Navigation is implemented conveniently, and the most banal basic functionality is present here. I think someone can even use it while driving, but it is still more suitable for walking. Although why not, after all, a fairly loud speaker (comparable to the low volume of a telephone) can announce the road route. All tracks are very accurately laid out on maps due to the presence of GPS. GPS support is a key feature for any smartwatch, in my opinion. Without GPS and GLONASS, it is impossible to control movement and achieve accuracy in calculations.

Even though I am an office worker, our work is fraught with dangers. You can get paper cuts, coffee poisoning, and a seizure over a missed deadline or a lost document. But there are even more dangers to watches in the outside world. For example, you might accidentally get caught on a wall or door. It is especially tragic to do this when a personal gadget, and not a test sample, is damaged. Of course, every contact of a watch with a hard surface is exciting. There were times when I recklessly grabbed onto it and thought “that’s it” - that the watch was hopelessly scratched. But, as fate would have it, my watch has only a few small, barely noticeable scratches and abrasions, and they do not spoil the appearance of the device at all. I can note that the materials used are quite durable and the paint is durable. Any other plastic watch would have had to be thrown away or taken to a service center a long time ago. I would like to praise the designers for the materials used (their strength). Down with plastic in watches. Yes, and the watch is quite nice in appearance. Metal is always noticeable. I love the look of the watch, although I'm a fan of classic style and definitely sleek minimalism.

Traditionally, by lunchtime there is a lot of work. You have to quickly run between offices, participate in events and urgently write something. If you've lived in the south, you know how hellishly hot it can be here. All air conditioners have been working at their limit for a long time, and it seems cool in the room, but the activity stimulates thermal processes around. In general, I quite often take off my watch at work if I understand that I will be sitting at the computer for the next hour without a break. No matter how hard you try not to fasten the strap tightly, it will still tighten your hand, and this will make you uncomfortable. I take off my watch so that my wrist doesn’t sweat again. A rubber strap is definitely not the best option. Somehow I managed to buy a second one just like it, but only in white. You know, there is nothing better than thin and light skin. During use, the strap has become slightly worn due to friction, but if you don’t look closely, it may seem that it is in good condition. Fortunately, the manufacturer uses materials that are practical and durable, but they do not create a high level of comfort and convenience. Thank you that no allergies appeared during use, which is also very important. The materials used are hypoallergenic and do not cause skin irritation.

Heading out for lunch? Samsung Pay will help us here. To launch the application, you need to hold the top side button for three seconds. Enter your PIN code (the procedure is mandatory and requires entering 4 digits) and you will have access to selecting a card. Pressing the "pay" on-screen button and touching the terminal - the payment is completed. Probably, out of the hundreds of times I paid for purchases using my watch, the payment did not go through only three times. Restarting solved the problem. In fact, it is convenient to pay for purchases over hours, and it still amuses some sellers and cashiers. However, payment this way is no faster than with a smartphone. Someday a fingerprint scanner will be built into the watch screen, and this whole procedure will become easier and faster.

Card registration is carried out using a telephone. Data is transferred to the watch and stored in the device's memory. The process of transferring information from the watch to the terminal occurs instantly and is implemented using Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), but if contact is not established, then NFC is activated in the watch and payment is made through the second technology. In some modern terminals, “crawling” across the front side of the terminal can take about 10 seconds, because payment is made using NFC. I noticed that on very old terminals, contact via MST is realized instantly. All these nuances are related to the operating principle of Samsung Pay and the terminals themselves. But be prepared for the fact that the process of paying by phone when comparing takes less time.

It’s good that the company has implemented this functionality in watches. By the way, in the sports version of Gear there is payment only using NFC. The Gear S3 version of Samsung Pay does not support rewards cards, gift cards, or loyalty cards.

