As far as I can tell, this is mostly unchanged from what you'll find on older Gears. Like the last round of Tizen-running Gear watches, the Gear S has some fitness tracking onboard: it can track your steps throughout the day, and also log individual workouts. Tracking a workout, with the heart rate sensor on (Photo: Will Shanklin/) Samsung could potentially fix this mistake with a future software update, but it's disappointing that we're left waiting for something so basic to return to the fold. For many shoppers, this could be a deal-breaker. It's a big strike against the Gear S (and something that rival Android Wear watches do well). I have no idea why Samsung would take this away. But for some reason, when I try to do that on the Gear S, I get 'adding tasks is not supported' or 'adding calendar events is not supported.' You can't add them any other way either. On older Gears, you could set reminders and add calendar events from S Voice. Inexplicably, S Voice took one huge step back. It still doesn't let you ask for things like specific sports scores or random trivia questions, and is inferior to both Google Now and Siri.

Voice control is still an option if you want it, and Samsung's S Voice assistant responds faster than it did on the older Gears. If smartwatches are eventually going to replace our phones, then this is a big step in that direction.įor some inexplicable reason, Samsung removed the ability to set reminders and add calendar events in this latest Gear watch (Photo: Will Shanklin/) Also it uses your phone's number for calls and texts, so you won't need to worry about giving anyone a separate number for the Gear. With or without a nearby phone, the Gear S lets you take and make calls, send and receive text messages, and reply to and receive emails (though, annoyingly, you can't compose a brand new email). Even if it's just for the occasional jog or trip to the store, this is a smartwatch that lets you leave your phone at home. But the Gear S is one of the few wearable devices that gives you the option. Right now you're probably thinking 'hey, I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on my phone just to leave it sitting on a charger all day!' And that's a fair point. So your phone can be sitting in Los Angeles, while you and your watch are in New York, and you'll still be able to send and receive texts, emails and phone calls on your wrist. What separates the Gear S from other smartwatches is that it not only pairs with a phone over Bluetooth, but also over the Internet.

In fact, not only does it require a phone, it requires a very specific kind of phone: a Samsung Galaxy running Android 4.3 or higher.

That isn't to say that the Gear S will replace your smartphone. The 2-in, 480 x 360 screen on the Gear S (Photo: Will Shanklin/)

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