The Samsung Gear S — a smart watch that can work standalone as a phone without the need to pair to a smarptphone — will be available in Malaysia from November and will sell for RM1,099 in either black or white.
Unlike most smart watches that needs to be paired with a smartphone, the Gear S has its own 3G SIM slot together with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. This allows the device to offer a lot of the features of smart watch without the need to pair with a smartphone. The Gear S features a curved 2-inch Super AMOLED 480×360 display, a dual-core 1GHz processor with 512MB RAM and has 4GB of storage. Essentially, the Gear S is a smartphone that looks like a smart watch.
Similar to Samsung’s current Gear line up, the Gear S runs Tizen OS. In addition, you also get heart rate sensor, barometer and a UV sensor. Keeping the watch ticking is a 300mAh capacity battery and it is also protected from the elements with IP67 dust and water resistance rating. Because the Gear S works standalone, it also comes with a number of input options including voice and on-screen keyboard. The usual native phone and messaging apps are pre-loaded in the Gear S, and there are other 3rd party apps for productivity, fitness and maps as well.
If you don’t fancy making voice calls via speakerphone with the Gear S, you can get buy the optional Gear Circle at RM299. This is basically a wireless stereo bluetooth headset that latches around your neck with magnets. When a call comes in, just unlatch the headset and plug it into your ear to answer.
Check out our hands-on photos with the Gear S after the break.
