The second generation of the sports bracelet from Samsung, which has matured in all respects, came to our editorial office. We got not only a completely redesigned design or better resistance to dust and water, but also integrated GPS, improved activity monitoring and the new Tizen operating system. So let's take a closer look at the Samsung Gear Fit 2.
Design
What will surely interest you at first glance are the structural dimensions and weight of the bracelet. These are a beautiful 51,2 x 24,5 mm and 28 grams. The second generation has a smaller display with a diagonal of 1,5 inches, but you will enjoy using it. With the previous generation, most owners complained about problems with the automatic release of the strap. Fortunately, the South Korean giant polished it to perfection this time.
The strap, as such, is made of very pleasant rubber. In addition, it is flexible, which you can use, for example, during sports activities. Samsung Gear Fit 2 also has IP68 technology, which tells us that not only dust, but also water does not bother the bracelet. Samsung said at the launch that it is possible to swim with the bracelet up to a depth of 1,5 meters for 30 minutes.
Display
Gear Fit 2 has a curved Super AMOLED display, which not only has excellent color rendering, but also good readability in outdoor environments. Of course, the brightness can be adjusted manually, in a total of 10 levels - or 11, but the last level of brightness can only be set for 5 minutes in direct sunlight.
The resolution of the display is 216 x 432 pixels, which is absolutely sufficient for a 1,5″ screen. In practice, you will especially appreciate the function where the display automatically turns off after 15 seconds (the interval can of course be changed manually). You can then activate the display again by pressing the button on the right side or by turning the bracelet towards your eyes. The sensitivity is compared to, for example, Apple Watch, which also have this feature, really great.
System
For overall control of the bracelet, in addition to the display, you can also use the two side buttons. The upper one serves as the Back key, the lower one brings up the menu with applications. The Tizen operating system is very clear and you can find your way around it really easily. The home screen is of course the basis. Here, you can freely adapt your image to your own, especially thanks to the dials. Among other things, you can also set the content that you will see on the screen.
Notification
Of course, the Gear Fit 2 can also display notifications from your phone. As soon as a notification arrives on your phone, the bracelet immediately alerts you with vibrations and a small dot in the upper left corner. You can get to the so-called list of all notifications very quickly - by swiping from the main screen.
Unfortunately, you only have to count on basic notifications. You can mark messages and e-mails as read or delete them, SMS messages can only be answered with short, predefined texts. But you can read these texts in Android change the application according to your needs. In addition, the Fit 2 can notify you of incoming calls, and you can also receive them via the bracelet. However, you have to do the rest with your phone, as the bracelet does not have a microphone or speaker.
Fitness and more
The measurement of heart rate, steps and other activities basically works perfectly. However, I ran into one problem when the wristband suddenly told me that I had just climbed 10 stairs while riding the subway for about five minutes. The next day on the walk, the device again informed me that I had now broken my previous record (10 stairs) with an incredible 170 degrees of stairs. This is of course somewhat problematic. However, I found articles on the Internet that this is only a problem with some models. So it should not be a global problem.
As I mentioned in the introduction, the Gear Fit 2 now boasts an integrated GPS. If you are an active runner, you will love it. You can constantly map your journeys, steps taken and other activities without having to have your phone with you. The GPS works really well and I didn't have a single problem with it during the entire testing period.
The first generation Gear Fit was only compatible with Samsung phones. However, the Gear Fit 2 supports almost all modern smartphones. For the first time ever, wristbands were only compatible with the operating system Android, but now you can use them with yours as well iPhonem.
All your daily activities are linked to the S Health app, which you need to install on your device. The Gear App is used not only for synchronization, but also for adjusting the settings and updating the firmware of the bracelet itself. The Fit 2 also offers native Spotify integration. Compared to the basic music player, which is fully functional, the Spotify app is very limited.
Battery
For those interested in the Gear Fit 2, battery life is undoubtedly one of the biggest draws. If you are lucky, you can easily use the watch for 3 to 4 days. Just for fun, the Fit 2 has a battery capacity of 200 mAh. I had the watch paired with Galaxy S7 and I should have gotten three days of use most of the time. I was constantly testing the bracelet, playing with it and exploring what it could do, which had a significant impact on its durability. However, if you are not an enthusiastic athlete and do not run every day and thus use GPS, you will surely get to four days of operation without any problems.
Final verdict
Any issues I encountered during testing can be resolved through a system update. It only depends on Samsung whether it wants to better prepare its bracelets to fight with other competing manufacturers. However, everything else worked perfectly fine. If you're thinking about a fitness tracker, I definitely recommend the Gear Fit 2. You won't be disappointed. On the Internet, the Samsung Gear Git 2 can be found for as little as CZK 4, which is not that much for a quality fitness bracelet with decent resistance and GPS.
