Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro Experience: High Activity Bracelet

They say that fitness bracelets are only needed by those who don’t go to the gym. Say, he walked several thousand steps in a day, looked at the screen, received a badge for a great achievement, well done, he pleased his ego. It would be better if the money spent on the gadget was spent on a subscription and a trainer!

This point of view has a right to life, but you shouldn’t forget about fitness devices. Let's take the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro as an example and see what it can do. Here we have the maximum level of water protection for this type of gadget, IP68, a heart rate monitor, and a bright curved screen. What is it: a beautiful fashionable thing for a city bon vivant or an athlete’s dream?

Bright and light

A bracelet with a black and red strap - it looks good with jeans and sneakers. In principle, you can wear it under a suit, but the inner red surface may stand out from the overall strict image, so decide for yourself whether the accessory fits into the dress code.

The strap is made of silicone, the case is made of plastic, the bracelet is light and weighs a little. It would be cool to get multi-colored accessory straps, as is the case with Xiaomi or Garmin bracelets, but Samsung does not offer such an option. What if the strap breaks? Then buy a new one, it costs about 3,000 rubles. Well, or try using glue to correct the situation.

Great curved screen

Of course, Samsung could not help but put a high-quality screen in the bracelet. The Super AMOLED here is of excellent quality: the picture is bright, it looks great even on a sunny day, everything is clearly visible on the display. It has a 1.5-inch diagonal and a resolution of 432x216 pixels, a curved screen, and the body of the fitness tracker gracefully flows around the hand.

At the same time, I would like to have an option to increase the font size. I gave the bracelet to my uncle, he complained that the characters on the screen were hard to see and the letters were too small.

If you get bored with one of the standard menu design options, you can launch a store with design themes. There are both paid themes and free ones - you can support wallpaper developers with rubles. But there are also enough standard options; they don’t ask for money for them.

Display

GearFit2 Pro has a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 216x432 pixels. It bends at the top and bottom, repeating the shape of the hand. It is important to note that the image is not distorted due to the shape of the screen, and it itself shows a bright and colorful picture.

The brightness is adjustable within 11 divisions, with the latter turning it up to maximum, but only for 5 minutes. This mode is called “outdoors” and should allow you to normally read information from the screen in direct sunlight. But, firstly, manually adjusting the brightness is not very convenient, especially during sports, and secondly, this affects the autonomy of the bracelet. At the same time, at other brightness levels, the display fades greatly and becomes almost unreadable in bright sunlight. This is a common problem with LCD screens.

For iPhone and Android

The bracelet is compatible with both iOS and Android. In my opinion, iPhone owners are unlikely to look in its direction - after all, you can buy an Apple Watch with interchangeable straps.

In any case, it is better to install the Samsung Gear application on your smartphone - it will be more convenient, although in principle this is not necessary, the bracelet works autonomously and does not require connection to the device.

But if you install the application, it will help you find the bracelet if it gets lost somewhere at home. The main thing is that it does not discharge during inactivity. In principle, the opposite situation is also possible: if you pressed a button on the bracelet and the smartphone beeped, you won’t get lost.

Nutrition

The review indicates a feature of the charger - connecting the docking station to the stand. It is equipped with a powerful magnet. The watch case reliably sticks with its contacts to the stand, which keeps it in an upright position. The gadget takes 40 minutes to charge.

To save battery in a critical situation, you need to do the following:

1. Activate energy saving mode;
2. Deactivate Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, always-on feature
3. Reduce brightness settings

Sports, activity and sleep

I'll start with the main thing, for me this is a dream. The better sleep you get, the easier your life is, and the bracelet can track what you do at night. Another thing is that I didn’t like sleeping with the bracelet on my hand; I’m used to taking off my watch before going to bed. But as an experiment, I tried to break the habit and sleep with the bracelet, in the morning I received a stable schedule, where I could see how I slept at night.

It would be nice to also receive some recommendations from the application to overcome insomnia. But I liked how the fitness tracker determines that I fell asleep, taking into account those rare cases when you sleep during the day. He understands that this is not a monotonous sitting on an office chair, but sleep, he does not have to manually switch the bracelet to the appropriate mode, it is convenient. But there is no smart alarm clock here, which is a pity, it would be very useful.

