8 reasons why the Gear S2 is Samsung’s best smart watch yet

There are smart watches, and there is the Samsung Gear S2. Check out the eight reasons why we think it is Samsung’s best smartwatch to date.

Rotating Bezel. Central to the unique design of the Gear S2 is the rotating bezel. It is an intuitive and practical way to navigate the interface of the smart watch especially since the screen is rather small. The rotating bezel is perhaps the smartest execution that’s ever been done in a smartwatch – better than the rotating crown of the Apple Watch.

Tizen FTW. We have had our reservations with the Tizen operating system for the Gear S2. While Tizen is actually a fork that looks and feels like Android Wear, there are advantages and disadvantages that go with it. For one, Samsung is able to achieve full customization with the OS and be independent from Google. This paved the way for the rotating bezel and the circular interface (in contrast to Android Wear’s up-down and left-right navigation). On the other hand, the developer community is very sparse so you don’t have as much apps as the ones on Android Wear.

Wireless Charging. Samsung popularized wireless charging in all of its flagship smartphones so it was not a surprise that they also included this feature into the Gear S2. Wireless charging is more practical, convenient and opens the possibility of having third-party wireless chargers in case you need to have more than one with you.

IP67 Rating. No need to worry when you go for a few laps in the pool or go out running under heavy rain because the Gear S2 is designed to be waterproof. It can last up to 30 minutes under water at a depth of 1.5 meters. This is where the rubber strap design makes more sense. Of course, that means scuba diving is out of the picture.

Replaceable Straps. For the more fashion-conscious, the ability to change straps is as important as the technology behind the watch itself. The Gear S2 allows you to do that pretty easily.  There’s a small latch at the back that you can pull so the straps pop out of the body right away. You can then replace it with any 20mm band of your choice.

Find My Phone and Find My Gear. The Find My Phone is already a standard feature in most mobile devices but the added feature “Find My Gear” does the same to your smartwatch. Just activate Find My Gear on your smartphone and the Gear S2’s display will light up and sound off until you figure out where you left it.

Two-day Battery Life. Most smartwatches barely have a day of battery life. The Gear S2 can stretch this to two full days on a single charge. You will still end up charging the Gear S2 at the end of the day just to be sure but, at least, you don’t have to worry if you accidentally forgot to charge it at night.

Samsung finally struck the right balance between form and function with the Gear S2. It looks like your typical wrist watch yet has a lot of power and features under the face. It’s by no means perfect but it’s the best Samsung has done to date.