Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have been on the smartwatch bandwagon for a few years. This watch is replacing a Moto360 Android Wear watch. I have had the watch in daily use for 9 days now... Here are my impressions and why I am "WOWed" by it. #1 - Important to me - It functions well as a watch (telling time). The display is clear in all conditions. I can glance at my wrist and see what time it is. I have my watch set with always-on for this reason, and it just works (ALL day - See battery section). #2 - Technology - Samsung has packed a load of tech and features in this watch. Initially I was skeptical of moving from the open Android Wear platform to the proprietary Tizen platform, but I have to say again everything works great. I like the user interface, and the combination of touchscreen, rotating bezel, and buttons feels 'just right' for interacting with the user interface. The UI itself is intuitive enough that it took almost no time to get used to it. #2a - Setup - I have a Galaxy S7edge - The watch setup with my phone was practically automatic and beyond easy. My phone recognized the watch without me doing anything and prompted me through a few steps of setup and I was done in a couple of minutes. #3 - Battery - Not sure how they did it, but this is the first smartwatch I have seen where battery life was not an issue. For the first few days, I used it in default configuration (always-on was turned off) after an active 16-18 hour day there was still 35-70% battery left - WOW. When I turned on the always-on feature I expected the battery to tank, but to my surprise, I still have 50+% battery after a long day! Side note: Samsung did a good job on the wireless charger as well - I particularly like the magnetic feature, as it keeps me from knocking the watch off of the dock/out of place and interrupting my overnight charging on my bedside table! #4 - Samsung Pay - On a watch! (Dislike that I have to set cards up separately for phone and watch. So far I am very impressed!

Very attractive watch but my reason for choosing this watch over other smart watches is compatability with my Samsung S7 Edge phone. It is very easy to set up and link to phone. I use it mostly as a watch occasionally checking messages and email notifications but have begun using Samsung Pay frequently as it is extremely convenient and as far as I can tell is very safe. With this type of use a full charge lasts almost 2 days.

I recently upgraded to the Galaxy 8 phone, and asked for the Gear 3 as a Christmas gift. I wanted a smart watch that was both stylish (not a sport design) and paired well with my Android S8. During my research I was tempted to get a Fossil at first, but found out that it's pairing with the phone was somewhat limited. So far, the Gear 3 does exactly what I expected it to do. Pros: It pairs seamlessly with the S8, and supports a great variety of apps. The battery life is much better than I expected, lasting probably 3-4 days if it's turned off at night. I estimate that it charges from 50% in about 30-45 minutes too. Navigation is really simple, using either the bezel or swipe of the finger and has a snappiness to it. Overall, very happy with it. Cons: I can't seem to find an app that allows me to mute my phone FROM my watch. I can do this however on the music player app that came with the watch (which works directly with my Spotify on my S8). But I want to be able to turn my phone to vibrate or back onto sound from my watch. If there is an app for that I have not yet found it. Neutral: It is big for a watch. This is expected for a smart watch especially, but it takes some getting used to at first. Also the range it needs to pair with the phone is rather short, maybe 20 ft which is shorter than I expected. But the watch does notify you when it's lost signal, which can actually be helpful in case you're about to leave an area not knowing you misplaced your phone (and the watch does have a phone locator app built in as well).

