Back to school gadget guide: Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch review

by James Chung · Published August 20, 2014 · Updated August 22, 2014

Who’s excited to goÂ shopping for new clothes, school supplies and gadgets? It’s time to get ready for back to school.Â Wearable technology continues to be the rage this Fall.Â Courtesy of Best Buy Canada, I had an opportunity to test drive Samsung latest smartwatch – the Gear 2.Â With a much-refinedÂ design and upgraded software with Tizen OS, the Gear 2 is a major improvement over theÂ firstÂ generation smart watch. The Gear 2 sportÂ a bright 320×320 resolution 1.63-inchÂ curved Super AMOLED touchscreen display in a brushed metal body.

Design

There’s no denying it, you won’t be confusing this for an everyday watch. While most fitness trackers and smart watches belong to the gym, the Gear 2 elegantÂ design will look great dress up in a fancy cocktail party or board meeting.Â It only has one button to turn on the display and a 2 megapixel auto focus camera at the top of the watch.Â It has a microphone for phone calls and record voice memos. At the back, it hasÂ aÂ heart-rate monitor sensor. The Gear 2 meets the strict IP67 requirement for water and dust resistance. It goes everywhere you want to go and you don’t need to worry about the elements. Samsung upgraded the Gear 2 withÂ a 1.0Â GHz dual-coreÂ Exynos 3250,Â 512Â MB of RAM, and 4Â GB of internal storage.Â Despite having a smaller, 300 mAh battery, I can get aboutÂ 2 – 3 days of normal use.Â The Gear 2 can also be used as a remote control for your TV and set-top boxÂ via the WatchON Remote.Â Furthermore, you can customize your watch by downloading apps from Samsung Apps. You can download additional games, watch faces, social network apps, news readers and text messengers.

HealthÂ Application

Smart phone, tablet and laptop areÂ fast becoming an essential items for today’s connected college students. All of these devicesÂ are turning us into couch potatoes.Â Yup, I’mÂ glued to my smart phone, iPadÂ and iMac. I’m always checking my emails, chatting with friends on Facebook and WhatsApp, reading the latest news on Twitter and watching viral videos on YouTube.Â According to theÂ latest College Explorer study from re:fuel, on average college students spend 3.6 hours a day with their smartphones and spend 18.5 hours a week on social media.Â In addition toÂ the stress of school with term papers & homework mixed with bad eating habits,Â Freshman 15 is real.Â A new study shows that one in four freshmen gain at least 5% of theirÂ body weight, an average of about 10 – 15 pounds, during their first semester.Â Habits you pick up as a freshman can become ingrained during your college years and beyond. Students who gained weight during college are more at risk to become obese.

This summer, I’ve setup a fitness goal to at least walk 10,000 steps a day.Â At first, 10,000 stepsÂ was overwhelming.Â If you break it down, 10,000 steps (8 kilometres) is doable every single day. You can take the stairs whenever possible, choose a parking spot that’s far from the entrance, walk around the campus,Â andÂ ride a bike.Â Some of the benefits of daily walking are improve sleep, reduce stress, decrease hypertension and increase endurance. While at school, you can take advantage of different opportunities to exercise. You canÂ try to join aÂ sport team, fitness classÂ and running club.

In addition having the Gear 2 for the past 2 week has help me gamify my fitness goal. ItÂ track not only steps with a pre-set goal of 10,000, but distance moved, calories burned, stairs climbed and minutes spent active each day. All of these data sync toÂ Samsung S Health which turns your device into a personal health management dashboard.Â You can collect medals for your achievements and view graphs of yourÂ exercise regimen.Â S HealthÂ can track your weight as well as your food intake so you have a better idea of your calorie consumption.Â There’s also a Coach feature which gives you a lifestyle score based on your information and suggests customize fitness and wellness goals.

The Bad