Samsung Gear 2 Review: With a new and improved light-weight, dust and water resistant body, the Samsung Gear 2 sports a 1.63” or 320x320 Super AMOLED display, 1.0 GHz Dual-Core Processor, and 2.0 Megapixel Camera. This compact buddy is hailed as one of the brightest nifty treats that Samsung can offer to its loyal patrons.

Rising from its predecessor, the first generation Gear smartwatch, the Samsung Gear 2 has a more watch-like body with a more colorful and vibrant screen. Samsung has added a new home button; with one press, you are immediately back at the main time screen. Its on-screen buttons and menus are spaced enough to avoid accidentally clicking the other toggles.

In spite of its major improvement from the first Gear, the Gear 2 is still a bulky wrist piece. This is primarily because of its clunky back. It does, however, make up for its size with its battery life that is three times longer than the first Gear.

When it comes to its main purpose of acting as an extension of Samsung smartphones, the Gear 2 proudly
delivers. You can receive text messages, notifications, and calls in a snap. It also has a neat voice recognition function that lets you reply to text messages by dictating what you want to say. You can also call someone from your contacts.

Aside from its main role, the Gear 2 also aims to be a standalone gadget. It has a media player that not only lets you playback on your handset, but also store music on its very own internal memory.

On the fun side, you can play around with its 2.0 Megapixel camera for quick shots and seizing instant moments that you normally wouldn’t be able to capture with your smartphone. You can also use its WatchON remote to also manage Samsung televisions.

The Gear 2 also proves to be a healthy fitness choice because of its built-in heart rate sensor and pedometer. It also features basic fitness monitoring functions to help you keep track of your work-out routines.

The verdict: The Gear 2 is a recommended purchase for Samsung users who are always on the go and in need of saving every second of every moment. However, Ewan Spence of Forbes.com commented, “As a standalone purchase I don’t think the value is quite there yet.” But in the end, when you’re in the market for choosing the best smartwatch, the Gear 2 is definitely something to consider.