I have been testing SmartWatches for about the last year. This all started with me wanting to track my fitness and ended up evolving from a simple Fitbit to now this Samsung Gear S3. The other smart watches that I have tried are a Polar and also an earlier version of the Samsung Gear Watch s model. I was not impressed at all with the earlier s model but when I received this S3 in the mail I could tell that Samsung had taken their time and made some quality improvements on this watch. From the moment you take this watch out of the box you can tell it is a finely crafted piece of art. It's not big or clumpy and doesn't demand attention. It is clean and classy but yet rugged enough to withstand a day at work. It was easy to set up and I did so in minutes by connecting the gear app on my Galaxy S7 phone to the watch. I really love the dial that you can scroll through different options. The S3 is very intuitive and without even asking it to it begins to record you working out so no more standing at the starting line and fumbling with your watch while you're trying to get ready to race. Watch automatically detects when workout starts and does a fairly good job detecting when the workouts end. It's not 100% accurate as that goes but I guess it is measuring activity still. I like the fact that there are multiple watch faces that I can use and depending on my mood or the style that I am into for that day I can change my watch to reflect that. There are minimal buttons on this wash which is nice. I have been complimented many times when people see the watch and the different functions that it is able to do. I have also tested the watch regarding call Quality while I am driving. I had my hands on the wheel and was able to have a normal conversation with a friend of mine on multiple occasions and he was able to hear me just fine and I was able to hear him just fine all while not fumbling with a phone and risking an accident while driving on the highway or in town. That was one of the biggest noticeable improvements to me because on the other Galaxy Gear watch that I had the call Quality was terrible. You had to put the watch up to your ear in order to hear anything. The heart rate monitor and the other functions seem to work well. I am still figuring out some functions regarding that to be able to see stats during a workout. Overall I give this 4 stars because they have made some really good improvements but I believe there is room to grow yet. Nicely done!

Out of no where this happens. This is ridiculous. I am highly upset.

I have replaced my phone with this watch and let me tell you how. I'm about 6 months into my fitness lifestyle. I work as a loan officer by day and prepping for Groove Cruise with my wife by night (getting in shape). #1 best feature - The ability to to text full messages from it. I don't have to get my phone out in front of my clients in order to respond to things. #2 best - is the IP68 rating. I use the spotify app which is standalone or remote on the watch to play music in the shower - yeah I'm that guy, I swim with it (not deeper than 5 feet), and I've even taken it to some sulfur soaked hot springs and It works great in all environments! #3 best - Stand alone apps. My credit union allows Samsung Pay so I use it on my watch all the time. It get's people talking about it and I get to brag about my watch to others. I use all aspects of S Health and it monitors sleep patterns automatically, I track nutrition intake, and have been using Pear for Samsung to track exersice. Pear has a standalone app for the watch so you don't have to bring your phone with you to work out. I pair up my bluetooth headphones with the watch directly and go to town on spotify or MP3s and the voice coach of Pear. It also has a standalone Uber app to hail a ride at 2:00am on a Friday night. There's too much to talk about as far as standalone apps to write in a review. Those are the ones I use most right now. #4 - The bezel is amazing. Use it to scroll through all menus and screens. #5 - Quality of screen. Looks much more crisp and clear than my wife's Fossil Q. #6 - Battery life. I'm getting about 2 days on a charge with lots of usage. I'm happy with it. There's so many amazing features of this watch. Makes my life more efficient than anything in my life next to my Wife.

This watch has not disappointed me yet! Amazing battery life, great personalization for interfaces, and gets the job done for what I purchased it for. Mainly wanted easy access to texts, emails, calendar reminders. It is great having access to all of those without having to bring out my entire phone to receive messages from them. Very easy to use.

I love my S3. The battery last me a few days, but that is with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off. There are many watch faces to chose from in the app store for free, it records my walks and runs well, it connects to GPS very fast. I love the Samsung pay feature, works great. All around a fantastic watch, highly recommend.

Simply the Best Smartwatch available today. It does just about anything you would need it to do. Water resistant, shock proof, freeze proof, 3 day battery life, make phone calls, fitness track everything, endless watch faces, easy change out watch bands, text message, email. I could go on and on!

I've owned every iteration of the samsung smart watch and the gear s3 finally gets it right. After changing out the plastic band for a metal one, the smart watch finally achieves a very important goal: feeling like a real watch (the weight, size, design). The large screen is perfect and responds quickly to anything you do. The rotating bezel makes flipping through the information fast and easy. The only real gripe about the smartwatch is the lack of apps to take advantage and hopefully if popularity grows, that will be fixed. My favorite feature is the many different watch faces that you can interchange from depending on your mood. You can have all the statistics you want with a busy watchface or relax back with a customizable photo one. The battery life is also exceptional, went 5 days of light use without a single charge. The watch is also overall very responsive to your wrist movements which is a significant improvement on previous models. It achieves everything the gear fit does and puts it on a true watch replacement.

