For at least the last 3 years I have wanted a smart watch. I even tried to find them available in BestBuy at least a year before the original Galaxy Gear came out. I considered going apple and getting an iPod Nano with a custom band so that I could have one, and then I found that Sony made one. But the Sony one was only available online, so I had no way to get my hands on one and see if I liked the build quality, and the reviews were pretty mixed.
Then I saw someone on the train wearing one of those chinese cell phone watches. It looked like a cell phone strapped to his wrist. It was bulky, and not stylish at all. It screamed nerd! While There is nothing wrong with that, I do embrace my inner nerd, but I would prefer not to have the strange looks when out in public, beside it seemed too bulky to wear while working, and not stylish enough to use when going out.
When the original Galaxy Gear came out I was excited, and couldn't wait to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, but perhaps luckily, I had a Galaxy Note 2 which was not supported at the time of release of the original Galaxy Gear. When support for the Galaxy Gear finally was available for the Note 2 I had enough time to decide that this was not the device that I wanted, and opted to wait for the second generation devices to come out.
Not only had Samsung priced the original Galaxy Gear out of range for what I thought was a reasonable price for such a device, but the design was still sort of bulky, and too industrial. The exposed screws on the face of the watch, the camera on the wrist band, and the overall thickness of the device was not appealing, especially not for $300.
Luckily when the Galaxy Gear 2 devices came out samsung made the design much more appealing, and made the device compatible with many more smartphones. I ended up buying the Gear 2 Neo along with a Galaxy S5, so the compatibility issue was not a major concern to me, however it was still a minor concern as if I decide to replace my phone in the future I know that I will not be restricted to a narrow few devices to choose from. The $200 price tag for the Galaxy Gear 2 Neo also was what I feel right in the sweet spot for where a device like this should be priced. Sure Samsung still released a Gear with a camera, that they moved onto the watch face so that you can replace the band for $300, but they provided an option for those of us who could do with out the additional camera. Besides, I do not believe the addition of a mere camera was worth the additional $100. Not to mention, what is the benefit of having a camera on your watch aside from playing a peeping tom? You always have your phone with you, and the resolution photos and video that you would get with your phone will always surpass whatever resolution that you would get from a camera added to a watch.
Besides.... Neo was the main character in the Matrix, and the name just sounds cool. OK well that actually had no bearing on my decision to go with the Galaxy Gear 2 Neo as opposed to the Galaxy Gear 2 that has a built in camera.
As I experience my watch, and find useful features, tips, tricks and more I will be adding them to this blog, so stay tuned for specs, comparisons, and other useful information about the Galaxy Gear 2 and the Galaxy Gear 2 Neo in the coming days, weeks, months, and perhaps even years!