Throughout the day, I actively receive notifications from various social networks. All these notifications can be duplicated on the watch screen. You can respond to incoming messages using your watch. The answer can be dictated (recognition works accurately, but there are no punctuation marks), written (the swipe keyboard is convenient, but you don’t always want to dirty the display with fingerprints and stains) or choose from pre-prepared templates (the watch roughly estimates options and even suitable emoticons, but this is not similar to informative communication). Recently, it has become possible to listen to voice recordings, but listening to them through the phone's speaker provides a greater level of privacy. Notifications arrive instantly and are displayed in full. But when you swipe notifications (and even respond to them) on your watch, they often end up unread on your phone, and you don’t want to do a “bad” job twice. Yes, and constant notifications, even in silent mode, are sometimes annoying and do not allow you to calmly check the time. Don't forget that people around you can see them.

But the key issue of communication through a watch is the battery charge. Active correspondence through the clock drains it literally before our eyes. Correspondence through an additional device also affects the charge of the smartphone, since sending is still carried out through the “parental unit”. So we get an extra branch of devices. For some it will be convenient, but for others notifications remain an unclaimed functionality. To work with them, there is a separate field among the widgets, which opens when you scroll the bezel to the left.

You can use your watch to answer calls. They actually duplicate the capabilities of the headset.

It’s worth talking a little about device control. Swiping down from top to bottom opens the shortcut panel. They can be customized. Everything is like on smartphones, and it is very convenient. Moving the bezel to the left opens the section with notifications, and to the right - with widgets. Pressing the top button opens any preset app and Samsung Pay, while the bottom button opens the app menu. Navigation is carried out via a touch screen and a rotating bezel. When turned, it makes a pleasant clicking sound. That's all. The application menu displays all programs downloaded through Samsung Apps.

What applications are pre-installed out of the box? In the menu you can find: phone, settings, gallery, messages, Galaxy Apps (the watch does not need a smartphone to install the software, you can download it directly), S Health, contacts, weather, music, S Voice (absolutely useless, because there is no level here implementation of Google Assistant, but banal queries), reminders, baroaltimeter (useful in the mountains), calendar, alarm clock, world clock, phone search, email, news, Internet radio, calculator, speedometer (for measuring travel speed), timer, voice notes (works through the phone as a voice recorder), stopwatch, remote controller for VR glasses. There are useful applications, but I use them quite rarely. There is even a browser (not from Samsung), but it works too slowly and too poorly. What's missing is a proper office application. Without this software, Gear S3 remains very unclaimed among schoolchildren and students.

In general, there are not many applications; almost all of them are presented by third-party developers. Support is provided, but applications are developed and updated rarely. In general, I get the impression that against the backdrop of Wear OS, watches on Tizen OS practically do not progress at all. Voice control is developing very actively there, swiping is becoming more functional, and there are more applications. Here everything is somehow fixated on the same thing - a rotating bezel. And so much time has passed, and I have not seen any progress in the software. Even in the latest firmware, for some reason, they removed the internal yellow-orange illumination of the bezel, which is now displayed only when training starts, but initially it was a very beautiful wow feature in the dark when receiving notifications. Over time, gesture control also disappeared somewhere...

There are plenty of applications, but many of them will not be widely used. There are banal games that allow you to distract yourself for a minute and pass the time. Programs can be minimized, but after launching three to five programs, the clock begins to slow down noticeably... do not forget to close background processes, as they say.

The working day is coming to an end and it's time to get ready to go. By taxi? Perhaps, with the help of Yandex.Taxi you can call a car. A phone connection is required, although all operations can be performed directly on the watch. If you set up a profile, you can choose a payment method in your account. Comfortable. Quite. But does this make sense if a connection to the phone is required? This is the key problem with watches: they do not complement or expand the capabilities of a smartphone, but only duplicate them on a small screen. Try using your watch with one hand. You can't! What if you still have a package or bag in your hands? In general, the watch does not allow the user to feel freer in typical scenarios, but only partially complicates the usual processes. I can’t imagine a person who would feel the urge to call a taxi on his watch while his phone is connected.

