To learn more about the benefits wearing the Galaxy Watch brings to daily life, the Newsroom got hands-on with the latest device in Samsung’s wearables lineup.

Wear the Galaxy Watch Your Way

With a design that embraces the look and feel of luxury watches, the Galaxy Watch’s trademark bezel is more detailed than before. The smartwatch also caters to more preferences, as it is available in three different colors and two different sizes, Midnight Black (42mm), Rose Gold (42mm) and Silver (46mm), allowing you to personalize the device to suit your style or mood, from classic workwear to relaxed vacation looks.

The Galaxy Watch comes in three colors, Midnight Black (42mm), Rose Gold (42mm), and Silver (46mm)

Each device comes with a silicone strap that winds smoothly around the wrist. Heightening customizability, three 22mm and eight 20mm original watch straps are available for purchase separately, with 14 more watch band options launched in collaboration with Switzerland’s Braloba in a range of materials, colors, and styles. The Galaxy Watch can also be fitted with standard watch straps¹.

Setting different watch faces can transform the appearance of the Galaxy Watch. The 12 pre-loaded faces allow you to tailor your device to your mood in moments, while the approximately 60,000 additional faces available for download via the Galaxy Apps store provide limitless opportunities for adding your own personal flair.

The Galaxy Watch can be customized with a range of different watch face designs and features

You can easily change your watch face on the Galaxy Watch itself or from a paired smartphone. There are also features, known as complications, that let the watch face show more just the time and date – and can be adjusted according to users’ preferences.

Complications can be set to display important information such as device battery life, the weather, the date, daily step count, heart rate, and more

Intelligent Connectivity

The Galaxy Watch is equipped with a host of intuitive features that allow you to navigate the device with ease. The smartwatch’s screen will turn on as you raise your wrist, ready for you to view the information you need instantly. You can also explore installed apps by rotating the bezel, which allows for greater navigation control.

No need to access your phone directly – the smartwatch enables you to make simple phone calls or reply to messages and vibrates lightly to notify you of incoming phone calls, messages, and alerts. What’s more, when the Galaxy Watch is connected to Wifi or LTE, you can check your smartphone’s app notifications directly on the watch screen even while the phone is far away.

To reply to messages from your Galaxy Watch, you can select an answer from a variety of pre-drafted messages, type your response on the keyboard or use the built-in microphone to transform your voice into text. The Galaxy Watch can intuitively recommend appropriate responses, increasing your convenience.

The Galaxy Watch recommends appropriate responses, highlighting its recommended messages in blue

Pairing the Galaxy Watch and a smartphone is straightforward. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the Galaxy Wearable app on your smartphone, it will detect the smartwatch and prompt you to sync the two devices with each other. The Galaxy Watch is compatible with both Android and iOS smartphones².

Wearing the Galaxy Watch allows you to pay less attention to your smartphone while on the move. You can place your phone out of sight in your pocket or bag, knowing that you can receive notifications and send replies straight from the smartwatch’s screen.

From Well-being Partner to Personal Assistant

The Galaxy Watch helps you to manage your day, providing schedule reminders and encouraging you to meet your health and wellness goals.

The Newsroom found the smartwatch’s advanced sleep tracker particularly useful, as the Galaxy Watch monitors four levels of sleep, including REM cycles, helping wearers to adjust their sleeping habits and get the rest they need.

The device’s inactive time alerts remind wearers who have been sitting for a prolonged period of time to stand up and move around. The alerts suggest simple stretching exercise and provide little messages of encouragement to keep you motivated.

With a variety of automatic sensors, the Galaxy Watch can monitor the wearer’s real-time health information. The smartwatch detects details such as your heart rate, global position and movements to measure and analyze your health status. The device’s accelerometer sensor, gyro sensor and the heart rate sensor can automatically recognize six types of activity – including walking, running and riding a bicycle, amongst others. The Galaxy Watch will begin to record information after 10 consecutive minutes of an activity and analyzes total activity to provide feedback for the wearer.