Gear S | Brief History Samsung had a unique approach when they first introduce their Gear S line. From their large, curved Gear S, to the slimmer, curved Gears S Fit, to the circular Gear S2 with the turning bezel, to the Gear S2 Fit and now here, the new Gear S3. Taking all the best features from their 1st and 2nd Gen Gear S watches into one. Like they say, 3rd times a charm! So, the big question… “Why THIS smartwatch? Why not Moto, LG, Asus, etc.? Is this the droid, err, I mean, smartwatch, I’m looking for?” In short, yes. Let me break it down, shall I? PACKAGING Your brand new Samsung Gear S3 – Frontier will arrive in a circle box. Unwrap and open the box to reveal the smartwatch and charging cradle. Lift the small cover underneath to reveal the USB A/C charger and cable. Along with instruction manual and an additional wrist strap for people with a smaller wrist; that’s actually a nice/considerate touch from Samsung. FIRST IMPRESSION At first glance, the Frontier is just stunning. The beautiful dark grey finish is gorgeous. The Frontier has the ‘compass-styled’ bezel, along with the rubber-type band that compliments the watch. Overall, the watch is very appealing to the eye. It does have a bit of a heft to it compared to thinner smartwatches, but this because of the additional features/hardware that comes with it; which we will get to. SETUP When you power on your smartwatch for the first time, (by holding down the bottom right button) it will go through its initial setup. For those who own a Samsung Galaxy S6 or S7, and have Bluetooth already enabled, your phone will automatically connect to it! If you own a different Android device or iPhone, setup will probably require an extra set or two. Once completed, more than likely your Gear needs to get an update. Once the update is complete, you can begin exploring everything your Gear has to offer. TIZEN vs. Android Wear Android Wear is not the operating system running the Gear; it’s Samsung’s custom OS, Tizen. Tizen has been around since the first Gear S. Many have praised it for its unique and favorable user interface. Since then, it has polished up, a lot, and it makes your smartwatch more than just a smartwatch. I mean, if you are coming from Android Wear, you’ll immediately think that Android Wear is behind. The interface flows so smoothly. You can download apps, even games…GAMES…to it. Turn the bezel to the right to access your favorite widgets (weather, music player, calendar, steps, news, favorite contacts, etc.) Turn the bezel to the left to access your notification. You can change the background “wallpaper” (black comes standard), you can change the watch faces (some are very customizable and look stunning) and so much more to explore. Oh, did I mention you can make calls and answer them via Bluetooth?! Ok, yes that’s been out for a while, but it’s new to me and its super cool and convenient. FU-TURE! This is where that extra heft comes into play. The Gear has a built in speaker (a loud one), microphone, NFC for mobile pay, GPS and other hardware. Samsung did a good job packaging all of that and more into the Gear. However, a few people don’t appreciate the thickness of it. Its bit thicker than the 2nd Gen Moto 360, but once it’s on your wrist, that thickness visually fades away. (Somewhere I read this is thanks to Samsung painting the bottom part of Gear black so it blends in, making it look appear slimmer than it truly is) In the end, it feels like having a full-blown smartphone on your wrist. FITNESS I would not consider myself a fitness guru. I am doing my best to keep active. Many of the Gear’s fitness features are turned on by default. The one I have turned off is the automatic heart reading. Not because I do not think it is beneficial, but it does save on battery life. One neat and motivating feature is that the Gear will remind you to get up and moving if you have been inactive for at least an hour. If you tend do a lot cardio, or mainly walking, after 10-minutes of continues walking or any active movement, the Gear will start tracking your workout. After a short period of inactivity, the Gear will show you your results. You can also tell the S Health app what kind of exercise you’ll be performing so it can log it for you. These are definitely some nice features to get your fitness on. SAMSUNG PAY Oh, man. This. Is. Cool! If you own a Galaxy S7, you know what Samsung Pay already is. Similar to Android Pay and Apple Pay, it is a service where you can link your credit card and pay using your smartphone. The Galaxy S7 revolutionized this by claiming that you can pay at almost any store that has a card swipe reader, even if the card swipe reader does not have NFC. You can just hold your phone near the card swipe area, and boom, it works…every now and then. Samsung has brought this to the Gear S3, and now you can pay with your watch! You will go through the initial setup, which requires you to enable a pin passcode on your watch. (Every time you take off your watch and put it back on, or it senses inactivity, you will have to enter your pin). Then you will go through the process of adding your credit cards. Yes, you still have to do this even if you already have Samsung Pay on your S7. Now you are all set. You just hold down the top right button, and select the card you want to use and hit pay. Place your watch near the NFC reader or card swipe. Now, this is a hit or miss with the watch. Placement seems to be everything when using it on a card swipe reader that does not have NFC. Some stores also turn off mobile payments on their reader. Then, there are times where it looks like it work only for the card reader to say there was an error. So, while this is a cool feature, do not expect to work every time, but 90% of the time it will. CAPABILITY All right, it is a no brainer that Gear S3 is the perfect companion for your Galaxy S7. They were made for each other and everything just work flawlessly. BUT… While the Gear S3 is compatible with other Android’s & iPhone’s, some features/applications will not work the same, such as email/text. PERFORMANCE Samsung advertises that this watch can go 4-days without charge. Moreover, that might be true. I tested it and I was able to get little over 65 hours (2d 17h 3m 27s to be exact) with 9% left. Not bad. It probably could have made it to 4-days if I used “Power Saving” mode. I was able to achieve the above battery performance by turning off Automatic Heart Reading, Always on display and GPS. Speaking of Always On Display, it drained my battery like no-other. In just 12-hrs it went from 100% to 48%. I enabled this feature on my 2nd Moto 360 and by ends day, I would be at 70%. Granted, rumor has that Always Display eats up more battery is your watch face has a lot of color. If there is more black on your watch face, it will use less battery. I cannot confirm this; nonetheless, nice to know. The Gear is snappy. I will not get technical with hardware specs. But, all you need to know is that it’s fast and responsive. Incorporating the turn bezel along with touch makes maneuvering through the Gear a breeze. I have yet to experience any crashes with the Gear. Just like a smartphone, if you open many apps, you can go and individually close them to free up memory if you believe your Gear is starting to under perform. OVERALL I know there are probably some areas of the Gear that I did not get into, like reviewing certain applications, the clarity of the speaker, the accuracy of the fitness features, etc. But, in the end, all you really want to know if it’s worth the $$$. Yes. Yes it is. It is one of the best smartwatches currently in the market. I will highly recommend this one over any other smartwatch, any day. And this is coming from someone who own both Moto 360 and thought they were the best. [**Android Wear 2.0 released this month, February 2017. I have not compared the new update as it hasn’t come to the Moto 360 2nd Gen at the time of this review. However, v2.0 is just NOW getting NFC capabilities, and only the new LG Style & Sport are the only Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches that support it.**]

