#Applewatch #Samsung #Smartwatch #WearableTech
Before I start, this isn't a bash against Apple at all, I have no issues with the brand Apple, I have no issues with their products. More or less a slight rant with a side of a review for one of Apples biggest competitors. If you couldn't guess from the hash tags, I'm talking about the Samsung Gear line. Is this review and rant a bit dated? Sure it is, but I didn't have a blog until this year, so... deal with it? Time to review a Samsung Gear watch.
First lets start with my review. I have worn a Samsung Gear 2 Neo for the past year, I'm no fashion icon, I'm not a watch wearing kind of guy either, I'm just your average every day technology enthusiast. The day the first Gear hit the shelf, I looked and cringed, it was an overpriced, under powered, iPod nano with a camera. What exactly was the point? A touch screen watch? Hell all watches have touch screens, what is so special right? Then a co-worker purchased one and I'll be honest... it was kind of cool. I wasn't enthralled with its brilliance, it had some cool functionality, but it was lacking a LOT of functionality that I would hope the price tag would match. 1 strap for life, camera, just... so what?Then the Gear 2 was announced, with a heart rate monitor, with an ir blaster, with water and dust proof functions, interchangeable straps. Despite the bleak inception it had on me, I was captivated by this new one. I like the idea of monitoring my heart, I like the idea of being a pedometer, being able to see texts without getting my phone out, it was an option that could change the way my life works. So I picked up the 2 Neo, and although I'm not a "watch guy" per say, I don't go a day without wearing it.
Why is it so cool though? Is it worth the money? Hell yeah it is, I got it with a new phone for $150, sure it doesn't have the camera but... I don't care, I can't see a practical reason for using a camera on a watch, it just seems... stupid? The rear view camera app is kind of cool, but... just not my cup of tea, I don't need to watch who comes up behind me. Now I'm not a fitness buff though as you could probably guess, but when I do go to the gym (yes I have a gym membership, go planet fitness), it does come in handy. See how many steps I made, track my best times, all the while skipping tracks on my smart phone all from my watch because I'm tired of this particular Eminem album and want to switch to some nerd core like Dr. Awkward. The functionality is beyond what I was expecting, this thing over the past year has been amazing. I've tracked every day of sleep, I've walked over 5,000 steps on most days, which yes I know I need to get that number up.
The device isn't the magic ticket to getting me to walk, it isn't the magic ticket to get me to monitor my sleep (which I need to get more of), but its a small bit of motivation, do I need to go to bed an hour earlier? Sure I might want to, the watch kind of encouraged me a little. Do I need to walk a little more? Yes and the watch was a bit of an encouragement. Paired with a little "you're in the top XX percentile" makes me want to stride a little more to do better. And yes it is waterproof, I've showered with it on countless times, not because I wanted to test it or because I'm attached, just more because... at 5:00am I'm not fully aware of what I'm doing always. I love this watch and suggest everyone has one.
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Where does this rant come in though? I've worn this watch for 1 year, not 6 months, not 3 months, not 2 weeks, 1 whole year. Bought it in April of 2014, its now April of 2015, I love this thing. But what makes me angry is this. People I've known who have asked about the watch, who have talked to me about my watch, saw a commercial for the new damn apple watch and started going "Oh My God Ryan is that an Apple Watch? Those things are expensive!!!"This is the same watch I've had on, the same watch you asked about before, but not just people I see monthly, weekly, or daily, but people out in public have started stopping me in eager excitement. Random cashiers think I'm some Rothschild or Hilton start bugging me as to how much I paid for it because they heard it was expensive, all of them pestering me "how did you get that apple watch so early?" They look nothing alike, and the Samsung gear has been in production for the past two years already, did the idea that someone other than Apple can produce something new fade away because Tim Cook whipped his out during a keynote speech? No, its one of the most annoying things I have started to deal with on a daily basis.
Three hundred sixty five days ago I was a "nerd" and a "geek" for owning a piece of wearable tech, a dumb kid who wastes their money on pointless technology because I "need" to adopt new technology before the rest of the world. And now all of a sudden those same condescending pricks begin to glow in some form of effervescent ignorance trying to claw it from my wrist because they think its an Apple product. What the actual hell?
I'd like to add, the picture of my actual watch (the one at the top, my wrist is attached and all), my hand is on a macbook, that is a mac charger, I don't hate Mac products, but why do people lose their ability of free will the second Apple says something? Its dumb if company A does it, but the second Apple does it? Its cool, its hip, it needs to be admired by all and... if you have the Samsung you're just a poor wannabe. Which yes... I've already heard those words spat at me... um this has been out for a year now... how the hell am I the wannabe? It made going to meetings easier when I got a notification on my wrist, it made getting texts easier in movies so I wouldn't have to pull an unholy sun from my pocket to glare at and blind any onlookers around me from their film. I've had it for a year to make my life easier, and now I'm the tool?
I don't have hate Apple, I don't hate their products, I can't stand the robots who get a roboner the second a new Apple product is announced or released and anyone who isn't buying an Apple gets treated as an inferior. I can't stand these people, bunch of ignorant skidmarks on Tim Cooks worn panties.
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And s Always, Be Safe My Goblins.
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