Heart rate and accelerometer sensors track wearers’ sleep and categorize their status into four stages: ‘Deep,’ ‘REM,’ ‘Light,’ and ‘Awake.’ Monitor this data on the Galaxy Watch or via the Samsung Health app

The Galaxy Watch enables wearers to manage their time efficiently, with the ‘My Day’ watch face offering a clear overview of your daily schedule at a single glance and highlighting your appointment times at the edges of the dial. Synced to your smartphone’s calendar, the My Day watch face is designed to help you focus on a healthy work-life balance.

Acting as your very own personal assistant, your Galaxy Watch prepares useful information briefings for you twice a day. The morning briefing is issued just after you typically wake up, providing details about the day’s weather and schedule. The evening briefing notifies wearers of any pending events amongst their reminders, offers a summary of health and activity data for that day, and displays the next day’s forecast.

Endlessly tailorable and designed to meet your needs, the Galaxy Watch is ushering in a new era of wearables. The device is truly standalone, redefining freedom and connectivity, while helping you to achieve your ideal lifestyle balance.

¹The Galaxy Watch is compatible with 20mm and 22mm standard watch straps for its 42mm and 46mm models, respectively.

²The Galaxy Watch is compatible with smartphones supporting Android OS 5.0 and above or iOS 9.0 and above. iOS smartphone users should to download the ‘Galaxy Watch’ application from iTunes.

To learn more about the story behind the wearable, the Newsroom team sat down with the designers of the Galaxy Watch – Tommy Choi, Hyemin Bae, Jaehyung Hong and Sanhui Oh – as they introduced the new addition to the Galaxy family of devices.

Designers of the Galaxy Watch – Tommy Choi, Hyemin Bae, Jaehyung Hong and Sanhui Oh

Q. The Galaxy Watch showcases a wide array of new options, with two different sizes and various colors available. How did you approach designing the new Galaxy Watch?

A. The newest Galaxy Watch’s design focused on millennials, a generation that prioritizes stylishness and loves being active without bounds. Our answer to the needs of this generation was an outer design that covers a wide range of styles – from classical moods with elegance to casual moods with a dose of freedom. We also made sure to preserve the legacy of the real watch philosophy that we have held over the years to instill the watch with a complete identity.

The design embodies the spirit of activeness, inspired by the remarkably sporty racing watch. The index design with the inverted triangle is one of the results of this design. The tip of the index triangle is designed to precisely align with the hands of the watch so that users can accurately tell time even in active and dynamic conditions.

Q. What kinds of changes were made to its outer design?

A. Whereas the previous model featured a more masculine identity with its weighty body and bold thickness, the Galaxy Watch puts focus on micro details to create a more sensitive design. This design has a tight-knit and low-cut knurling finish of the bezel to minimize malfunctions and create a natural style suitable for women as well.

Low-cut knurling finish of the bezel

Q. How does the strap accentuate the Galaxy Watch’s design?

A. We tried to capture not only the style of the Galaxy Watch, but also the various preferences of our users with the strap. The silicon strap features a new stripe pattern design that wraps around your wrist to express a sense of speediness and activity.

Furthermore, each product comes with straps in multiple colors, which users can mix and match with the body to give a unique makeover of the Galaxy Watch’s mood.

Q. Could you elaborate further on the multiple color combinations available?

A. The 46mm Silver’s Onyx Black, Deep Ocean Blue, and Basalt Gray straps bring an exquisite finish to the product’s charm. The 42mm Midnight Black comes with Onyx Black, Lunar Gray, Terracotta Red, Lime Yellow, and Cosmo Purple straps, and the 42mm Rose Gold can be paired with Pink Beige, Cloud Gray, and Natural Brown straps for users to blend different colors and express distinctive moods for every occasion.

These colorful Galaxy Watch straps can be matched with the Galaxy Note9’s case as well, so users can stylize their smartphone and smart watch with a singular visual identity.

