Samsung has unveiled the new Samsung Gear 2 at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona; they also unveiled another version of it called the Samsung Gear 2 Neo. Both watches are compatible with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5, and select Samsung Galaxy devices. They are not compatible with other Android devices because they run on the Tizen operating system.
Unlike the previous Samsung Galaxy Gear which had the camera and microphone on the watchstrap, the Samsung Gear 2 has both on the body of the smartwatch, which makes it easier to take pictures, and allows the user to change the strap of the watch whenever they feel like it. The camera is only available in the Gear 2, and not in the Samsung Gear 2 Neo. The camera on the Gear 2 is slightly improved at 2 megapixels with auto focus, compared to the 1.9 megapixels of the Galaxy Gear.
The screen size of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are the same at 1.6 inches, the battery lasts twice as long now for 2-3 days, which is an improvement over the battery of the Samsung Galaxy Gear which lasted for 24 hours before it needed to be recharged.
Some of the other new features on the Samsung Gear 2 include a heart rate monitor which can be integrated to your health apps that can help you stay fit, and also alert you to any irregularities with your heartbeat. The Samsung Gear 2 also has an infrared blaster that allows you to control your television through your smartwatch, for those days when you are too lazy to reach for the remote control.
There weren’t too many changes made on the Samsung Gear 2, but Samsung did manage to address most of the problems people were having with the Samsung Galaxy Gear. It will be released to the public around the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S5 in April.