Samsung has announced a brand new smartwatch, ahead of its IFA press conference next week.
The Samsung Gear S features a rounded design and 3G connectivity, which means it can operate without an accompanying smartphone – a first for Samsung smartwatches, which before now required a Galaxy handset.
Samsung’s new smartwatch certainly looks the business, with a 2-inch rounded face that makes use of the curved Super AMOLED face found on the Samsung Gear Fit. The 360 x 480 resolution is one of the best out there, and keeps maintains Samsung’s dominance in the display department.
Looking to buy? Read our guide on how to buy a smartwatch
Of course, the real star of the show here is the 3G connectivity, which means that the watch can send and receive calls, SMS, and data, so it doesn’t rely on piggy-backing on your phone. It has its own SIM card slot, which for many will mean taking out an extra data contract.
Elsewhere, the Samsung Gear S falls in line with Samsung’s existing smartwatches. There’s a 1GHz processor with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and unsurprisingly it runs Samsung’s proprietary operating system Tizen.
Buyer’s guide: What Samsung Gear should you buy?
There’s also the usual crop of activity monitoring sensors on board, with an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, heart rate monitor, ambient light, UV and barometer all built in.
Samsung Gear Circle
Samsung also announced a new pair of headphones, to accompany the new Gear S watch.
It's a Bluetooth headset, so you can receive and make calls from your devices and features a magnetic clasp, so it can attach around your neck when it's not in use. Even when clasped, the headset has a vibrate function, that will alert you to incoming calls.
Smartwatch showdown: Samsung Gear S v Apple Watch
UK price and availability is yet to be fully confirmed, but globally both the Samsung Gear S and the Gear Circle are due in October.
Wareable will be reporting live from the Messe Berlin trade show floor all week – check out our dedicated IFA 2014 hub for all the latest news and analysis from the big tech expo.
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James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.