I have owned this watch now for a little over a month, and I absolutely love it. I feel like so many wearable devices look like you have a monitoring device stuck to you, but Samsung has made a remarkable watch that is truly functional. Frontier has done the best job at moving from wearable technology to integrated technology. I find that this watch has nestled it's way into my everyday routine. Display: The first area to note is the Always On Display. Although the AOD design varies based on the watch face, this is such a great feature because it allows this watch to look and function like a watch instead of a blank screen tracking device. I get numerous comments each day, on what a nice looking watch I have, when I show people what it does, they are blown away. Some of the watch faces do look very digital once they transition to the always on display, but there are so many available watch faces that look really great, I love the customization. Battery Life: Samsung indicates that the watch battery will last approximately 3 days. Out of the box this is true, but I turned on the AOD, turned off automatic heart rate monitoring, use Samsung Pay a few times a day, make calls when I am driving to and from work and have brightness on 6 (out of 10), and I am getting closer to 1.5 days, but not a problem at all because it charges incredibly fast, so I can just take it off briefly at home while watching TV and I am good to go. In those cases when you forget to charge it...turn the power saving on. I was at 15% battery at 7am, turned power saving on and was still at 9% at 6pm. Samsung Pay: Let me preface this section with stating that I was already an advocate of Samsung Pay. I think Samsung Pay leads the way in digital wallets and I am an active user. Samsung Pay with the watch connects even faster than my phone. Very rarely, but I have had a few instances where Samsung Pay has jammed up the CC reader, but never once when using my watch, so it is now my preferred method. Phone Calls: This is a feature I wasn't sure about, but absolutely love! People say the sound is crystal clear and much better than the blue tooth in my car. It simply makes driving much easier. Occasionally I answer calls, when I am just out and about, but typically I use this feature when I am driving. It is so much more convenient than trying to fumble for your phone while trying to keep your eyes on the road. Messages: Having new messages from all my connected accounts literally on my wrist is awesome. For the most part it is not a feature that was absent in earlier wearable devices, but I stumbled across the write your message feature, which is super accurate and incredibly cool. It is easier than trying to type a message on your watch. Monitoring: This watch takes daily activity monitoring to a whole new level. The sleep monitoring is scarily accurate. I love that I don't have to turn it on & off. I always found this to be an annoyance with older wearable devices because when you first wake up you are not thinking about turning off your sleep monitor. The watch also provides "gentle" reminders to get active after an hour of inactivity which I appreciate. Overall: This is currently the best smart watch on the market. Even friends an co-workers who own a different brand of phone and watch are jealous of Samsung Gear S3 Frontier. I have a Samsung phone, but I believe if you have an iPhone or another Android device this watch can still work just a varying levels of integration. If you want a watch that looks really good and you will actually use, this is it. I absolutely love it!

