Samsung Electronics of Seoul, Korea, has announced today the Gear S2 smartwatch, its own new offering in the wearables category.
PC Magazine said it was first shown as a teaser last month in New York City, now it has been unveiled to the general public, though some information such as pricing and availability are still unknown.
Samsung says that the S2 wearable comes in a "versatile, circular design with an intuitive, custom UX and advanced features that enable users to enhance, personalize and bring more fun to their mobile experience."
It has a rotating bezel, and Home and Back buttons for a "quicker, more precise method to comfortably access notifications and applications."
The new model is now coming in two different designs that consumers can choose from: the Gear S2, and Gear S2 Classic. The Gear S2 Classic is made for those who like a timeless design, and comes in a black finish and a genuine leather band. The Gear S2 on the other hand is for those who like minimalistic and modern designs, coming in either dark gray case and band, or silver case and white band.
PC Mag reports that the Gear S2 has a 1.2-inch circular Super AMOLED 360 x 360 display, at 302ppi. It will run on a dual-core 1 GHz processor, and will come with a 4GB internal memory, and 512 MB of RAM. The Gear S2 will also run on Samsung's Tizen OS.
IP68 certified dust- and water-resistant, the Gear S2 will provide notifications at a glance, as well as have the capacity to send texts, and track fitness, all on-the-go. It also supports NFC for mobile payments.
According to Samsung, the smartwatch will also be supported by a battery to run two to three days of typical use when charged. Charging will be done wirelessly on a charging dock.
"For the past several years, Samsung has pioneered and advanced the wearables category, bringing brave new concepts to the smart wearables market," said JK Shin, CEO and Head of Samsung's IT & Mobile Business. "The Samsung Gear S2 reflects Samsung's most progressive innovation. It is the perfect complement for any occasion, easily taking you from day to night, from work to workout-and ensuring that you get more out of every moment in your day, by making it smarter and ultimately more personal and fun."
T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon said they will carry the Gear S2.
T-Mobile will add the Gear S2 to their phone plan at $5 per month, while AT&T and Verizon will be releasing details later.
