It hasn’t been that long ago since Samsung announced its Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+, but the world-famous IFA conference is around the corner. How soon? As soon as next week!
IFA always brings some surprises from major manufacturers, but IFA normally saw Samsung introduce its Galaxy Note successor. This year, Samsung decided to introduce the Galaxy Note 5 earlier than normal due to the company’s desire to entice iPhone users before Apple’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus announcement. What Samsung did not unveil at its Galaxy Unpacked 2015 event on August 13th in New York City was a new smartwatch. We’ve heard rumors about a supposedly circular smartwatch arriving in Samsung’s smartwatch lineup, but new FCC filings suggest that not just one, but two versions of a new Gear S2 smartwatch are on the way.
The new Gear smartwatch will be dubbed “Gear S2,” reminding users of the Korean manufacturer’s curved AMOLED display smartwatch from last year. It appears as though one Gear S2 smartwatch model will be called “Standard,” the other “classic.” Some believe that one of these two smartwatch models will be metal-clad, the other with a basic, plastic wristband, but there’s no evidence of this viewpoint at this time. It could be the case that Samsung intends to release two smartwatches at two different price points, or that one Gear S2 model will be Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-only while the other may include Wi-Fi and LTE – as the current Gear S has 3G data, not 4G LTE.
A picture of the upcoming Gear S2 smartwatch shows a metal-clad model that can take on the likes of Motorola’s upcoming Moto 360 version 2 smartwatch, and Samsung’s software alone makes the Gear S2 an exciting smartwatch to see announced. One claim that holds water at this point concerns the fact that Samsung could very well create a “Gear S2” and a “Gear S2 Neo,” similar to the company’s Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. The Gear 2 Neo was priced at $199, while the Gear 2 was priced at $299 – and the additional $100 included the camera on the Gear 2 as opposed to the Neo model. We could be looking at the return of a camera on the Gear S2, although we’ve seen no filings or patent drawings to state that claim with confidence.
The Gear S included a 2-inch, curved AMOLED display, with 512MB RAM, 4GB of storage, a 360 x 480p screen resolution, and Tizen OS. The Gear S2 will run Tizen OS, but will likely feature a 1.4-1.5-inch display and a slightly smaller resolution (360 x 360). Unlike Motorola’s first Moto 360 Android Wear smartwatch, Samsung’s Gear S2 won’t sport a “flat tire” at the bottom of the watch display. The company will announce its new Gear S2 at IFA in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday, September 3rd.
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