46mm Silver model’s straps(22mm), from left, deep ocean blue, onyx black and basalt gray

42mm midnight black model’s straps(20mm), from left, lunar gray, tera-cotta red, onyx black, yellow and violet

42mm rose gold model’s straps(20mm), from left, natural brown, pink beige and cloud gray

Q. How did you take concerns such as battery life into consideration?

A. The Galaxy Watch isn’t a device you can easily and regularly charge as you would with a smartphone, so there has always been a consumer need for a longer battery life. That’s why we put a lot of effort into the battery every time we released a new product in the series. With a 10nm (nanometer) chipset, the Galaxy Watch’s processor is smaller and consumes less power than previous models – but it is also more powerful than ever before. The Galaxy Watch 46mm model, for example, can achieve 80+ hours of battery life with typical usage¹.

Q. Were there any other changes to the hardware?

A. The Galaxy Watch’s hardware has gone through a comprehensive transformation. The most noticeable part is the sensor located on the back of the product. We increased the number of rear sensors that touch the body to more precisely and quickly detect information regarding user conditions. On the other hand, we decreased the surface area of the sensor that touches the skin and designed it to protrude slightly to better detect user conditions, while eliminating inconveniences such as the accumulation of humidity.

In the evolution of the wearable device, the Galaxy Watch now encompasses the smart lifestyle. The Galaxy Watch is the perfect complement to Millennials, never ceasing to take on the new challenges of the unknown.

¹ Typical Usage: Galaxy Watch 46mm up to 80+ hours; Galaxy Watch 42mm up to 48+ hours. Battery life with typical usage using combined actions including notifications (55 times), checking time (56 times), checking text messages (25 times), talk time (13 minutes), music streaming (15 minutes), workouts (30 minutes), basic controls (30 minutes) and sleep mode

Featuring a sturdy, IP68-certified design, GPS capability and advanced fitness features, the Gear S3 was designed to cater to the active and adventurous. Now, with the release of the three highly functional, activity-focused watchfaces outlined below, Samsung has made it even easier for Gear S3 users to streamline travel, training and trekking the great outdoors.

To illustrate their handy functions, Samsung teamed up with a world-famous adventurer, travel photographer and daredevil – three inspiring individuals who embody the spirit of adventure at the heart of the new watchfaces’ designs.

For Outdoor Adventures

The new Samsung Outdoor Watchface presents a selection of Gear S3 functions that can assist users when they’re out enjoying the weather – whether they’re conquering a hike or simply going for a stroll.

The watchface includes an altimeter at three o’clock, a barometer at nine, a date and weather indication at six, and a sunrise/sunset display that arches over the screen. Tapping an indication once will access its app, while double-tapping will allow you to customize various display-related settings. For instance, the watchface allows users to preset altitude and atmospheric figures that, if exceeded, will cause the screen to flash red.

The Outdoor edition also features a dedicated night mode, and, like the other watchfaces on this list, is offered in multiple colors, so users may customize their screen to their liking.

For the Outdoor Watchface’s release, Samsung collaborated with British explorer Bear Grylls on a series of short videos that immerse viewers in his daily adventures and offer tips on how to use the watchface when trekking through the wilderness.

For World Travelers

The Samsung Travel Watchface combines a host of handy Gear S3 functions that can help business travelers and tourists better manage their trips.

The watchface’s customizable dual-time indications allow you to easily monitor the time and temperature back home as well as in your current location, while the currency display at 12 o’clock offers easy access to the exchange rate.

The My Journey indication rounding out the screen at six o’clock allows you to keep track of distance traveled, and, when tapped, will open a detailed map to help you navigate a new city.

To demonstrate the watchface’s ability to support memorable journeys, Samsung collaborated with Russian travel photographer Murad Osmann and his wife Natalia, who created the captivating ‘Follow Me To’ photo series that’s become a social media phenomenon.

Filmed in reverse and featuring the same immersive angles and vivid color that made the photo series so spectacular, the video below follows Murad and Natalia’s journey from Moscow to Havana, Cuba. There, aided by their Gear S3s, they navigate the city’s streets, soak up its vibrant culture and snap shot after spectacular shot.

