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Samsung Gear Live
73
Engadget Review
If you have to get an Android Wear device right now, the Samsung Gear Live is your best option. It's sleek, looks decent and performs well, but you'll want to get a new wristband for it right away. Unfortunately, you'll also need to charge it every night.
Pros
- Good Android Wear performance
- Swappable wrist straps
- Water-resistant
- Better display than competition
- More comfortable than G Watch
Cons
- Horrible battery life
- Compatible with only newer Android devices
- Charging cradle is a mess
- Harder to read in sunlight
View All Critic & User Reviews
Samsung Gear Live
- Critic Reviews (6)
- User Reviews (11)
- 65AVERAGE CRITIC SCORE6 ReviewsWired60Samsung Gear LiveOverall this is a success. Do you love gadgets? Get it. You’ll enjoy playing with it and as more apps come along it’s just going to get more useful. But it isn’t for everyone.PC Mag60Samsung Gear LiveThe Samsung Gear Live puts Google Now on your wrist with Android Wear, but we're still waiting for the first must-have smartwatch.Engadget70Android Wear review: Taking smartwatches in the riIf you have to get an Android Wear device right now, the Samsung Gear Live is your best option. It's sleek, looks decent and performs well, but you'll want to get a new wristband for it right away. Unfortunately, you'll also need to charge it every night.The Wall Street Journal70Android Wear Review: Putting the Smartphone on YouFor the time being, I'll still be digging in my bag for my phone—and wishing for that third arm.Ars Technica70Android Wear hardware review: Sometimes promising,Right now, though, these watches are like their predecessors in that their promise is greater than their real-world utility. I might miss a couple things ... when I take it off my wrist and ship it back to Google, but it's not going to be difficult to part with.Ars TechnicaNot RatedWrist-on with Samsung’s Gear Live, one of the fiVisually, the watch looks a lot like the Gear 2, and it has what appears to be the same 1.63-inch 320×320 AMOLED display. In our Gear 2 review, we lamented that the display was difficult to see in direct sunlight, and the situation will be the same for the Gear Live.TechCrunchNot RatedHands On With The Samsung Gear Live, Its $199 SmarSamsung’s effort essentially has the same merits and drawbacks as the rest of its smartwatches, and it likely required very little in the way of development time to get it up and running on the new OS.PC WorldNot RatedHands-on with the Moto 360 and Samsung Gear LiveThe Gear Live appeared to be no more than a slimmed-down reprise of Samsung's Tizen-powered Gear smart watches. It was remarkably light, however. I tried one on for a second and it felt just as weightless as my FitBit.GizmodoNot RatedSamsung Gear Live Hands-On: Turns Out SmartwatchesThe hardware felt really nice and solid. It was sleek, and not overly bulky. The AMOLED screen provided bright whites (though we couldn't test it in daylight) and those super deep blacks we love. Great color, too.EngadgetNot RatedWe just got to see (and touch) Samsung's new GearUnlike its brethren, however, the Live has a slimmer profile and has no buttons or screws adorning its housing ... Unfortunately, you still need to navigate through swipes, and it turns out that the shiny screen and the silver surrounding it were both great at acquiring fingerprints.TechHive60Samsung Gear Live review: It's the world's best smIn a two-watch race, it wins almost by default. But because Android Wear shows so much promise—and because I’m already becoming addicted to voice texting and Google Now on my wrist—I have to give the Gear Live a qualified thumbs up.GizmagNot RatedEarly impressions: Samsung Gear Live with AndroidWhat's missing right now is third-party app integration. And even when those start popping up, we still won't see full "apps" per se. It will be more like developers updating their Android smartphone apps to add Wear widgets. I think this is the ideal way to handle wearables.PhandroidNot RatedSamsung Gear Live: specs, hands-on video and pictuOur hands-on time with the Gear Live revealed a smartwatch that wasn’t really amazing, but felt and looked solid.Android CentralNot RatedEyes on with the Samsung Gear LiveThe Gear Live doesn't have a button on the front bezel, but otherwise things are the same. You've got the same brushed stainless steel face and integrated lugs to attach a strap.The VergeNot RatedThis is the Gear Live, Samsung's $199 Android WearSwipes and taps registered quickly and accurately, and we were moving between weather and messages in no time. And, even in a remarkably crowded room full of Google developers, it heard our "OK Google Now" commands every time.The Next WebNot RatedWrist-on with the Samsung Gear Live Smartwatch: FiAfter trying multiple smartwatches over the years and being disappointed by how uncomfortable they were, it’s refreshing to find something that doesn’t make you cringe at the aesthetic or feel like you’re wearing a piece of lead.
