Be your own Dick Tracy with the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch [REVIEW]

When the smartwatch first started becoming a thing, I never thought I would take to it. After all, my experiment of giving up wearing a watch in favor of using my smartphone to check the time has been holding strong for nearly two years now. Why would I suddenly want to wear a watch again? Especially one as big as the Samsung Galaxy Gear?

But then Samsung had to come out with those darn commercials. You know the ones that show all those techno devices from shows like Dick Tracy and Star Trek and how it’s finally become a real thing? The commercials alone made me want the Galaxy Gear.

Well, I finally got to try one and I have to admit, it’s pretty cool—and extremely easy to use. Most actions you do on the Galaxy Gear are only a swipe or two away although it took some practice to remember what swipe and what direction did what.

Setup

Getting started with the Galaxy Gear is pretty simple. To connect the devices you just tap the Galaxy Gear to your Galaxy smartphone and you’re in business, assuming you have NFC enabled on your smartphone. You then will be instructed to install some software on your smartphone which will help you manage the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

What you can do with the Galaxy Gear

Once everything is setup, there’s a lot you can do with the Galaxy Gear. Things like reading incoming text messages or answering incoming calls. Or the reverse of that, composing text messages (using voice recognition) or placing outgoing calls. I did like the fact that I could do all of this without having to take my Galaxy S4 out of my pocket.

Surprisingly, the quality of phone calls through the Galaxy Gear was quite good. I had no problem hearing people and they had no problem hearing me. And I didn’t have to hold the watch up to my mouth like an FBI agent (although I still feel kind of cool doing that).

The Galaxy Gear also comes with a camera and you can set it up such that any photos or video you take immediately sync to your photo gallery on your phone. A nice feature but I always felt kind of creepy using the camera on the Galaxy Gear like I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing.

The video below demonstrates some of these features. It mentions that the Galaxy Gear is a companion device to the Note 3 but it works just as well with the Galaxy S III or Galaxy S4. I paired my Galaxy Gear with my Galaxy S4 just fine.

If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: GALAXY Gear: Hardware – #SMARTMOVE Ep. 2

Galaxy Gear apps

Just like your smartphone, you can install apps on the Galaxy Gear. But the Galaxy Gear has its own app store separate from the apps you would find in Google Play. That may be obvious to some but I wanted to point it out to others who might be wondering. As of now, there are a few dozen apps (including a lot of apps to change what the clock looks like) but I think more will come over time.

What you might not like

There are, of course, some things not to like about the Galaxy Gear. For starters, it’s one more thing you have to remember to charge. Another is that due to its size, I think the Galaxy Gear is probably more attractive to men than it is to women. Although something tells me people who wear the Galaxy Gear aren’t doing it to make a fashion statement. Then again, the Galaxy Gear is available in several different colors.

The price tag of the Galaxy Gear may be another deterrent. At $299.99, it probably costs more than your smartphone did.

And finally, as of February 24, the Galaxy Gear is yesterday’s news. Samsung has already announced the Galaxy Gear 2. Although if you are already in love with what the original Galaxy Gear can do, you’ll have no problem waiting for the Galaxy Gear 2.

Final thoughts

The Galaxy Gear isn’t going to be for everyone. For starters, you have to have a Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4, Note II or Note 3 to use it. But if you have one of these devices, have the budget and you love tinkering with new gadgets, you’re going to love the Galaxy Gear.

Note: The Samsung Galaxy Gear in this review was provided to me by Verizon Wireless and can be purchased at your local Verizon Wireless store or at www.verizonwireless.com.