With a change of scenery (to a more pleasant, relaxing evening atmosphere), it is logical to change the dials. Fortunately, there are a great many of them here. You will definitely find something to your taste. I have a favorite selection of 20 watch faces that I change periodically depending on my surroundings. Many watch faces can be customized, stylized, and modified in every way. There are many active dials that display this or that information in real time. In addition, the watch screen is always active, so it performs its key function - showing the time. The screen is very bright, so you can view the information in any conditions. There is an automatic brightness adjustment sensor, which does its job very skillfully.

Well, the evening is coming to an end and upon returning home it’s time to take off your watch. Let's move on to the most interesting part - autonomy. The manufacturer claims that the watch can work for 4 days without recharging. This was once true, but after the latest major update they work at half the capacity. Yes, with the latest firmware they have noticeably lost autonomy. If the watch is constantly in contact with the phone and receives notifications, then one charge will last for a day. If you disconnect the watch from the phone and use it autonomously, then its charge lasts for about two days, depending on the type of dial. It’s worth soberly assessing the situation, for example, with active GPS while recording a track, they will last for a maximum of 6 hours (probably I’m too optimistic). Their charge will last approximately the same amount to stream music via Bluetooth to a speaker or headphones. Not a record.

Due to decreased autonomy, I had to buy a second charging cradle in order to be able to “refuel” them at work. Still, they don’t look at all like a switched off accessory. Probably once or twice a month I miss that necessary moment and realize that they do not show the time. Why six months ago the watch could work for several days, but now it cannot? Checking the battery at the service center showed that the problem was not in the battery capacity. Here, go and wonder what Samsung did there. Other users have also noted this problem.

They may become warm while charging. Charging is wireless, and you can build a convenient “podium” from the included box. The battery charging time to 100% is approximately one and a half hours. Not very fast...

The day described in the review showed the capabilities that the watch has.

Speaking about the Gear S3, I would still like to note that this is a very, very successful watch, but quite expensive. They are technologically advanced, have support for all the necessary interfaces and eSIM, which will someday work in Russia. I truly love this watch, but using it has come down to two things: changing watch faces and using Samsung Pay.

The storage capacity remains the same – 4 GB. Perhaps it will increase in the next generation, although limitations may be imposed both by the physical size of the gadget and by the fact that extra gigabytes on a device not intended for heavy content are, in principle, not needed.

The display has increased by 0.1 inches, but its resolution remains the same. The clarity of the screen, of course, has decreased, but with such dimensions it is almost impossible to notice any changes.

The battery capacity has increased by 80 mAh, however, most likely, the battery life will not change fundamentally. Samsung promises 3-4 days without recharging.

There are also no fundamental changes in terms of communications. A higher version of Bluetooth 4.2 is used. The cellular model now has LTE support, but in our area it most likely will not be available due to the specific support required from the operator.

Working with Samsung Gear S3 smartwatches

Versions of the Samsung Gear S3 differ not only in appearance, but also in the style of the default dials. The Classic uses a classic dial with and without date display, additional dials indicating the day of the week and month. There are three hands - from hour to second. The Gear S3 Frontier has Arabic numerals on the main dial, no seconds hand, and the seconds are displayed on a sub-dial.

The red hand is not the second hand. This is the hand that starts the stopwatch. If you press it once, the seconds countdown starts. Two additional dials display the minutes and hours of the time being measured.

If you swipe from top to bottom, a screen with quick settings will open. Here you can see the battery charge, connected wireless interfaces, activate profiles, turn off devices, and adjust the display brightness.

If you turn the bezel to the right when the watch face is on, the latest applications running on the watch will appear; if you turn it to the left, a list of notifications from your smartphone will appear.

In general, the Classic and Frontier watches have the same interface. There are several discrepancies, which we will mention along the way, and we will look at working with watches using the example of Classic.

Tizen uses Samsung Circle UI. The main application icons are arranged in a circle. They can be highlighted by turning the watch bezel, and will have to be activated by touching the touch screen.