- 73AVERAGE USER SCORE11 ReviewsEngadget Reader100April 26, 2015Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!A gadget unicorn - EngadgetEngadget Reader10January 16, 2015Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!I really liked this....when it worked, which has been less than two out of the three months I've had it. I guess if I think about it, my primary beef is with Samsung due to their truly terrible handling of the issue. The first one I got wouldn't connect to my phone so they told me to take it to the Samsung Experience at Best Buy and their employees there would get it running. The employees couldn't and advised me to send it back for an exchange. I did and when the replacement wouldn't work either, I returned to Best Buy at the urging of Samsung support. They again had no clue and admitted that they knew a lot less about the tech than Samsung thought they did. Luckily, a Geek Squad member heard our conversation and stepped in. He owned a different model and knew a trick that finally got me connected. For the most part, I was pleased with the watch and its performance for the next seven weeks until one day, the watch started vibrating and wouldn't stop. I had to kill it by holding down the button on the side. After that, the phone would take three hours to charge and the charge would last an average of five hours, far less than the 18+ it had averaged prior to the uncontrolled vibration. After contacting Samsung and explaining in depth the problem, they had me send it to them for repairs. I was very frustrated with the watch at this point. They offered to expedite the repair and have it back to me in just over a week. The day before it was to be returned, I got a call from them asking me to explain to them again what the issue was because they had tested it and everything was working. I explained again and then waited. Every person there asked me to explain again in depth what my issue was during every call and said that they were taking notes but whenever I had to call in again, it was as if there had never been any notes taken at all. This was extra frustrating because I had my calls dropped and was transfered off into oblivion multiple times.About four days after it was supposed to have come back I emailed them asking what was going on. the next day I received an email early in the morning saying that they had found nothing wrong with it and it was being returned. I was livid. Then, I received another email saying that they had found the problem and fixed it. I called them and the person in the repair dept was overtly rude to me and told me that nothing could be done until I received the watch back and checked to see if it was working properly. He absolutely refused to do anything until that point. In the mean time, I had been without the watch for two weeks. When it arrived the next week, a whole week past the day they had promised it to me, it was still not working.At this point I contacted them and insisted that they just replace it and stop wasting my time. They absolutely refused and one rep lied to me outright about it. They gave no option other than to send it to them again. The only concession they offered for the massive inconvenience was overnight shipping to get it to them more quickly. I dropped it off on a Tuesday and on Saturday, finally received notice that they had received it. Overnight shipping is pointless if they're going to take three or four days to process it in for repairs. It has now been nearly two weeks....again and I do not have the watch back. I received another email saying that a part they needed was on indefinite back order and they would let me know when it arrived and was shipped. I was pretty mad so I called them. The guy on the phone said that the part had arrived and they were shipping it out that day. He didn't seem to be aware of the overnight shipping promise. I again stated that they should send me a new watch and at this point they should upgrade me to compensate for their ridiculous incompetence and horrible customer service. The rep didn't even respond to that.Samsung has lost my family as customers at this point. This has been a truly bad experience and even if some of their products are cool, it's not worth having to go through this misery if something goes wrong. I'm not just saying to not buy this watch, I'm saying to not buy Samsung at all. LG, Motorolla, HTC, Panasonic, there are so many other good OEMs out there with good products. Don't spend your money with a company that takes their customers for granted this badly!Engadget Reader10October 30, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!The first one of these I was shipped was dead out the box and no amount of charging swearing or holding at fun angles would kick it into life. It would be unfair to give a device a poor rating based on one faulty unit... but the second faulty one that came just indicates this product isn't fit for sale.Google customer service was excellent and gave me a full refund.Engadget Reader90September 30, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!The best in its category. We highly recommend it. - EngadgetEngadget Reader80August 22, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!The Gear Live has been a worthy investment for me. I didn't have a fitness tracker before, so that was my initial justification for buying it. It syncs perfectly with my phone. I work in consulting and I"m often in client meetings. Its much easier and less rude to just peak at my watch when I get a notification than at my phone. I do wish that more of the apps were free, like regular android apps. It would also be nice if Facebook and Twitter had official apps on the platform. And I would love it if the pedometer was compatible with MapMyFitness or Endomondo. Those apps have Android Wear Extensions but they don't import or track steps.skola2880August 8, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!There's a lot to like about this in spite of a few flaws. - EngadgetEngadget Reader90July 29, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!The best in its category. We highly recommend it. - EngadgetEngadget Reader90July 23, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!The best in its category. We highly recommend it. - EngadgetTimO90July 15, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!This watch has some nice features. The voice command interface is accurate and works well even in a moving car with the windows down, sunroof open and the radio on. The pedometer is motivating. Key to the devices success is the number and quality of the apps.Engadget Reader80July 14, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!There's a lot to like about this in spite of a few flaws. - EngadgetSeanIsHere80July 9, 2014Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback!The Gear Live is definitely unique. I love how you can use your voice for almost anything. I love the fact that you can just talk and its ready to listen without touching anything. There was an update today. I don't know what was changed or added. But this just shows you how committed Google is to this Wear platform, and with good things to come. I found out that that Android wear supports the Chromecast as well. I can pause movies from the watch. I can also move from track to track while playing music on my Chromecast (next and previous). Now if they could add volume controls on the watch then it would make it so much better.
Key Specs
FORM FACTOR
Other
OPERATING SYSTEM
Android
SCREEN SIZE
1.6322
STORAGE TYPE
Internal storage
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