The bracelet counts steps, calories, floors climbed - all activity is taken into account, including heart rate. With the tracker you can swim and run, squat or do push-ups - training programs are provided. It can automatically detect types of activities, or you can specify the type of training yourself.

The heart rate sensor is not particularly accurate: when you just walk or walk down the street, the data, plus or minus, coincides with the same numbers that the Apple Watch gives, for me they are the standard in this regard. If you run on a track in the gym, the results are very different from the real ones. And this is important, you need to monitor the load on the heart and not exceed the recommended pace, otherwise there will be little benefit from such a workout, rather, it will be harmful to health if you run for a long time with an increased heart rate.

The fitness tracker also works as an independent music player; through the application, you upload music to it and listen to a motivating track during your morning jog. Headphones, of course, must be connected via Bluetooth.

If you buy such a brave sports device for sports and training and use GPS during training, then the bracelet will work for a day. Without GPS, he lives longer, about two to three days.

Interface

The interface of GearFit2 Pro is very simple and clear, it consists of information panels, as well as a menu with applications. The main screen is always the watch face, it can be changed to another, and various additional information can be displayed on it, for example, the number of steps taken.

If you swipe the watch face to the left, a panel will open where all incoming notifications are collected, and if you swipe to the right, then widgets displaying the number of calories burned, steps, glasses of water and cups of coffee drunk, floors climbed, heart rate, calendar, weather, as well as a quick start tracking physical exercise. All widgets can be swapped, deleted, or vice versa added.

A gesture from the top edge of the screen down brings up the curtain with quick settings.

Here you can adjust the brightness, turn off notifications, lock the display while swimming, and also launch the player in order to listen to music on the bracelet itself or control it on your smartphone.

Filling and “wants”

What is inside? If we talk about hardware, then there is a processor with a frequency of 1 GHz, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory, of which 2 GB can be used for downloading motivating music.

Of course, the bracelet vibrates to indicate new messages, calls or notifications. You won’t miss anything important, although at the same time you can’t talk on the fitness tracker; you need a phone to talk. But you can send a prepared template - they say, don’t interfere with the person’s training, I’ll call you back later.

Contactless payments are the most fashionable topic now, but the bracelet does not support the Samsung Pay system and there is no NFC. In my opinion, this function would be very useful.

Results

For Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro they are asking 12,990 rubles, this is recommended for stores in Russia. From this we conclude that the fitness tracker costs as much as an inexpensive Android smartphone. And is it needed?

On the one hand, it has an interesting appearance, an excellent screen and enough functions. At the same time, there are none of the things that people buy smartwatches for: you can’t smartly pay for lunch in a cafe, you can’t talk on it, the accuracy of the heartbeat sensor is not the highest.

I’m not an athlete and accurate data calculations are not so necessary, but the same Apple watches - how can there be any comparison with them - are suitable for both training and idle wandering around the streets. You will say that you can’t buy a watch for that kind of money, which is true.

In my opinion, it makes sense to pay extra and get a full-fledged watch with all the bells and whistles. For sports, I recommend the Polar M430, they cost about 15,000 rubles, and the Suunto Spartan Trainer costs about 17,000 rubles.

It turns out that the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro will cost more than just a smart bracelet when compared with classmates like Garmin Vivosmart 3. At the same time, the accessory does not have the capabilities of more advanced smartwatches.

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro review: fitness bracelet now also for swimming

The Korean company presented its flagship smartphone Samsung Galaxy Note8 even before IFA 2022, but this does not mean that there was nothing to see at the exhibition. In addition to new TVs, monitors, and smart home appliances, Samsung also brought an updated line of Gear gadgets for sports. The Samsung Gear IconX (2018) wireless headphones and the Gear Sport waterproof smartwatch have not yet reached our editorial office, but we have already gotten a little acquainted with the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro fitness bracelet.

What is it and how is it different from Samsung Gear Fit2?

