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If you've been on the fence about a Galaxy Gear

ReallyBigFeet

ReallyBigFeet

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 15, 2010
2,956
133
Dontazemebro said:
How do you get text notifications or am I missing something.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean? Text messages show up on the Gear out of the box. Always have. You can even reply using "canned" responses. One of the more common ones I do now is, if in a meeting and my phone starts vibrating in my pocket, I can look at watch and it shows me who is calling. From the Gear, I can reject the call with a canned text message response (In a meeting, call back later, etc). Very handy. Not by any means a requirement but its far less obtrusive than doing the "'Scuse me while I whip this out" bit with the Note 3 itself. To the average joe, looks like I'm just fiddling with my watch.
 
Dontazemebro

Dontazemebro

macrumors 68020
Jul 23, 2010
2,173
0
I dunno, somewhere in West Texas
If you've been on the fence about a Galaxy Gear

ReallyBigFeet said:
Not sure what you mean? Text messages show up on the Gear out of the box. Always have. You can even reply using "canned" responses. One of the more common ones I do now is, if in a meeting and my phone starts vibrating in my pocket, I can look at watch and it shows me who is calling. From the Gear, I can reject the call with a canned text message response (In a meeting, call back later, etc). Very handy. Not by any means a requirement but its far less obtrusive than doing the "'Scuse me while I whip this out" bit with the Note 3 itself. To the average joe, looks like I'm just fiddling with my watch.
Click to expand...


I probably missed it or changed something in the settings. I even tried sending a text to myself and the notification wouldn't show up. I'll have to check gear manager again.

Edit - I figured out what it was. I had my text messaging defaulted to Hangouts so I wasn't receiving any notifications. Had to clear data in the application manager and then it started working.
 
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ReallyBigFeet

ReallyBigFeet

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 15, 2010
2,956
133
Yeah the settings part of Gear Manager is rather funky. If you update the Manager software sometimes it just arbitrarily decides to disable your notifications and you have to turn them back on.

I should also mention that I'm running the UK build of the firmware on the watch....it was a good two months ahead of US firmware in terms of supported features.
 
nfl46

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,539
9,510
I finally played with one in Best Buy. And seriously, Samsung. It seem like no thought was put into it.
 
The Game 161

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,991
20,174
UK
nfl46 said:
I finally played with one in Best Buy. And seriously, Samsung. It seem like no thought was put into it.
Click to expand...

Why? It does everything you need a watch to do.

tells the time
add pics
get your notifications through
camera option if you want it
play your music.


all I need it for is for is to tell me my notifications when my phone is in my pocket and to tell the time..what else does it need to do?
 
Dontazemebro

Dontazemebro

macrumors 68020
Jul 23, 2010
2,173
0
I dunno, somewhere in West Texas
nfl46 said:
I finally played with one in Best Buy. And seriously, Samsung. It seem like no thought was put into it.
Click to expand...

Really? The update brought increased battery life, notifications for all apps and much better bluetooth performance. For every knock the gear had, it now shines as one of the better smart watches on the market.

Apart from being tied down to just Galaxy devices, there really isn't anything you can say that's bad about the Galaxy Gear.

What bothers you about the Gear?
 
Oohara

Oohara

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2012
3,050
2,423
Dontazemebro said:
The best feature I've noticed so far is that when your galaxy phone is near the watch, it doesn’t require a passcode/unlock pattern. You can simply swipe to unlock. Once you're out of range, boom, passcode lock back in effect. Brilliant.
Click to expand...

Beautiful. I could almost buy one just for that. If the next one is just a bit slimmer and the UI a bit less current-TouchWiz looking, I might just go for it....to go with my Note 4 :cool:
 
jrswizzle

jrswizzle

macrumors 603
Aug 23, 2012
6,107
129
McKinney, TX
Wouldn't tempt me at all even if I was using a Note 3 or GS4.....

As it is I fully expect and hope the iWatch will be much more useful and offer some "innovative" features....

A watch with a camera and phone capabilities is not my idea of innovative....pointless is more the word I'd use.

For those wondering what I mean, this is one of the best articles I've seen on possible smartwatch functions. From back in February 2013.

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/0...erface-developer-speculates-on-future-iwatch/
 
tbayrgs

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,467
5,097
jrswizzle said:
Wouldn't tempt me at all even if I was using a Note 3 or GS4.....

As it is I fully expect and hope the iWatch will be much more useful and offer some "innovative" features....

A watch with a camera and phone capabilities is not my idea of innovative....pointless is more the word I'd use.
Click to expand...

I have no personal experience with the Gear so I'll withhold any judgement. I am however currently using both a Pebble and Fitbit Force. I don't want/need a camera, keyboard, or microphone in my watch/wearable either. Gimme slim and reasonable attractive styling, great battery life and the functionality of both of these devices and I'll be perfectly willing to pick one up.
 
gotluck

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,717
1,260
East Central Florida
i want a smartwatch that offers some throwback functionality similar to a pager(dont necessarily need cell data), so I don't have to have my phone on me.
with a somewhat reasonable rate from my cellular provider of course :p

just knowing that I missed a call/text would be great, don't care somuch about replying.
 
