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Initial Thoughts

After having reviewed the first Samsung Gear a little over a year ago I was happy to see there were some changes to a few of the annoying features:

The watch is now waterproof

• There is no longer an awkward, bulky camera
• The strap is now replaceable with generic straps and doesn’t have the previous uncomfortable clasps
• The screen is always on

I have found the watch generally quite comfortable and with a very smart design. The stainless steel face edging gives the illusion of looking thinner than it really is which is quite clever. 

Setup

The watch gives you screen by screen instructions when you turn it on making it relatively simple to setup. It currently supports phones with Andriod 4.3 and above which is most recent phones on the market. The Gear Live connects via Bluetooth to your phone to access the internet and to provide full functionality.

General Design

The watch design is uncomplicated yet still has a somewhat premium feel with a nice mix of stainless and matt black. When you turn the watch on you are given a choice of thirteen different watch face designs from analogue to digital as well as some very contemporary designs. Each of the default watch faces has a passive mode which is black and white and a colour mode which is more elaborate. This is quite clever as it allows the watch to preserve power in the passive mode with the extremely efficient AMOLED screen that has one of the purest blacks you will find on any phone or watch. There are also already hundreds of other watch face designs available in the Google Play store (the Android app store).

Functionality

While there are many features built into the Android wear platform here are my top five things that I have found useful:

1. Tells the time – I’ve used my phone to tell the time now for the past four or five years and had forgotten just how useful a watch was. As simple as it sounds it still is the most used aspect of the watch.
2. Appointments – the watch integrates with your phone’s calendar and can display your daily calendar as well as alert you to upcoming appointments throughout the day. I find this particularly useful as my phone is often left at my desk as I roam around the office and find that I can still remain connected to Bluetooth within 50 meters.
3. Reminders – As I am driving to work I will often think of things which I need to do once I am there. I now just turn my wrist, say “OK Google” and then “Remind me to do X when I get to the office”. This then saves a reminder that triggers when my phone’s GPS registers that I’m at the office (google had already worked out my workplace as I am at this location Monday to Friday during the day).
4. Messages – Rather than unlocking my phone every time it beeps I receive a gentle vibration on my wrist (while the phone remains silent) notifying me of an email or SMS and allowing me to read it directly on the watch. You can even hit reply and use voice to text to send a message. In reality you would only use this for quick, uncomplicated responses as it doesn’t allow you to construct full sentences or paragraphs.
5. Google Now Cards – if you already use the Google Search app on your iPhone or Android phone you’ll know what this is. Google picks up patterns and info from your emails and behaviour and then provides relevant information to you. For example, your upcoming flight is running late or the time it will take to get home from work in the evening changes.
6. Lost Watch – This has now saved me at least twice. When your phone gets out of blue tooth range from your watch you feel a prompt vibration and alert asking if you left your phone somewhere. You can then tap to have it ring at full volume when you get back within range. Aside from losing your phone in public places I’m often reminded when I’m leaving home or work that my phone is sitting on my desk or table.
7. General Alerts – any of the apps on your phone that generate alert notifications will be displayed directly on the watch. You can individually mute these as well – to prevent the hundreds of Candy Crush invitations you might receive from Facebook.
8. Fitness – the watch comes with a pedometer and heart rate sensor. The pedometer is great and the inbuilt app tracks daily steps, goals etc. The heart rate monitor is not as practical for exercise as it starts to become inaccurate if you don’t keep still.

Android Wear Apps

One of the big advantages of the Android Wear platform is that android developers can create apps using the same tools as they currently use for Android 4.3 and above. As a result in a very short amount of time there are already thousands of apps out there just for Android Wear. In addition to this many of the big name phone apps have already provided some integration with Andriod Wear such as a custom display or cut down action list for launching some functions.

Here is a list of my top five apps for Android Wear at the moment:

1. Wear Mini Launcher – this app provides a short cut to launch any app or feature on the phone with simple swipe and click. It auto-sorts the list to provide your most frequently used apps at the top.
2. Flashlight – turns your screen white at full brightness (which is surprisingly bright in the dark) - great for finding the key to the front door.
3. Evernote – very useful for making quick notes by just saying “Ok Google, take a note” – audio is then converted to text.
4. PixtoCam – this allows you to use your watch as the viewfinder for your phone and take pictures with the press of a button.
5. WearCalc – a simple calculator for your watch – perhaps not quite as cool as those digital calc watches we rocked in the eighties but just as useful nonetheless.

Pricing

The Android Gear has only recently become available in Australia for around $200.

Conclusion

I think this is another example of a category such as the ipad or the first smart phones. Initially, many people believed they were niche and not really necessary for the masses – whereas we now can’t imagine life without them. My prediction is that most of us will own a smart watch in the next five years and be heavily reliant on them for both convenience and functionality.

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