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is a smart bracelet with a 1.5-inch curved Super AMOLED display (432×216 pixels), dual-core Samsung Exynos processor for wearable electronics, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal memory, GPS/Glonass module, heart rate sensor and a barometer. Runs on Tizen OS and allows you to download applications and watch faces from the company store. One of the main features is water resistance: Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro can withstand pressure up to 5 atmospheres, which is equivalent to immersion to a depth of 50 meters, so you can fully swim in it. Moreover, Samsung has started working with Speedo and the bracelet comes pre-installed with the appropriate proprietary software, which allows you to track speed, distance, heart rate and the number of strokes while swimming. Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is a more advanced version of the previous Samsung Gear Fit2 and has a higher protection class. The fitness bracelet is also MIL-STD-810G certified. Otherwise, the characteristics remained the same, only the body became slightly larger. Of course, in addition to many fitness functions, the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro can receive notifications from a smartphone, it is possible to send quick replies to messages directly from the bracelet and use it as a music player (of course, together with a Bluetooth headset).

What's included?

The gadget is packaged in a relatively small box made of black cardboard with colorful printing. There was nothing unusual in the kit, the set was standard: the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro itself, a charging dock with a permanent cable and a set of instructions/warranties:

What about the appearance, design and screen?

If you've seen the Samsung Gear Fit2, then the look and design of the Gear Fit2 Pro will be familiar to you; it really isn't much different from the previous generation. The dimensions have increased just a little (I think that you might not notice this “by eye”), which is due to more serious water protection. Almost the entire body is made of plastic. The screen smoothly blends into the curves of the body. Unlike the previous model, the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is only available in black and black-red variants (at least for now). Almost the entire front panel is occupied by a 1.5-inch curved SuperAMOLED touchscreen display with third-generation Gorilla protective glass. It has a good reserve of brightness and the information is perfectly readable even in bright sunlight. There is an Always on Display function, although, of course, it will significantly reduce battery life:

There are two mechanical buttons on the right side: “back” - the top one, larger and “home” - respectively, the bottom one. There is a small hole just below. This is not a microphone, as one might think, but a barometer hole:

On the bottom of the case there are contacts for charging the bracelet and an optical heart rate monitor. The strap latches are similar to the previous generation; it can be replaced, but, apparently, only with a branded one (I haven’t come across any third-party ones):

Traditionally, straps come in different sizes to suit different hands. The black version comes with a striped strap, while the black and red version will have a geometric pattern. The clasp is now of a standard design, like on a wristwatch. The strap itself is comfortable, although I didn’t quite understand what kind of outer film it was that began to peel off from it:

As already written above, Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is not afraid of immersion in water. Formally, to a depth of 50 meters. So, theoretically, you can swim not only in the pool, but also in the lake/sea and with scuba gear within reasonable limits (there are no contraindications in this regard on the official website). For this, there is a special mode in which the touch screen is disabled, the gesture wake-up function, and so on. The bracelet simply continues to track activity, swimming is recognized automatically:

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is light and compact, it is comfortable to wear, and its streamlined shape without sharp corners allows the bracelet not to cling to clothing. With build quality and appearance, of course, everything is in perfect order.

What about the hardware?

As already written, the bracelet is equipped with a 1.5-inch curved SuperAMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 432×216, which corresponds to a pixel density of 310.7. The screen is bright, with typical AMOLED rich colors and good sensitivity. The Always On Display function is supported; the clock is displayed on the screen with reduced brightness. The gadget is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core Exynos 3250 processor and 512 MB of RAM. This is sufficient for the Tizen OS used. The built-in memory is 4 GB, it is possible to load a selection of music onto it and go for a run without a smartphone. At the same time, Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro will be used as a wireless player. Sensors and wireless modules include an accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and GPS/Glonass.

What about the software and fitness features?

