Samsung Unveils 18K Rose Gold Gear S2, Platinum Edition [Details]
This week, Samsung released two new flavors of the Gear S2. The Korean tech giant's hi-tech Tizen-powered smartwatch now has an 18K Rose Gold edition and a Platinum edition. Naturally, both variants are more expensive than the standard Gear S2, but not as costly as the Rose Gold Apple Watch.
The Verge found the duo on a European pre-order site listed at €480 or approximately $520. That's a 58 percent increase from the Gear S2's original price point of $300. Still, the Gear S2's 18K Rose Gold edition and Platinum edition are significantly cheaper than the real rose gold-plated Apple Watch, which maxes out at $17,000.
The 18K Rose Gold Gear S2 sports the same ridged edges as the standard Gear S2, but with an ivory-colored leather strap. Phone Arena pointed out that Samsung's new rose gold smartwatch has a saturated gold color, unlike its iPhone 6s counterpart, which is coated in "a more subtle shade of gold."
Meanwhile, the Platinum Gear S2 has the physique of a traditional wristwatch. It has a glossy silver coating with an all-black leather band.
According to Samsung's official website, the two brand-new Gear S2 variants were showcased at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to give more choices to smartwatch aficionados. The 18K Rose Gold and Platinum Gear S2 has already landed in China with wider global availability coming in the next few weeks.
In terms of software upgrades, Samsung has joined forces with multiple third-party developers to provide more apps that can cater to varying user lifestyles. New Gear S2 apps include Uber, Voxer, eBay and ESPN. Users can check the latest happenings from around the globe via the new dedicated Bloomberg and CNN watch faces.
The original Samsung Gear S2 launched in October 2015, towing a circular 1.2-inch Super AMOLED screen with 360x360 resolution display. It had 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory and a non-removable 300 mAh battery. Build-wise, the device was fitted with a rotating bezel and was protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology, as per GSM Arena.
The wearable's slew of functions include a 24-hour activity recorder, automatic activity type recognition and automatic heart-rate tracker. Pairing the device with a Samsung smartphone, owners can use the Gear S2 to do Samsung Pay transactions. It has standard connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and GPS.
Kris Carlon of Android Pit called the Gear S2 "the most appealing smartwatch we've yet seen." However, the tech reviewer admitted that the smartwatch has its share of faults, but its positives completely outweigh its negatives.
The recently released 18K Rose Gold Gear S2 and its Platinum sibling deliver all the alluring features of the four-month old Gear S2, but with upgraded software, more apps and extremely desirable color schemes.