For Breaking a Sweat

The Samsung Sports Watchface assembles a variety of Gear S3 functions that can help users put their game face on when training or engaging in their favorite sports.

The Sports Watchface features a stopwatch at three o’clock and a speedometer at nine, beneath side-by-side displays for the user’s current heart rate and calories burned. The watchface also provides easy access to My Journey at the bottom of the screen, to help users map out runs and rides.

Moreover, like the Outdoor edition, the Sports Watchface features a built-in alert function, designed to help users keep an eye on their exertion and exercise safely. Should you exceed your preset activity level – a maximum heart rate, for instance – the screen will flash red to signal you to rein it in.

To illustrate the watchface’s competitive edge, Samsung produced a series of adrenaline-pumping videos following stunt biker extraordinaire Robbie Maddison, who uses the Gear S3 to help him train, smash records and break new ground in his sport.

The Gear S3’s new Outdoor, Travel and Sports watchfaces are currently available for download in the Gear App Store.

The Gear S3 offers two bold, refined designs with sophisticated features such as standalone wireless network connectivity*, a built-in GPS, MST technology and IP68 dust and water resistance. Furthermore, enhanced personalization features, such as customizable watchfaces and interchangeable bands, allow users to make the device their own.

So, whether you’re an adventurer, an on-the-go professional, Superdad or a gearhead, the Gear S3 adds both convenience and fun to your everyday life. See how in the videos below.

*LTE support will be available on the Gear S3 frontier in the U.S. and select countries.

**All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

To continue refining and improving the user experience for Gear S2 smartwatch users, Samsung began to provide its third update from July 15.

This update is focusing on improvements of both ease of use and speed of access.

First, users now can download watchfaces and recommended apps directly from Gear S2. Direct downloads increase the speed and easy of use when users find and add content to their Gear S2, making the user experience significantly more convenient.

Another notable addition is the growing options for the Gear S2’s watchface, which is one of the most visible and defining parts of any smartwatch. Now people can use the My Photo app to set their own photos as the watchface, for customizing the look of the Gear S2 uniquely for their lives. In addition, users can choose a default watchface from one of several colorful rings, for a simple but eye-catching set of new looks.

With the update, S Health can do more to help users track their conditions, including tracking sleep data automatically when they wear the Gear S2 to bed. Users can also post their exercise results directly to Facebook from the Gear S2, making sharing their workout information easy.

The Contacts function, too, is now more convenient, as it is accessible both as an app and as a widget. User can easily make a call or send a message on the Gear S2.

For the voice recognition software, S Voice*, a useful timer has been added. Users can start, pause, resume and stop the timer, all just using S Voice. In addition, when a user asks to check messages while there are not any unread messages, S Voice automatically asks if the user wants to open the message app. And the word streaming function shows what the user is saying and updates it while he or she is talking.

Furthermore, a whole range of the Gear S2’s useful apps have been improved, to provide more information faster and more clearly. The Schedule app now adds a green dot below date with events scheduled, to make identifying appointments easier. The Weather app now includes a UV Index**, to help people keep safer from the most intense sunshine. And the World Clock features several updates, such as sunrise and sunset, time difference between other locations the local time, and a different look for the daytime versus the nighttime in the list view.

Finally, Samsung has made it easier to get support when needed. Now there is a direct Contact Us function in ‘Samsung Gear’ App, so people can get in touch with the customer center and get the help they need directly and easily.

Users can download the latest update through the Samsung Gear app when the Gear S2 and smartphone are synced.

* S Voice is supported in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

** This may differ by region.

Yoojin Hong, Vice President of the User Experience Design Team, Mobile Communications Business, explains why and how Samsung made these updates possible.

Q. In such a dynamically changing environment, how is Samsung changing its approach to user experience?

Today, there are two aspects that directly impact the way we approach user experience design: first is the evolution of software, and second is the user experience as part of the software creation process.