In fact, the Tizen OS already familiar to us from the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is used, only in a slightly stripped-down version. To fully work, as usual with Samsung wearable electronics, you need to install 4 applications: Samsung Gear, S Health, Gear S Plugin, Samsung Accessory Service. iOS support is promised in the near future. The Samsung Gear application allows you to view the current state of the watch (battery and memory), update its firmware, configure and change watch faces, set up notifications, install applications, transfer music, set up emergency calls, message templates, and find the gadget if it’s lost somewhere in the apartment:

All control is done using the touch screen and two hardware buttons “back” and “home”. The main screen of the bracelet displays the selected watch face and additional information about steps, calories, floors, and so on. On the left is a screen with notifications, on the right are screens with widgets. They can be sorted in the desired order, added and removed, but up to 8 pieces are supported. Swiping from top to bottom opens a panel with quick settings (brightness, turning off notifications, switching to “swimming” mode and switching to the player). There is a smartphone search function, a stopwatch and a timer. In the settings, you can adjust brightness, font size, vibration, power-on gesture, operation of wireless modules, or enable energy saving mode, in which only the main screen is displayed in monochrome mode:

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro can count steps and stairs (and set daily goals for yourself), and defines a number of standard exercises: squats, crunches, lunges, swimming, exercise bike, elliptical trainer, yoga and so on. The quantity and quality of sleep is monitored, and the built-in GPS module allows you to build routes even without a smartphone. Plus there are already popular third-party applications from Speedo and the popular Endomondo and Under Armor:

Of course, there is an optical heart rate sensor, there are different operating modes with periodic auto-detection. It demonstrates good accuracy of determination: at rest the error is usually only a few beats; during active training it is, of course, greater and can reach 5-7%, which is quite normal for fitness bracelets and smart watches. It was checked as follows: the pulse was measured simultaneously with the bracelet’s heart rate monitor and the old, “old-fashioned” method, using a stopwatch. You need maximum accuracy - chest heart rate monitors can help.

All data from the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro about physical activity is transferred to the S Health application: the number of steps taken, floors, quantity and quality of sleep, and so on. You can track the dynamics over the entire time, readings from the heart rate monitor. Overall, the app hasn't changed much since the Gear S3 Frontier:

What about charging and battery?

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is charged using a special dock; a standard USB plug is used for connection. While charging, the bracelet displays a corresponding icon or a clock with a charge amount indicator (if you press any button):

The battery has not increased compared to the previous generation: its capacity is 200 mAh. They promise 3 for “typical” use (of course, it is not specified what exactly is meant). In real conditions, the situation is worse: with the Always On Display function turned on, brightness slightly above average, constant connection via Bluetooth and constant notifications, automatic regular heart rate measurement, pedometer and so on, the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro lasts a day, no more. If you turn off Always On Display, auto heart rate measurement, reduce the brightness and don’t use GPS and Wi-Fi at all, you can last up to 2 days. Still, I would like more.

Bottom line

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is perhaps one of the most advanced and “stuffed” fitness bracelets at the moment: it is equipped with a bright curved AMOLED screen, all possible sports functions and necessary sensors, and can be used for training without a smartphone, including how audio player, has a simple, smart and intuitive interface with the ability to customize and install additional applications, plus convenient and functional companion applications. This is all packaged in a nice, lightweight and streamlined case, which is now resistant to immersion in water to a depth of 50 m, so it is completely suitable for swimming. Unfortunately, when using all the functionality, the bracelet will need to be charged at least once a day. The price tag is not the most affordable: according to information on the Internet, in Europe it will be 230 euros.

Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro

Samsung focuses on health and sports features
The Gear Fit 2 Pro makes a good impression. If you are ready to buy yourself a fitness bracelet, definitely take it. If you are thinking about a smart watch, this device is also worth considering. Functionally, it fully corresponds to expectations from a smart watch, differing only in design.

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ideal for healthy lifestyle

5 reasons to buy Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro:

• there are all sensors, sensors and wireless interfaces necessary for sports;
• you can dive in it to a depth of up to 50 (formally);
• high-quality, bright screen;
• simple and intuitive controls, proprietary software and the ability to use as a player;
• Stylish design and good build quality.

2 reasons not to buy Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro:

• modest battery life;
• high price tag.

For those who want to know more

• Review of smart watches Samsung Gear S3 Frontier
• Samsung Gear S2 smart watch review: on the way to perfection
• Four-wheel drive. Samsung Gear S smartwatch review
• Review of smart watches Sony SmartWatch 2 (SW2)