Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro review
SAMSUNG LAUNCHED its latest fitness tracking device in the UK just before the festive period and we've been using it ever since.
Originally revealed alongside the Gear Sport at the IFA trade show in Berlin, the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro boasts a slim Super AMOLED display and, like the Samsung Gear Fit 2, that came before it, the same focus on fitness. As with previous Samsung wearables, it also displays notifications from connected smartphones, such as Facebook messages, emails and text messages.
Costing £210, it's not the cheapest fitness device on the market, but it is definitely not the most expensive of its kind, aimed at helping you keep tabs on your health while not expecting you to replace your regular watch with it.
Design
Weighing just 34g, the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro is super lightweight, which makes it ideal for working out as you don't really notice it's there. Its design is clean and simple, leaving most of the emphasis on the screen. However, not everyone will be a fan of the Gear Fit Pro 2's distinctive design, as it does look very different than a conventional watch. For instance, we weren't so keen on the red colour against the black on the underside of the strap, as it is a little harsh, but this can't really be seen when being worn. There's also another colour option of all black available if red and black is not really your style.
We found that the device was quite comfortable when being worn for the gym or during a run, mainly due to its weight but also its curved screen, which nicely follows the contours of the wrist.
While Samsung has kept most of the user controls on the Gear Fit as touch commands, there are two physical buttons on the right-hand side, a back button and a menu button - the latter slightly smaller than the other - to make it all the more minimalist in design.
Unlike some of the previous Gear Fit designs, the Gear Fit 2 Pro boasts a standard watch strap style clasp, which we are fans of as it remains secured on the wrist during long usage periods. It also comes in two different sizes to make sure you get the right fit for you.
In terms of build, the Gear Fit 2 Pro does feel a little cheap due to its plastic construction. Still, this is what makes it lightweight, so it does have its upsides. Overall the wearable is a nice and simply designed device that feels comfortable in most sports or fitness situations.
Display
Aside from its vibrant wrist strap, the first thing you'll notice about the Gear Fit 2 Pro is its 1.5in 216x432 pixel Super AMOLED screen. While that might not sound like much screen space, we found the display beautifully crisp and vibrant, with the AMOLED display technology offering deep blacks and colours that pop. Response to touch was also very nice and nippy, as expected.
Even on close inspection of elements on the screen, there aren't any jagged edges to the text, with it displaying numbers and letters very clearly. It's also super bright, but the good thing here is this does automatically dim in brighter lighting, meaning you'll likely squeeze at least three days of battery life out of the device.
Apps
The Gear Fit Pro 2 boasts plenty of unique apps to help you track and collect your fitness data straight from the device, which is helpful as at this point many people are already embedded into a fitness tracking provider's platform.
One of our favourites is the Speedo On app which was developed especially for the Gear Fit 2 Pro and because the device is water resistant up to 50 metres, you can take it swimming and it'll track your workout via the app, offering you post swim stats and presenting them in easy-to-read summaries.
There's also an Under Armour UA Record app, which claims to be the world's first 24/7 connected health and fitness system to track sleep, fitness, activity, and nutrition.
Other handy apps include the MapMyRun app to track and map every run and give you feedback and stats to improve, MyFitnessPal, which helps users lose weight with thanks to an easy-to-use calorie counter and finally Endomondo, which helps you get the most out of runs, walks and bike rides and calculate distances and calories burned, etc.
Performance
In terms of specs, the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro shares many of the same features as the older Gear Fit 2, which was first announced in June last year. It runs Samsung's Tizen operating system and is powered by a dual-core 1.0 GHz CPU alongside 512 MB of RAM. There's also a 200MAh battery and 4GB of storage. However, the Gear Fit 2 Pro has a 5 atm water resistance rating, compared to the IP68 water resistance rating for the older Gear Fit 2, meaning it is even more robust for proper sports use, especially swimming. Samsung said there's inbuilt features specifically made for swimmers, including ways for the wearable to track a user's stroke type, stroke count, and lap count.
As with most wearables, general commands on the Gear Fit 2 Pro consist of swiping up or down on the clock face, which acts as the home page, to access the main menu carousel.
As to its fitness focused features, the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro boasts a continuous heart rate monitor, along with a pedometer, an exercise tracker and a stopwatch and timer.
In the Settings menu, the main face of the Gear Fit is customisable between different clock designs, allowing you to choose between analogue, digital or more classical looking watch faces, some of which include the weather and the date, synced from the attached Galaxy smartphone.
From our experience using the Gear Fit Pro 2 over the past month or so, we found no major performance issues or bugs. This is probably because the Gear Fit doesn't use the Tizen or Android mobile operating systems, it runs on Samsung's bespoke real time operating system (RTOS). This makes it responsive and very nippy when swiping between commands, and we found no lag whatsoever while using it.
Battery life
The Samsung Gear Fit Pro 2 has a rechargeable battery that is charged via a special dock that clips to the back of the device.
In our experience of using the device, it lasted for about three and a half days before running out of battery, when being used to record gym visits and sleeping. While this is not the best performance of a wearable in the current market, it's definitely agreeable for a device for this weight and size.
Although it's an obvious statement, the battery life really depends how much you use the Gear Fit's features.
In Short
The Gear Fit 2 Pro isn't Samsung's most interesting wearable to date, but it looks simple and feel comfortable on the wrist. The screen is great and the onboard fitness features are intuitive and easy to use.
However, with a £210 price tag in the UK, it is on the pricey side considering the device doesn't exactly scream luxury. µ
The good
Great comfortable design, great vibrant screen.
The bad
Colour options are limited, quite pricey for the feature set.
The ugly
Cheap feeling construction.
Bartender's score
7/10
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