Samsung Gear 2 Neo - Retail Packaging - Black

In the one week I’ve had notifications available on my wrist, I have come to one inexorable conclusion: I never want to go back to the old way. I can’t tell you how freeing it is to be able to wander about the house, free of that bulky rectangle of a phone, and still get all my notifications. Email? Texts? IMs over GChat? Twitter mentions? They all show up instantly, subtly vibrating my wrist. The screen lights up briefly, I glance down and know immediately if it’s important. I never miss a call. I never miss a text. I used to miss calls and texts ALL THE TIME. People ask whether an accessory like this is necessary. Why do you need notifications on your wrist? they ask. Your smartphone is always within arm’s reach. That would be a perfectly valid criticism – if true. But my smartphone isn’t always within arm’s reach. Sometimes it’s on my desk, or plugged in somewhere, sometimes I left it in my jacket pocket. Even when it’s in my pocket, it can take a while to fish it out – and there is little more annoying than struggling to get a massive smartphone out of your pants pocket only to find Betsy has sent you another request in Candy Crush. I love the ability to set my watch face to show the time in large font, and just below, the next thing coming up on my schedule. As an absentminded professor type, I need that constant reminder that I have a meeting scheduled at 3 pm. Now, literally every time I look down at my wrist, I see that reminder. (Well, not every time; the flick/lift your wrist gesture turns on the screen like it should about 90% of the time. The other times I find myself staring at my reflection in the blank screen, until I either flick my wrist again, or just hit the on button. It’s a minor irritance.) The other functions are neat. The voice memo function is useful enough so that I have it set to automatically open when I double tap the home button. I like the countdown timer, and the weather app. Again, I know all this stuff is on my phone, but my watch is RIGHT THERE in front of me, all the time. Who knows where my phone is? Which brings us to the other neat thing: “Find My Device” will make my phone alarm go off, letting me determine exactly which couch cushion I left it under. On the health and exercise front, it’s satisfactory. I’m the guy who always forgets to put his pedometer in his pocket, so it’s great to have one always on me. Even if it’s not entirely accurate, it’s close enough – and while inconsistent, it’s consistently inconsistent, making it a useful gauge of how active I was today compared to yesterday. That said, don’t expect it to sync up well with Samsung’s other health apps on the Galaxy – it simply doesn’t work well, and gives me different data, and there’s no way to view the information on the web or anything like that. But for what it does – a basic pedometer on your wrist – it’s nice. The heart rate monitor works pretty well sitting down, although I haven’t used it yet during exercise (I’ll update when I do). Honestly I find that function, and the remote control IR blaster, to be kind of novelties. It’s not why I bought the watch. I bought it for notifications, and in that respect it delivers beautifully. I’m still not sure whether I’m going to keep the Neo, or return it and pick up the Gear 2 with the camera. It would be nice to have a camera available all the time, even if my phone is under one of the aforementioned couch cushions. (I actually ordered the Gear 2 with camera a couple weeks ago, but it’s been stuck in “Temporarily Out of Stock” purgatory since then, so I picked up the Neo because I have no impulse control.) In conclusion, this watch is really cool and does exactly what I hoped it would do – make me a less forgetful, more responsive member of society. I can’t tell you how refreshing and freeing it is to be able to just casually glance down at my wrist to see the emails and texts people are sending me. It’s changed my workflow, and my life, for the better. The app store is still woefully limited, and I’m sure there will be better designed software in competing offerings from Apple, Moto, etc, in the future. But right now, the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 is as good as it gets. HIGHLY recommended.