The Gear has a total of two default home screens. They hold eight applications. The dot icon leads to the next display, the blue dot icon brings up a screen with recently launched applications, and the plus one takes you to the application store.

The set of applications is the same, only in Frontier you can find a game with vampire themes. Let's go through the applications. There are fewer of them than the Gear S2. Samsung offers only a basic set, in particular the cards have disappeared.

The main app for the Gear S3 is, of course, S Health. This is an advanced fitness tracker that allows you to track all daily activities, connecting to “fitness” something that actually is not such, that is, a person’s usual movements from work to home, trips to the store, etc. The application counts steps, steps, measures heart rate, keeps track of workouts, cups of coffee or water drunk. You can spur physical activity by setting goals for yourself in steps or steps, as well as comparing “achievements” with friends on S Health, which is already taking on the features of a social network.

The watch collects information about the user’s activity and can even indicate an “unhealthy” pace if he walks too slowly. Activity data can be viewed on the watch, but it is better to do this on a smartphone in the appropriate application. The S Health statistics are certainly impressive: it turns out that we move so much and burn so many calories, even if we don’t exercise as such. The main thing is not to fall for this bait. The usual activity of an office worker, of course, involves several thousand steps a day, but in order to keep yourself in shape, you still need to count not the steps, but the kilometers that you have run or walked. 15-20 km a day will be enough to start with.

Naturally, one cannot do without the weather. By default, the application does not contain cities; you can add them, but only on your phone. After clicking on the “add city” button, the watch sends the user to the Gear Manager application on the phone.

The watch has a Reminders app. It is mainly intended for managing them, since dictating them is more convenient with a voice assistant. You can also use handwriting, but it didn’t always work well for us.

The altimeter, also known as the barometer, is more useful on the Frontier model, especially during mountain hikes. Nice to see where you've gotten to. The application will also indicate changes in atmospheric pressure.

Speed tracking is an attribute of both versions of the watch. Useful while driving when you don’t want to exceed a certain speed limit, or during training when you don’t want to accelerate above a certain limit. Works using GPS.

The alarm clock is in no way inferior to the alarm clock on your smartphone. You can set the time, alarm, configure by day of the week, etc.

World time allows you to find out what time it is thousands of kilometers away from the user.

Gallery allows you to view images on the watch screen. Images can be uploaded from your phone, synchronizing the gallery between your smartphone and watch. Our examples show screenshots. When you long press on a picture, the highlight function and the context menu on the right are activated; by pulling it with a gesture, you can either delete the picture or send it to your smartphone.

The News Briefing app is one of the weirdest on the watch. Overall, this is a good news aggregator from Samsung. Many people use it on smartphones. However, on the watch you can only see the headlines; to get acquainted with the news, you need to open the phone. Clicking on the title opens the news not on the watch, but on the smartphone, and video and audio clips are launched there. As a result, the News Briefing watch is just another notification generator.

This function will help you find your missing smartphone. The watch will make the device ring, however, if it finds it itself via Bluetooth. The opposite functionality is available in the Samsung Gear application.

The calendar on the watch is no match for a smartphone. It is more reminiscent of the one installed on regular mobile phones, however, events here are also synchronized with the smartphone.

Contacts and phone are also present on the Gear S3. They synchronize with your smartphone. The user has full access to the phone book with all the pictures, photographs, can search for contacts, view the call log, initiate sending SMS or phone calls, and dial a number in the dialer. You can talk through a smartphone, headset, or watch.

Music does not play audio files, but is an interface for controlling the player on a smartphone.

All Samsung Gear S3 settings are available on the watch, but working with them on the small watch screen is not always convenient. You can set up your watch from your phone using the Gear app. However, you still have to turn wireless connections on and off and enter Wi-Fi keys on the watch. The Samsung Gear S3 retains the ability to place applications in Circle Ui, etc.

Working with a smartphone

As already mentioned, to work with the Samsung Gear S3 watch, you need a smartphone that has at least 1.5 GB of RAM.

