All at once, it’s proof of just how far the smartwatch experience has come - and how far it still needs to go.
Meet the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier, the device that sets the bar for
smartwatch versatility and elegance. The price of entry ($349) is
somewhat steep, but the tools the S3 Frontier provides are not.
This is the first smartwatch that feels completely functional on its
own merits, easily allowing you to separate from your cellphone, even
forget its existence for large periods of time. All that power is
matched by a stylish black exterior, one that exudes class ahead of some
nerdy tech vibe, and one that’s guaranteed to earn compliments from all
comers (as has happened to me on multiple occasions). This is a device
that makes an incredibly strong first impression, even if tiny flaws
eventually do manifest.
No company has evolved the smartwatch as much as Samsung, so it makes
sense that they’d deliver the S3 Frontier, the smartwatch that bakes in
nearly every productive piece of smartwatch tech available. It’s the
culmination, it seems, of everything Samsung has learned (and
experimented with) about the smartwatch genre.
There’s an LTE radio in the Frontier (but oddly, not in the similarly
priced Classic, an omission that should lead you away from that device),
which lets it communicate with your smartphone miles upon miles away.
You can make calls and send both quick-reply and customized text
messages from your Frontier. The rotating bezel that was such a hit on
the Gear S2 line is back and refined, with a more distinct, more solid
click to it. Samsung Pay, Samsung’s answer to Google and Apple Pay, also
makes its way onto the S3 Frontier, and it’s so easy and addictive to
use here that you may never ever pull out a credit card again.
It all starts with the exterior, a rugged, outdoorsy look that seems
built for your next camping trip. From a fashion perspective, the S3
Frontier is a big watch, so those with tiny wrists may not like (or be
suited) to the look. But there’s aesthetic appeal for anyone who
appreciates the chunky look on their wrist.
Even on your wrist, the screen, capable of 16 million colors on its
360x360 display, manages to pop, and when set to always-on, it makes the
S3 Frontier look the part of any other expensive watch. Text and photos
are both fully and easily readable on the Frontier, too, and blended
with the overall size of the watch, that makes for a device that’s so
easy to look at that there’s sometimes no need to pull your cellphone
out of your back pocket for further perusal.
Not that it’s essential to even keep your cellphone in your back pocket
if you have the S3 Frontier, anyway. The watch is equipped with an LTE
radio, and cellphone providers offer a series of affordable plans. Once
paired with your smartphone, the S3 Frontier can essentially function as
a smartphone all by itself; take it on the go and leave your phone
home, and you can still make calls, send out texts and check all your
social media feeds.
It’s simple, intuitive and fluid. Yes, there’s a Dick Tracy novelty to
the idea of taking or making a phone call on your wrist, and that does
eventually wear off. But that novelty handles so fluidly - delivering
potent and clear call volume to you and a crystal-clear connection on
the other end, too - that it finally finds a functional use, as a more
versatile Bluetooth speaker on your wrist while your hand is on the
steering wheel in a car, for example.
Text-messaging is just as simple and easy on the S3 Frontier, thanks to
a series of interface options. The old-school nine-button texting
layout is the least useful method of sending a message, but customizable
quick responses work well and you can also scrawl letters onto the
screen, one by one, to write more complicated texts. This works slowly
but is surprisingly satisfying and stable, especially if you’re OK with
the occasional texting typo.
Alerts from social media feeds also work fluidly and well, although
it’s here that the S3 Frontier shows its weaknesses. By and large,
alerts from Instagram, Facebook and Twitter come through well, but every
so often, alerts won’t come through at all.
Little issues like this abound throughout the usage of the S3 Frontier.
Samsung Pay, for example, handles like a dream, and its inclusion on
the Frontier lets users operate completely free of both wallet and
phone, if they so choose. You can make all your calls off the Frontier,
and text message and pay at, say, Starbucks and your local drugstore,
without your wallet or smartphone in sight.
But enabling Samsung Pay requires setting up a four-digit pin number on
the watch. It’s a useful and appreciated security measure, of course,
and when it works right, the watch only requires you to input it when
you first put the watch on (which makes sense, since if a thief put the
watch on but didn’t have the pin, that person wouldn’t have access to
your personal information). But the Frontier will sometimes require the
code to be input multiple times, even if you haven’t taken off the
watch, another annoyance on an otherwise smooth and easy user
experience.
Such things are minor quibbles though, in part because they occur
infrequently. The bigger issue with the Frontier, perhaps, remains the
lack of variety among its app library. The Frontier is a potent,
terrific device on its own merits, snappy and electric with a 1GHz
processor to boot. But the app marketplace still hasn’t quite embraced
smartwatches yet, and that’s evident here, in a thin marketplace.
It’s a testament to the Frontier that it thrives despite that thin
marketplace - and that it may move smartwatches past the need for such a
marketplace. As is, the Frontier still connects you to your social
media community, with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram apps that work
fluidly and well, and those worlds are already so thriving and active
that it’s entirely possible you won’t have time for much more anyway.
And that’s all the Frontier needs to finally write and define a purpose
for the smartwatch. For several years, these devices have shown up here
and there, showing appeal and potential and bits of fun. Samsung’s Gear
S3 Frontier moves the smartwatch farther from mere novelty that lets
you keep your phone in your back pocket to fully functional device that
can very nearly stand alone.
No, it’s not perfect. But that’s a lot of smartwatch progress to have on a wrist.
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