Before I purchased this one I was planning on purchasing the Fit, but after reading hundreds of reviews about both I decided to pick up this little guy. Before getting it I new exactly what it does, so I had no expectations whatsoever regarding to features at the time when it was delivered; it was all about the experience and performance... Performance wise, it is great. No hiccups, no delays, all goes smooth. The overall experience, that is what caused me drop one star on the rating. If I have to buy this product again, I would not pay more than $120 for it. It does what Samsung advertised that it will do, and it does it well, don't get me wrong, but its features and the overall experience are not worthy of the $200 price tag. These are qualitative stuff that I cannot describe because they are 100% related to my own desires, so I cannot give specifics because we are all different, with different taste... But, again, the product does what is was meant to do, and it does it well. Connection with my phone is always smooth, transferring files to the Neo (music) over bluetooth works fine, I have not transferred pictures or videos to the Neo yet, pedometer works extremely well, heart rate sensor works fine (if your wrist is not wet, like when you are doing cardio), calls from the Neo work superb too. One thing that I would like from this device is to be able to read and reply to SMS when your default SMS program on your phone is not the stock Messages app. That app on the phone has many limitations and I am forced now to use it in order to interact with the Neo. Well, I hope that this would help you, guys. Enjoy your Neo! UPDATE: One and a half year later, I am still in love with this guy. When I forget to wear it I feel kind of lost! Hehehehe. I have increased my rating from 4 to 5 stars for several reasons: (1) This is one of the first smart watches out there, and there have been no big changes on the smart watch business since its release. (2) After playing with the different settings/options provided by the Gear Manager app and the apps from the Samsung Gear Store, I have managed to setup the watch the way that I need. I can now compose and reply (in full text) to my SMS's and get notifications from virtually all the apps from my phone. (3) Battery life is awesome, it lasts for two and even three days. (4) Range of connection to the phone goes over 30m under certain conditions. I did notice a big difference when I upgraded from a Galaxy S3 to a S5; the bluetooth range doubled or tripled, so this is directly related to the phone.

Great Tech Device with Unacceptable Fitness Monitoring I rate it a 5 star for tech. apps and integration to the smartphone. I rate it a 1 star for the fitness apps giving it an overall 3 star rating. While the Gear 2 Neo is stylish and has lots of features/apps. so to play music, make and receive calls, and to get notifications for messages, email, etc., It is a real disappointment when it comes to accuracy for fitness. Heart Monitor - inaccurate with varied readings (I used a proven heart monitor with chest strap to compare). I maintain a cardio of 150. The Gear 2 Neo will range from 130 to 170. Totally unacceptable. Pedometer - I've found it inaccurate. Slight arm movement will add steps. Then when walking and having reached at least 50% goal, it occasionally just stops keeping track. Walking/Running/Hiking - accuracy is good when used outdoors traveling actual distances. However during poor weather, when indoors using an elliptical trainer or a treadmill, it is about worthless. It must only rely on GPS tracking which is great, but it needs modification so the user can switch it between GPS tracking to pedometer when moving in a stationary location. Sleep - This doesn't detect if you are really asleep. I consider it a gimmick. It detects and monitors motion. If you are a sleeper that changes positions frequently while sleeping well it may be beneficial to know that you’re a mover. If you are a poor sleeper with awake time the Gear 2 Neo is not accurate. Another thing to consider, do you like wearing an average size watch on your wrist while you sleep? If you are asleep and change your arm position so the wrist with gear 2 Neo will slide under the pillow, it often catches onto the pillow and case edge causing resistance. I've experienced this on occasion. It causes me to wake as it pushes the band up my wrist causing pressure in resistance. In conclusion, for me it is a very expensive device that doesn't perform for fitness purposes.

I previously owned the original Galaxy Gear watch. I loved it and wore it all the time. Unfortunately, its Achilles heel was the non-replaceable band. Once it started to crack, it could only be replaced by Samsung, at a cost of at least $75! And that band would fail eventually too. So I decided to try the Moto 360. It's a beautiful watch to look at, but Android Wear is just plain awful, and that model had serious battery issues. After just a few days, I finally had enough, returned it and ordered a Gear 2. I wish I'd done this earlier. Almost everything about this watch is better than the original Galaxy Gear. The interface is faster, the OS is much more stable, the Bluetooth connection is more reliable, the speaker is louder, battery life is slightly better, it comes with an IR blaster and heart rate sensor, the button is in a better location, and most importantly, the band is user replaceable. Unlike Android Wear or the Apple Watch, which run the apps on the phone making them very slow and clunky to use, the Gear runs the apps on the watch itself. Apps open almost instantly and are very responsive. The interface is easy to learn and quite intuitive, unlike Android Wear, which often left me wonder what the heck it was doing. The screen is not quite as bright as the Moto 360, but it's higher resolution; images look much better on the Gear, however, the Moto wins in direct sunlight. My biggest disappointment is that the regular Gear 2 with the camera is no longer available. While I didn't use the camera on my Galaxy Gear all that often, there were times when it did come in handy. The only other failing that I see in the Gear 2 Neo is that the heart rate sensor doesn't appear to work when you're sweaty, such as when exercising, which is precisely when you want to use it. Overall this is the best smartwatch currently available. The Gear S might be slightly better, with WiFi, cellular and GPS and the ability to operate independently from the phone, but that comes at double the price PLUS a monthly phone bill.

