With Samsung’s S Health app for Samsung handsets and Wearable tech, you’ll have the opportunity to improve your health at your fingertips. ‘Take the leap to better health and a better you’ with the help of the S Health fitness coach.
When most people think of wearables and fitness trackers, the initial association is with a step monitor. However, Health apps, in particular the S Health from Samsung have become a lot more sophisticated in the ways they track and record your exercise. The Samung Gear S3 for example is synced with Samsung’s S Health providing intuitive charts and helpful tips. The goals within the app will guide you to achieve your health & fitness targets.
The Smart Health trackers not only make it easy to log your daily activities, they also allow you to measure and manage your health and environmental records such as SpO₂, and ultraviolet using the built-in sensors in Samsung smartphones and wearables. The highly accurate heart rate monitor of the Gear Fit 2, also offer the benefits of a highly accurate heart rate monitor, allowing you to check when you’re in the vigorous intensity zone to step up the intensity.
Personal trainer apps for smartwatches are continuously growing in popularity, offering you the ability to develop your workout schedule, get suggestions on new moves to try, and receive personalised feedback to keep you motivated without the heart price tag of a Person trainer.
With Samsung’s release of the Gear S3 smartwatch coinciding with the release of the Apple Watch Series 2, we once again face the battle of iOS and Android (Samsung’s Tizen OS).
Let’s take a closer look at how these two wearables compare.
1.Design
Both wearables stay true to their brands classic design, with the Gear S3 offering a round and chunky clock face (similar to the previously released S2) with rotating bezel and the iWatch Series 2 replicating the rectangular design of the original iWatch.
There are two versions of the Gear S3, the Frontier and the Classic. The Frontier offers a more rugged strap (weighing in at 62g), whilst the Classic is, as the name suggests, slightly more minimalist and lightweight at 57g.
The Apple Watch Series 2 is aesthetically close to the original, but with some new case materials, including a ceramic white model that is ‘four times harder than steel’. The familiar 38mm and 42mm cases are available, with 272 x 340 and 312 x 390 screen resolutions, respectively.
2. Operating Systems and Software
Apple launched the Series 2 Watch with watchOS 3, offering Fitness apps with real-time access to heart rate.
Samsung’s Tizen operating system is the OS of choice on the Gear 2, with up to 10,000 apps available including Uber and Spotify. You’ll even be able to use Spotify directly from the watch if you have an LTE-enabled Gear 3.
Both watches offer a similar SOS feature built in to alert someone of your whereabouts if you’re ever in a spot of trouble.
If you’re a big gamer take note; Pokémon Go is also now available on the Apple Watch for gaming on the go.
3. Hardware:
A new dual cored S2 chip is housed inside Apple’s new wearable, promising 50% faster performance.
Samsung’s Gear S3 offers a dual-core 1GHz processor with 768MB of RAM and 4GB of storage inside.
4. Sensors:
Both wearables now benefit from an inbuilt GPS and heart rate sensor, improving their usage whilst running or cycling. You’ll also be able to get an improved distance- and speed-tracking through routed maps.
Samsung’s Gear S3 also provides an accelerometer and a gyroscope for an all-encompassing sporting experience.
5. Waterproofing
This is where the Apple Watch Series 2 wins, since it an be submerged to 50m making it a more appealing choice for serious swimmers. The Gear S3 is IP68 rated though, allowing it to be submerged in 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes.
Apple Watch Series 2 Specs at a glance:
Colours: Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, Space Grey Aluminium case and Space Black, Silver Stainless Steel case and Ceramic
S2 Dual-core processor
GPS
Height: 38.6/42.5mm
Width: 33.3mm/36.4mm
Depth: 11.4mm
Case weight: 28.2/34.2g
Retina display with Force Touch (2x brighter than original)
Digital Crown
Heart rate sensor
WiFi 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
Bluetooth 4.0
Up to 18hrs battery life
Water resistant IPX7 (swimming proof – water depth up to 50m)
