While the Sony Smart Watch 2’s debut a few months ago or the Pebble watch should’ve ushered in the trend, it wasn’t until Samsung’s Galaxy Gear entered the smart watch arena that we’re sure the age of smart watches are upon us, even Qualcomm’s putting in its own entry.
The Galaxy Gear is not a phone in its own right but it has many functions to help work alongside your Galaxy device. This smartphone accessory can keep time, pickup and display notifications, control music playback, and even shoot short 720p clips and conduct phone calls with its 1.9-megapixel camera, speaker, and two microphones. It is equipped with a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display with 320 x 320 resolution, single-core 800MHz Exynos processor, metal face and buckle, and six different colors for the adjustable wrist band.
The Galaxy Gear features the basics such as a pedometer and tracker for your Galaxy phone/Gear via the smartphone and it as a bunch of compatible apps already including Pocket, Evernote, RunKeeper, and Path. S Voice also works with this device. It is compatible with the newly announced Galaxy Note 3 and Note 10.1 2014 edition and will be made available via software updates for the S4, S3, and Note II. It will be launched globally later this month and will be up for sale in the U.S. in October for $299. It's battery is good for one day before it needs to be charged.
While not as flashy as the Samsung offering, the Qualcomm Toq has its own set of tech to make it a handy phone accessory. The Qualcomm Mirasol reflective display can be seen even in bright sunlight. The touch-based screen is always on but it was supposedly made to maximize battery life between charges.
It does what you’d expect from a smartphone accessory such as accepting or rejecting calls and viewing messages and meeting reminders. The Toq will work with Android 4.0.3 devices with Bluetooth on and it also needs the Qualcomm Toq app. The smart watch charges wirelessly, which is the same with the optional Bluetooth wireless headset. It will be released in the fourth quarter of 2013 for $300.
These new watches join the Sony SmartWatch, now on its second iteration for 199 Euros as well as the Kickstarter darling Pebble Smart Watch ($150 plus around $40 for customs fees for Canadians). The Pebble remains the most promising of the bunch right now. It may have a low-resolution eInk display but it will last seven days on a full battery charge plus it will happily pair with any iOS or Android smartphone out of the box (with some workarounds for Windows Phone).
Canadian Reviewer's Gadjo C. Sevilla is currently testing a Kickstarted Edition Pebble watch and will be posting a full review of the device in the coming weeks.
The stage is set for a real area where companies can compete for consumer's dollars and their wrists. But with pricing all over the place and features and functionality still a murky mess, there's definitely a market worth developing.
Now, we just can’t wait for Apple’s iWatch to come out of the shadows and get this battle going.