Samsung Electronics Canada Inc. has announced the release of its next generation of Gear smartwatches, the Samsung Gear S3, in Canada. It is available today in Canada at Samsung stores and all major retailers.
The basic features of the Gear S3 include built-in GPS and speakers that allow users to take and make calls, Bluetooth capabilities, and IP68 water resistance. It comes in two styles, the Gear S3 Classic and the Gear S3 frontier, which Samsung says has a “rugged outdoor look” with durable bands for any environment.
The Gear S3 is the first Samsung smartwatch to feature the aesthetics of a traditional watch, a trend that has emerged this Fall with Asus’s Zenwatch 3, the Huawei Watch, and the new Michael Kors Access Bradshaw smartwatch brand.
Battery life is always a major concern when making the switch to a smartwatch, and Samsung has made strides this year, as the Gear S3 battery can last for as long as four days without a charge. In practice, this may fall to needing a charge every two days, which still meets the “no need to charge every day” tagline.
New to the Gear S3 is the aforementioned water and dust resistance. The watch is rated at IP68, meaning the watch can withstand up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes under water. Neither rain, snow, or splashing from washing your hands will damage the device. However, the watch is not shockproof, and definitely not suitable for swimming or diving.
With 4GB of internal memory, users can use apps like Spotify to listen to music. However, while this feature has been announced, as of today, Spotify availability is unavailable on the Gear S3 with no update as to when that will arrive.
This generation of Samsung Gear smartwatches is the tiniest yet at just 1.3 inches thick. While still clunky for some users, this is a major step in the right direction as smartwatches become more consumer friendly and less bulky.
The full specifications of the Samsung Gear S3 are:
- Processor: Samsung Exynos 7270 1GHZ dual-core/li>
- Display: 1.3 inch 360 x 360 pixel resolution super amoled, 278 ppi, Gorilla Glass SR+
- Operating system: Tizen OS 2.3.x
- RAM: 768MB
- Storage: 4GB internal storage
- Wireless technology: NFC, MST, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and LTE
- Sensors: Accelerometer, barometer, gyro, heart rate, ambient light
- Other features: IP68 dust and water resistant, MIL-STD-810G rated, integrated microphone and speaker
- Battery: 380 mAh battery with wireless charging dock
- Dimensions: 46 x 49 x 12.9 mm and 62 grams
Down the line, the Gear S3 will also support Samsung Pay.
The Samsung Gear S3 is now available in black for $469 at all Samsung Experience Stores, Samsung.ca, and at most Canadian major retailers.