To manage your watch, you need to install the Gear Manager app. To connect your watch to your smartphone, you need to activate Bluetooth on both the watch and your phone. Gear Manager will find the watch itself if it is supported by the smartphone. Next, you will have to reboot the watch several times, enter PIN codes, etc., since when you connect to a new smartphone, the watch is reset. Therefore, after purchasing a gadget, it is better not to try to set it up without pairing it with your phone. When connecting to a smartphone, all settings will have to be done again. During the pairing process, Gear Manager will prompt you to download a few more plugins and background apps, but not S Health.

The Gear Manager interface has not changed fundamentally, but Google's recommendations have applied to it. He became cleaner and brighter. The first screen displays the watch's performance indicators and prompts you to select watch faces. Notifications about the availability of updates for watch applications are also displayed.

The menu at the top right allows you to connect new Samsung wearable devices to your smartphone. It should be noted that once you have paired the device once, you will not need to access this menu. You can switch between Gear gadgets using the drop-down list on the left side of the screen.

The choice of watch faces in Gear Manager is quite wide.

All the settings that can be found in the watch are also present in Gear Manger.

The most important point is notification settings. We recommend that you treat it carefully. Here you determine which notifications from which smartphone applications will arrive on your watch and how. If you turn on all notifications, there is a risk that the watch will vibrate non-stop.

We choose how and which applications to update - automatically or on request.

You can synchronize music and photos with the watch.

An emergency call can be activated on the phone by triple pressing the power button.

In the settings you can also determine which contacts to sync with the watch and which not.

The settings tab also has a Gear search option. With its help you can find the watch, it will ring, if, of course, the phone is paired with the watch.

With Gear Manager, you can also sync Wi-Fi profiles, making it easier to connect to a wireless LAN.

The watch app store offers a wide selection of different programs. There are those recommended by the company; applications are also divided into categories depending on their purpose.

Conclusion

The new generation of Samsung Gear S3 watches is not revolutionary, but demonstrates an evolutionary path of development. The gadget class is becoming more and more mature.

Positive changes include the appearance of two differentiated models, optimization of the amount of pre-installed software, the emergence of support for LTE and dust and moisture protection.

In general, the watch is quite convenient to use, although you need to get used to it and decide on the most useful use cases. The most obvious one is the S Health fitness tracker, but other options can quickly become boring.

Samsung Gear S3 price

You can buy a Samsung Gear S3 Frontier for 25,000 rubles, and the Gear S3 Classic is priced at 1,000 rubles cheaper. Let's look at the competitors. The previous generation Gear S2 is now sold for 15-16 thousand rubles.

In the forefront, of course, is the Apple Watch of the second series. They can be bought for almost 30,000 rubles. The Apple Watch has a 1.54-inch display with a resolution of 312x390, water resistance so you can take a shower with it, and 8 GB of built-in memory. It's hard to say which watch is better, but the Gear S3 definitely has fewer problems with compatibility, and in appearance we like it more than Apple.

The search for competitors is somewhat complicated by the fact that there are currently no devices based on Android Wear 2.0 on the market. Sony Smartwatch 3 costs about 11 thousand rubles, has a display of comparable size and is also protected according to the IP68 standard. However, they have an outdated and more power-hungry processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz and four cores. And, frankly speaking, they are simple in appearance.

Huawei Watch can be considered an interesting option. However, this is also the first version of Android Wear. There is no NFC, but the display is higher resolution: at 1.4 inches in size, it has a resolution of 400x400 pixels. Only the price of 30,000 rubles for a device with a metal bracelet is a serious argument against it.

Pros:

attractive design
excellent build quality;
moisture protection according to IP68 standard;
ease of changing the strap;
excellent round screen;
good battery life for a smartwatch;
user-friendly interface;
wide functionality;
can work with any Android smartphones, as well as iOS;
Convenient wireless charging.

Minuses:

high price of wireless charging.