Samsung Gear 2 REVIEW- Would I Like a Smart Watch? – A little bit techie persons review

AUDIO/VIDEO VERSION

My SG2 Watch for Blog-3

While I was looking and trying to find any way around buying a $600+ motorcycle GPS I looked into google glasses, deciding I was not willing to pay that much money and thanks to a guy who made a super video about what that would look like in a motorcycle helmet (link to video at bottom of blog) the google goggles were out. Then I thought a smart watch should work. So I did a little research, (10+ hours of reading and talking to people) since I have a Samsung phone the Gear 2 would work very well and it had a navigation app that tethered with the phone GPS. According to reviews it was the best on the market at the time, July 2015. To e-bay I went and found a nice used watch for under $150.

The thrill of its arrival was without words. That weekend I figured out how to use it to navigate on my motorcycle. The first hour was great, by the second hour the battery in both my phone and the watch were over 75% used up. At the two and half hour mark I was without phone and without watch. It was good in concept and I proved it could be used. If the trip was less than 2.5 hours.

There I was with a smart watch and still needed GPS. So I figured I might as well start to use the smart watch as a watch. I didn’t think I would really use it or find it of much value. I already felt over connected and overloaded with accessibility as it was and the thought of adding another device seemed like it would be one too many. Two months into my test I have to tell you that it has been more freeing than overwhelming and I am glad I bought it and I would buy it again just for the watch part.

 

My SG2 Watch for Blog-2TOP 5 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HAVING A SMART WATCH

1 – I leave my phone in my back pocket or purse most of the time.

2 – I can read texts and see who they are from right away.

3 – I can see who is calling- as a small business owner I get up to 10 calls a day from telemarketers.   I can tell right away if it is a telemarketer and I can ignore it, without interrupting the conversation, meeting or my train of thought.

4 – I can take a photo without taking my phone out.

5 – I didn’t set up email on it and so I am not overloaded with too much data when I use it.

 

It is really affordable to add apps.($1 to $3 to buy new watch front apps.)

My husband loves that I can check the weather from my watch at any time.

I will also add that there are some things that it does that I am not thrilled with. Friday I got a gold star award for walking half of my daily total need by its recommendation. “Back down machine.”, is all I have to say about that.

NOTE: I didn’t set up email on it and so I am not overloaded with too much data when I use it. I keep it simple.

 

Here are some answers to F.A.Q. when I am wearing the watch.

-Is it hot on your wrist? No, I don’t notice a heat issue.

-Is it hard to see? Not really. I find it easy to read.

-How long does the battery last on a normal day of use? Typically at the end of 16 hour day it is down to 65%. I don’t sleep with it on, so I charge it at night.

-Was it hard to set up? I was excited and knew that it would take a couple of hours if I wanted it set up right and wanted to install and learn the GPS. So, No I didn’t think it was hard. I also downloaded the manual to my laptop and read all of the instructions when prompted to make a decision.

-I have started to recommend smart watches (Apple, Pebble, LG, Moto and Samsung) to some of my very connected executive clients. They are finding it a good investment.

 

I did get the motorcycle GPS figured out. Found a really nice used one on craigslist the week before our trip for under $250. The trip was great.

GPS in use

Reference information:

Video of motorcycle ride with google glasses.

https://youtu.be/NFq0TYgeB_k

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