I was skeptical about the size. It is a big watch for a small female, but I wouldn't want it any smaller. Ive seen reviews that say its not feminine enough, but that is easily changed with a new band and faces. It has a big beautiful screen! I owned the Apple watch with my old iPhone, but I got sick of Apple so I switched back to Samsung. This blows the Apple watch out of the water in my opinion. It has the same basic functions but I love the bigger screen, it has a ton more watch faces for download, calls are much clearer, notification tones, pairs perfectly with my Iconx 2018 ear buds! My only complaint would be that the face doesn't turn on immediately when i raise my arm. Sometimes i have to turn my wrist a couple times to get it on, which can be annoying. Overall id say it was an awesome Christmas gift! I can't wait to see what apps will be added!

I have owned a few smart watches in my time.. the moto 360, the pebble, and now this S3. i stalked this watch for over a year but the price never went below $299. Finally i just bought it black friday for $279 and i am happy with my decision. This watch last 2-3x as long as my moto did and i use it more. I talk/text on it. I have transferred songs to listen on it. i clock all my workouts on it and two day later im still above 40%. if you have a galaxy you should get this watch. even if you have a general android buy it too, just not all features are available to you.

I have been a long time owner of Samsung Gear 2 Neo, watch. It had been 3 years since I got it, and even though it continues to work properly, I wanted something new.. something circular. My issue with Android watches is battery life... if it cant last more than 3 days, then I am sure there will be days (weekend hiking trips) where it will be out of charge. Gear 2 Neo gave me almost 4 days on a single charge... and hence I was not looking for any lesser. I tried Gear 2... 2 days battery life, no speaker phone along with small size (my perception. I don't like small watches on my wrist) I promptly returned gear 2 classic. in comes Gear S3. Pros: - 3.5-4 Days battery - Just the right size for males. (I am 5'9). not too big, not too small. - Samsung Pay (its awesome to be able to pay at any counter.. even without NFC). This is the coolest feature. - Speaker Phone - closely integrated health features (pedometer, floors climbed, heart rate sensor etc). These features are better implemented in Gear S2, as compared to Gear 2 neo. - You can reply to messages, WhatsApp, facebook... cool writing recognition. Cons - Lack of apps. Nest app is also a paid, unofficial app. No integrations with smart things I hope the cons resolve themselves with time... otherwise this is a no compromise watch for me and I am loving the compliments from family and friends on its striking good looks.

