5 Things Most People Don’t Know about the Gear Fit

You might have heard a lot of things about the Gear Fit, Samsung’s new smart fitness band, equipped with various specialized functionalities. You’ve already been told that the Gear Fit is the first wearable device with a curved Super AMOLED display. Previously at Samsung Tomorrow we went over its horizontal and vertical display mode, compatibility, changeable straps, design and more. However, the things we are about to tell you today haven’t been acknowledged by most people and, we have to say, they’re quite interesting. Here are the 5 things most people don’t know about the Gear Fit.

Samsung Gear Fit features a double curved surface design both horizontally and vertically.

To be more specific, the curved surface of the cover glass has 57 circle radius curvature (57R). Even though Samsung has introduced smartphones with curved displays before, Gear Fit is not only smaller in size, but also has a larger curvature, which means no existing related components could be used. The secret to the curvature actually comes from the high temperature thermoform technology, which applies a molding temperature more than 100˚C higher than the existing method.

The Battery is curved as well.

This might be an obvious fact, but surprisingly goes unnoticed. Samsung newly developed a curved battery for the Gear Fit. First of all, with the cooperation of Samsung SDI, a soft cover was used to manufacture the curved battery, so that it could be housed in the curved shaped body while maintaining the performance and durability.

The Gear Fit is water resistant if submerged one meter under water for 30 minutes and completely dust proof in vacuum for 8 hours.

To offer improved water-resistant functionality in a unibody structural design, Samsung needed to accurately manufacture the size of the curved glass and ensured precise measurements. Samsung applied a technology that carefully controls the slightest temperature change during mold design and thermoforming. Moreover, Samsung used the newly developed waterproof tape that blocks four water resistant points (Window, Side Key, HR Sensor, Charger socket) and applied air in each assembling stage. This is how Gear Fit managed to become water-resistant and dust-resistant.

▲UX Solution and System S/W Developers of the Gear Fit (From left: Kijong Byun, Seungchul Lee, Kyuyoung Kim)

Curved AMOLED took more time to develop.

As we mentioned at the start of the article, Samsung did not have existing references for the ‘Flexible OLED process’, because it has never been done before. Because of the superior color reproduction and excellent contrast range, Samsung did not want to give up on the Super AMOLED display. This meant that developers had to go through exhaustive simulation process testing on all possibilities to realize the AMOLED on a curved display. It is definitely not surprising that it took more than twice the time compared to testing a flat OLED display.

Gear Fit is lighter than a pair of glasses.

First of all, including the hardware, the body of the Gear Fit weighs 15.6g. Polycarbonate was used instead of metal and the silver and black design features were seamlessly integrated into one smooth surface. The buckle and the durable rubber material strap each weigh 1.7g and 8.9g. This is how Gear Fit is able to weigh only 26.2g total.

It is quite easy to understand the amount of research and effort Samsung put into developing the Gear Fit is quite impressive. As a result, the Gear it was recognized as one of the most innovative and creative products showcased at the MWC 2014 and was awarded “The Best Mobile Device” by GSMW at the MWC 2014. However, as far as we are concerned, Gear Fit is a stylish wearable device that provides comprehensive fitness tools for the people who want to stay fit.

 * This article was originally posted on Samsung Electronics intranet site where Samsung employees around the world share their personal stories. Views expressed above are individual opinions and do not represent that of Samsung Electronics.