Having spent some time now with my Black Gear 2 Neo, I find myself somewhere in the middle on how I feel about it. Other than it being a smart watch, I purchased it mostly for the music player and 4gb storage. I own a Pebble smartwatch and even though it's limited compared to the Gear 2, there are a couple things I like better. The most glaring one (and had I known this before I ordered my Neo, it may have been a deal breaker) is the fact that the the Pebble ACTS like a watch and the Gear 2 doesn't, it acts more like a smartphone. My Pebble always has the time showing and the background lights up either when you move your wrist or push a button (however you set it). The Gear 2 only stays on for a few seconds, fades a bit, then goes dark. So the majority of the time, you just have a square black watch face. This means if you're sitting at a meeting or in class and want to check the time, you can't just look at your watch. You either have to move your wrist around or press the home button to turn it on. I've found that to be a bit annoying as well a different situation... I was at the movies and every time I went to eat my popcorn, the motion of my wrist kept turning the watch on and in a dark theater, it's bright! So I actually had to turn it off to keep from getting yelled at from people watching the movie. The other thing I like better about the Pebble is the vast selection of watch faces and apps available. There are only a handful of these things available for the Gear 2 right now but I'm guessing that will get better with time, but will they be here before a Gear 3? Anyway, on to the pros and cons ... PROS: *** Setup and syncing was very easy with my Galaxy Note 2. Setting up a pair of Bluetooth headphones (Motorola S-305) was also a breeze. *** Display is very sharp and clear. Even background pics transferred from my computer looked awesome on the display. *** Sound quality from the small speaker on the side/bottom is surprisingly good for it's size. Also, sound quality from the music player to the Bluetooth headphones was also very good. *** Very stylish looking. I like the sporty look of the Neo better than the regular Gear 2. That one looks more formal to me. The plastic doesn't feel cheap at all. *** Music player works great, just like a mini ipod. CONS: *** The 4gb hard drive isn't a 4gb hard drive. It's more like 2.5gb. Still enough to put a bunch of songs and pics on but another gig would make a world of difference. *** Why they chose to put the speaker almost on the bottom and not more up the side is beyond me. If you look at the watch from the side, it's straight, then bevels a bit, and then the bottom. So the speaker is on the bevel and part of it is on the bottom. I'm lefty so I wear this watch on my right wrist which means the speaker is facing my hand as opposed to my forearm. When it's on, if I bend my hand back even slightly the skin on my wrist covers the speaker to the point I can't even hear it. So when I'm listening to someone talk or music, I have to make sure my hand is pointed down. *** As with most electronics today, the user manual that's in the box is pretty much useless except for the basics. This is particularly annoying when trying to get music to the player. If you're transferring songs from your computer, you'll need a mini usb to usb cable. There's an online user manual for the Gear 2 Neo and in there is says to connect the usb cable to your computer leading you to believe there is supposed to be one in the box. There isn't. However, I did find that my Galaxy Note 2 has a usb mini to usb cable as the charging cord so I used that and it worked fine. Also fuzzy is the app on your phone that transfers music from your phone to the Neo player. When you're in the app and you go to "transfer songs to gear", it brings up all your tracks. If you just tap a song it brings up the "complete action using" box (usually a music player) and when you choose the music player, it starts playing the song on your phone. It took some frustrating tries and finally a You Tube video to figure out you have to "long tap" the song which brings up a button to send the song to the Gear 2 music player. *** Watch band doesn't look bad, but feels kinda cheap and the buckle is somewhat uncomfortable on the bottom of my wrist. Likely gonna swap it out. *** Just reiterating what I said at the top, time doesn't stay on like a regular watch or a Pebble, you have to turn it on. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase but I really thought this was going to replace my Pebble and I would be able to sell it to cut down on the cost of this one. That's not going to happen now as there are times where I need and want the face to show the time all the time. These smart watches are pretty much in their infancy right now and I'm sure both of these will be old news in a year or so which is why I didn't spend the additional $100 on the regular Gear 2 just for a metal body and small camera. Can't wait to see what ahead though, it should be fun ...