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jrswizzle

jrswizzle

macrumors 603
Aug 23, 2012
6,107
129
McKinney, TX
tbayrgs said:
I have no personal experience with the Gear so I'll withhold any judgement. I am however currently using both a Pebble and Fitbit Force. I don't want/need a camera, keyboard, or microphone in my watch/wearable either. Gimme slim and reasonable attractive styling, great battery life and the functionality of both of these devices and I'll be perfectly willing to pick one up.
Click to expand...

For me it comes down to:

-security through biometrics and proximity to phone (bypassing passcodes is nice, but a little behind - TouchID takes care of it well).
-Anti-loss tech based on proximity to phone
-NFC in the iWatch
-Health tracking
-Bluetooth (for music)
-Store for cool watch faces designed by users as well as pro designers
-Notifications

The only type of communication I really would care to do through the watch itself would be some type of quick reply. Other than that, texting, emailing or making calls (video or voice) through the watch really are tasks best done via your true communication device.

When the Gear was released, the first thing I thought was "this is a really lazy product released simply so Samsung can say 'first'".
 
spinedoc77

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Jun 11, 2009
11,488
5,413
jrswizzle said:
Wouldn't tempt me at all even if I was using a Note 3 or GS4.....

As it is I fully expect and hope the iWatch will be much more useful and offer some "innovative" features....

A watch with a camera and phone capabilities is not my idea of innovative....pointless is more the word I'd use.

For those wondering what I mean, this is one of the best articles I've seen on possible smartwatch functions. From back in February 2013.

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/0...erface-developer-speculates-on-future-iwatch/
Click to expand...

tbayrgs said:
I have no personal experience with the Gear so I'll withhold any judgement. I am however currently using both a Pebble and Fitbit Force. I don't want/need a camera, keyboard, or microphone in my watch/wearable either. Gimme slim and reasonable attractive styling, great battery life and the functionality of both of these devices and I'll be perfectly willing to pick one up.
Click to expand...

Meh, functionality is in the eye of the beholder. I definitely want a speaker/mic, if anything I want a full phone but don't think that's possible and have a somewhat normal sized watch. For me the primary function of a smartwatch is to keep you from having to take the phone out of your pocket, and simply that. It's a bit large, but honestly I didn't think it was that large once I saw it in person. Battery life is a huge downer, that should be a huge priority for the gear 2.

Anyway I think the Gear 1 was a beta, maybe even an alpha to be the first to market. Samsung is a smart company and I'll bet they learned some valuable lessons and will make the Gear 2 nice. Apple will also have a very nice smartwatch, but Apple's pedigree is fewer functions but doing them perfectly. Hopefully that doesn't mean it's feature poor.
 
ReallyBigFeet

ReallyBigFeet

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 15, 2010
2,956
133
Battery isn't horrid....two full days on a single charge. Considering this is a phone accessory, I just charge it when I charge the Note 3.

Really, it's less a watch and more a phablet accessory for me.
 
X

xxstatic

macrumors member
Sep 16, 2006
75
3
I have had mine for two months now, was kind of on the fence but picked one up slightly used for a real good price, I have side loaded a couple apps (calculator, Bluetooth file transfer, and nesoid), I have also installed quite a few watch faces that others have created/photoshopped for use in the watch styler app, learned from the xda forums.
I think at a lower price it's a cool accessory and pretty useful if you don't like having to look at your phone for every little notification, useful at home as I don't require to keep my phone that close to me and still not miss a call/text.
 
Dontazemebro

Dontazemebro

macrumors 68020
Jul 23, 2010
2,173
0
I dunno, somewhere in West Texas
Well, I believe that's the end of the galaxy gear experiment for me. I'll be returning it today. A week in and only worn twice, the beige band is already starting to turn yellow, are you kidding me.

I actually like the gear and believe it has some usefulness. But the quality control on these devices are horrendous
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,735
32,202
The new Gear, which will drop the Galaxy branding according to Evleaks. Still fugly as ever though...

BhFlw2SCIAAPzRi.png
 
The Game 161

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,991
20,174
UK
Very happy with my current gear so won't be upgrading to the next one...does what i want it to do.

tells time
sents me my texts, calls,notifications

not sure what else i need it for.
 
spinedoc77

spinedoc77

macrumors G4
Jun 11, 2009
11,488
5,413
Rogifan said:
The new Gear, which will drop the Galaxy branding according to Evleaks. Still fugly as ever though...

Image
Click to expand...

I don't think it's fugly at all, which smartwatch do you find "attractive"? The pebble is ugly as hell, and has a humungous bezel, the all metal pebble is even uglier IMO. The sony smartwatch isn't too terrible, but it's a bit cheapie looking. Most of the other smartwatches I've seen besides these are pretty terrible.

But I mean it's a screen on your wrist, there is only so much you can do with the ergonomics without shrinking the screen. Maybe thinner and reducing the bezels down more.
 
maximus96

maximus96

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2007
751
153
there is no better looking smart watch for now. i don't see much incentive to upgrade from my gear1 though...
 
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