In terms of software evolution, unlike feature phones, most devices now include modern software such as Android or tizen that can be updated and evolve. This means the product’s user experience constantly changes as software updates are released that evolve the product into something better. While beta testing for some service or application is generally the fastest way to get a product on the market earlier, user experience cannot be beta. This is the challenge for most Samsung user experience designers. It must be complete and left to evolve on existing and future hardware for at least two to three years.

Second is the need to streamline the software creation process. At Samsung we realized the shortcomings of the traditional software design process where design and testing were done in fairly sequential and separated steps. Now, to meet users’ dynamic needs, we have adopted an agile development mentality to ensure we release better products faster. For instance, last year we launched a beta program to beta test the latest updates for the Android Marshmallow. Through this process, we listened directly to the feedback of our users and adapted their feedback to the official release version.

The amazing thing about Samsung is we are not afraid to change, and can move forward at the speed of technology once the strategy is set.

Q. What do you think most defines Samsung’s approach to user experience? What makes it unique?

Samsung is unique in that we not only design and develop our products and services, but we have the expertise and capability to manufacture these things in-house. The speed at which we develop hardware and software, as well as our range of products, is unique. Ultimately it is the optimization and evolution of hardware, software and user experience design that makes us unique from everyone else.

Q. What was the key insight that allowed Samsung to come up with the Gear S2’s user experience?

We wanted to make a watch – an everyday casual watch – rather than a smart device. The watch just happened to be smart. This was a very important principle in the design of the UX, and every design decision at Samsung.

For example: We debated a lot whether it should have touch interaction. Some argued that touch is the most intuitive and would carry on the smartphone experience. But we reminded ourselves that we are not making a mini-smartphone for the wrist. It’s a watch. Therefore it was a natural decision to use a familiar rotating bezel for the most common tasks: navigating and scrolling.

Q. Why did you select a circular design for the Gear S2?

Most real watches are circular in shape. It allows for better watch designs and forces you to focus on one thing at a time. By the very nature of the shape, a circle lets you focus on one thing while a rectangle lets you read from top to bottom or from left to right. It’s the perfect shape for users to ‘glance’ at the information quickly, not to ‘read it thoroughly’.

However, we found that there is a lot less real estate with a circle display. We were all used to a rectangular display. But we quickly found the value of center-aligned information when quickly glancing at information.

Q. How did you collaborate with other teams to design the UX of the Gear S2?

We all worked closely together as a team – hardware, software, industrial design, interaction design, visual design, motion design, prototyping, and so on – to ensure a seamless user experience.

For instance, the rotating bezel’s tension and friction were tuned with a scene transition implementation. We didn’t want the navigation to be overly difficult or simple. We also wanted the screen to start moving as the Gear S2 was rotated, so the rotation speed and starting point were carefully designed.

We included haptic vibration in the design and tuned it with the software and hardware as well. For instance, we designed a subtle vibration for when the Gear S2 hits the scrolling end. It had to be perfect with the rotating bezel, on-screen feedback and vibration all together.

We made a record number of prototypes when developing the Gear S2. Due to the new methods of interaction, we had to see and use the prototypes for ourselves. For instance, the watchface rotation. We weren’t sure whether the screen should transition to the right or left when rotating the bezel.  We made about 20 variations—just to check this one function—with different angles, speeds and directions. We had to actually see these things in action before making the decision. Nothing could work separately. They all needed to harmonize perfectly to deliver a smooth and natural experience.

Q. How do you see wearables affecting people’s lifestyles in the near-future?

Wearables are taking on the roles of smartphones and computers. They are allowing technology to be more invisible and natural, yet still accessible. I think the most immediate opportunity for wearables is that they free users from being active while still keeping them connected – for example, when exercising. And since they are worn, they have the opportunity to help enhance our personal wellbeing, health and fitness. In the longer run, wearables will become a main interaction point when everyday objects are connected seamlessly. We see this opportunity already with the ability to call Uber from the Gear S2 without pulling out the phone on the road.