Great watch. I got it because I have a samsung phone and this is the only smart watch that has stand-alone music...you don't have to have your phone anywhere near you to listen to music. The one caveat is that while you can upload lots of music, it treats it all as one giant playlist, so as you use it, it just goes through the list. You can pick out separate songs via an alphabetized list, and then it plays the songs in that order. Would be awesome to see a software upgrade that lets you have different playlists. The heart monitor is OK however you have to be very very still for it to work. The pedometer is good, and the exercise button is good too -- both of them let you view a "history." The phone works great (you do have to have your cell w/in 20 feet or so). The text messages are somewhat limited as there is no keyboard, so you are limited to a few pre-programmed phrases such as "I'll call you later." "Yes" "No" and the like. It would be fantastic if there were a way to add your own phrases that you could later choose from, but I don't see that there is a way to do that. It is great that it syncs to my calendar and email. I haven't even tried a number of the apps that come with it. As others have noted, the apps that are available for this watch are slightly limited...one would have thought that a decent music app that had the ability to allow playlists would be available...nope. It isn't bad to look at either. I have small wrists, and it doesn't look to enormous although it does look like a smart watch. I am very happy with it.

When I was young the digital watch was high tech. I spent a lot of money on watches back then. Now days there is a clock on everything so the necessity of a personal timepiece has diminished for me. I was something special back then when I purchased a Pulsar watch with a built in calculator. It was gold with lots of tiny buttons on the face. It has been years since I even thought about that old watch. I guess this might be an excellent example of a quantum leap. Anyway ... about the watch / Gear 2: Thinner, lighter, and more comfortable than I expected. I have worn it for several days with only one person noticing it on my wrist. I am happy about that. I love my tech gadgets but don't want them to make me look like Mr. Bling Bling if you know what I mean. This tech is awesome. I am still learning about the versatile applications while I enjoy the apps that I do understand. Best characteristics are: Quick acknowledgement of new incoming messages, texts, or phone calls. No need to pull my phone from the holster or pocket. One short alert beep and I take a quick peek to discern the priority. I can choose to read the full message or just keep going about my business. The speed of the operating system is better than expected. The display is bright and clear. Being able to choose from a host of Samsung watch face styles is a treat. I actually enabled the ir remote tv app and to my surprise I use it and I like it. Before I received it I thought I might suffer from buyers remorse and figured I might likely send it back following a quick look-see. The novelty of the concept could fade with time but so far it feels natural. I'm feeling like it is a part of me. My migration to the concept was a fluid one.

Folks. Samsung gets a lot of criticism for its products and I don't doubt for a second that Apple is behind a lot of it. Anyways, I bought the Gear 1 and also the Gear Fit and both were no-go. I did my research and decided to try the Neo 2 and to my surprise and enjoyment, it has turned out to be very reliable. I tested the walking mode and walked a quarter of a mile (.25) and the watch showed .24. Not bad. Running it gave me a bad reading, but then you must realize that it all depends on your arm swing. Plus my treadmill was set at a 30% inclination, so it might have been my fault. Phone calls? Awesome. I will never miss another call with the Neo 2. It flashes bright and vibrates and I can answer the call right on the smart watch. The volume is kind of low, but still workable. Alarms.. I have been using the Fitbit as a silent alarm to wake me up in the morning without waking my wife up. I am a disabled veteran and I can't sleep without sedation. I take three medications at night and it takes a loud horn to wake me up. But I tested the Neo 2 this morning and guess what? It vibrated long enough to wake me up. So those that say that the vibration is too weak are wrong. It works. Battery life: Well, first thing you need to do is turn off the wrist movement activation. I did that and I turn the watch on by pressing the button, which is easy. I got the watch on Monday with only 54% of battery life and today is Thursday and it is at 10%. I intend to let it die and then charge for the first time (that's what you're supposed to do the first time). So, I am confident that this bad boy is going to last me for the entire week without having to charge. That's including 3-5 daily calls, lots of text notifications, etc. So it's not like I'm just wearing it and not using it. Exercise. I use watch to capture my running time and distance and also walking and steps and it all gets recorded in the Health application on your phone. So this is very useful. Wish it had a calorie function to track my intake along with my exercise (like the fitbit app), but maybe this will come later. Finally, I recommend all of you that got the Neo 2 to buy Clocki for Gear 2. For $2 bucks you'll get six additional faces for your clock and #1 and #6 are simply awesome. It'll make you want to look at your smart watch all day. So... I'm keeping my Neo 2; yes, there will be more smart watches coming out and some might work better. But if you own a Samsung smartphone like I do, my experience is that nothing works better than another Samsung product. Just like my bluetooth headset. Man, I bought tons of them and none worked until I got the Samsung 3300,which works beautifully with my Note 3. Hope this feedback helps others to decide. I don't think you'll regret buying it, especially if you own a Samsung smartphone.