The Samsung Gear S3 is the best smartwatch on the market, hands down. As of the time of this review, there just isn't anything out there even close. Samsung Pay alone is enough to buy this watch. It works flawlessly with non-Samsung Android phones. Fit and finish are excellent. Navigation via bezel is excellent. Prior to this, I had a Garmin Fenix 3 HR. That watch is superb fitness with below average smart features. The Gear S3 is above average fitness with AMAZING smart features. If Samsung could get more app developers to work on Tiezen based apps... there wouldn't even be competition.

I have been wearing the Gear S3 Frontier now as my daily driver for nearly 4 weeks. I wear it day and night, as I love to see the sleep data collected by the watch. First I’ll put to rest a concern that I had before I got the S3. I have absolutely no complaints about the size! I love the little bigger display and the thickness is not even noticeable. The Gear S3 battery is fantastic. I charge daily, in the morning while I get ready for the day and typically it has around 40% when I return it to the charger the following morning. This is with my using the always on display, which I really like. Another great feature of the S3 is the capability to make and receive calls from the watch using just a Bluetooth connection to my phone. This is very convenient and works very well in any situation where a speaker phone call is appropriate. The speaker also gives the capability to play music from your phone and even has a Spotify app for the watch. One of my absolute favorite things about the Gear S3 is Samsung Pay. The S3 has NFC and MST which allows you to use it at nearly ALL card swipers. No other watch on the market has this capability. I can use my S3 to pay at virtually any retailer without pulling out my wallet or my phone. Some of my favorite apps are the Messaging, Calendar, Weather, Alarm, Timer, Stopwatch, Voice Memo, Find My Phone, Tip Estimate, Phone, S Health, Gallery, Spotify, Alti-Barometer, Rubikcube, Maps and of course my all-time favorite, Samsung Pay. I love getting text messages on my watch. It is much more convenient to quickly check my wrist than to pull my phone out of my pocket. It is much more subtle also, when that matters. I use the alarm functionality on my phone and love that I can dismiss or snooze the alarm from my watch which for me is very convenient because I wear the watch to bed. I love being able to see my appointment schedule and receive notifications on the watch. The S Voice actually performs very well at composing text messages and reply to texts. The S3 uses any 22mm band on the market, which increases your options exponentially. I am currently using a black metal link band I absolutely love. The larger screen and bezel is such an intuitive way to interact with the watch. The S3 stepped it up with a notched bezel that looks better than past versions, is much easier to grip, and the engagement of the bezel feels crisp. I absolutely love this watch, and as of right now can’t think of anything I would change!

OK, so let me first say that I have never written a review for anything but am compelled to do it for this purchase. I am a smartwatch freak. I own an Apple Watch, Fenix 3HR, several Fitbits, UP, and others. I have never found one that I was completely satisfied with until now. Even though I am an iPhone user, I did the research and purchased my Gear S3 and cannot see myself going back. PROS - Incredibly clear display with plenty of settings to personalize. - Stylish - not the typical square you find with many others. - Paired with no problem with my iPhone 7+ with iOS 11. - While I can't do many of the Android specific apps because Apple refuses to allow access, it does plenty for me including text alerts, phone use, HR, and more. - The rotating bezel is a genius innovation. So simple and easy to use. - Speaker is perfect - so much better than my Apple Watch. Don't have to keep my wrist next to my ear to hear! CONS - Because I am using this with my iPhone, I don't have access to a majority of the applications through Android. HOWEVER, I knew this going in and have been surprised just what I can do regardless. Bottom line, I am so glad that I took the leap and purchased this smartwatch. It does everything I had hoped it would and then some. If you are looking for maps and tracking with GPS, go with the Garmin Fenix 5x. But if you are looking for all of the functions of a great smartwatch that looks great, functions perfectly with your iPhone, take a leap like I did. I don't think you will regret it. It does everything I need a smartwatch to do

I have been looking at smart watches for some time now and this one is the one that caught my attention, first the looks are very similar to a GShock and it's very easy to use, the most impressive thing is the notifications, they are easy to read and easy to delete one simple swipe.If you are looking for a smart watch, don't overlook this watch, you will be very glad that you took the time to check it out and find a Best Buy employee that really knows the watch to show you all the options that it has.

Watch is durable and reliable. Battery life last a few days. Would like to see few more apps offered. Overall great quality