The collaboration of Samsung Electronics and Italian designer Alessandro Mendini was a significant event in the tech world. The Italian designer brought his unique sensitivity to the sleek design of the Gear S2, impressing consumers around the world on launch day.

Previous smartwatches were simply regarded as an extra mobile accessory, but the release of Samsung’s Gear S2 marked a turning point, demonstrating how a digital device can transform the face of a traditional fashion item.

The Gear S2 is a smartwatch that was designed to enhance the everyday life of the consumer by providing convenient access to essential and customizable content right from one’s wrist. Early smartwatch faces, for example, allowed health enthusiasts to instantly measure and monitor their fitness and diet data at a glance, while sports fans could keep a close eye on the big game. However, despite the variety of customizable features available, there was still room for enhancement.

A Design Tool for Both Amateurs and Experts

Enter the Gear Watch Designer. This new tool allows anyone interested in creating a Gear S2 watch face to design, produce and distribute their own using a variety of editing tools. While such a program may sound complicated, users don’t need to be professional coders or designers to use it.

Utilizing a basic UI, the program lets users choose from a selection of design elements, such as watch hands and backgrounds, to create their own watch face. Additionally, they can also upload their own designs created with professional programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and apply them according to their preferences.

Anyone interested in creating a Gear watch face can join the beta version of Gear Watch Designer is now available for download. To get a better idea of how the program works, watch this tutorial video, and then check out the tips below for designing your own personalized watch face with ease. Here is a quick guide to use this program.

Step 1: Create a Personalized Background

There are a number of default background options available, but users can click “Import Image” to open and use their own personal photographs to make their watch face truly one-of-a-kind. The “Appearance” menu on the right is for adjusting the contrast, opacity and brightness of the image.

Step 2: Select Your Style

Diverse types of plate indices

In the Index Setting menu, users can set the dial to include 12 hours

While the numeral index displays the hours like a traditional watch, circular and square indices can add a simple, contemporary look to the customized watch face. The “Index Type” menu gives users the option to arrange indices by hour or minute and second. Select “Custom” to set the index to one week or 12 months.

Step 3: Get Things in Order

Move the bar in the timeline and watch the hands rotate

Create a background first then add the watch hands to ensure that the images do not overlay. When arranging the watch hands, it is recommended that the hour hand be set first, followed by the minute and second hands, respectively. Otherwise, altering the order later will be more complicated. The same rings true for adding “Complications,” which include shortcuts, notifications, fitness data and battery usage, among others.

Next, drag the blue bar along the timeline at the bottom of the screen. The hands will tick and users will then be able to add other elements more intuitively.

Extra Tip: Pivot for Differentiation

“Pivot” takes the sophistication of design to the next level

Want a digital watch with a unique face? Then right-click on the watch hands and select “Show Pivot.” The pivot is the central point of the watch face and lets one easily rotate the indices or move the point on which the hands are pinned.

Once your unique watch face design is complete, click “Run” on the top right of the screen to check if it works. Users can review their design while adjusting time and battery status. Click “Run on Device” to transfer the watch face to the Gear S2.

This sample watch face displays battery level, heart rate and step count

The program also makes it fun to experiment with different options, such as adding an additional “Day of Week” dial to the watch face, as shown in the video demonstration. In fact, one of the best things about Gear Watch Designer is that it allows users to set up the theme exactly the way they want. And, thanks to the simplicity of the program’s step-by-step guide, users will have no difficulty designing their watch face.

Watch faces generated by WatchMaster designers using the Gear Watch Designer

Designed primarily with preset elements, the sample face designed in the video is fairly standard. But there are plenty of more elaborate watch faces created with Gear Watch Designer displayed on Samsung Gear Apps. Since the beta release on December 29 last year, a number of designers have introduced watch faces crafted with Gear Watch Designer. In particular, well-known creator WatchMaster offers an expansive collection of unique watch faces crafted by certified designers from all over the world. It just takes a bit of intuition and an imaginative idea for any user to create watch faces that are just as stylish.