Samsung announces Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic smartwatches

Samsung has officially unveiled its newest series of smartwatches: the Samsung Gear S2 and Samsung Gear S2 Classic. Both wearables are powered by Tizen instead of Android Wear, but their most significant highlight is their 3G enabled variants, which let you use the smartwatches without a phone.

Both models also feature rotating bezels, which allow you to navigate through the various menus on your smartwatch. On the right side, there are also two physical buttons - a home and back keys - that make it easier to deal with notifications.

Samsung Gear S2

The Samsung Gear S2 comes with with an all metal modern design. It is slightly heavier than its sibling, weighing 1.66oz (47g), while the thickness is the same at 11.4mm.

Samsung Gear S2 Classic

The Samsung Gear S2 Classic comes in black and offers a design similar to the traditional watch. Its rotating ridged bezel offers a nice tactile feel and its overall look clearly screams premium. The watch is also fairly lightweight at just 1.48oz (42g) and measures 11.4mm thick.

Samsung claims, Tizen will do well with keeping you informed about texts, calendars, emails, breaking news, and fitness goals, while the 3G version of the watch can make and take regular voice calls. However, it is important to note that Tizen is a much smaller ecosystem with much less watchfaces and third-party apps, when compared to Android Wear (but Samsung says it's working on expanding it).

On the other hand, the Tizen platform assists in offering longer battery life, with typical use ranging between two to three days (depending on usage).

The new smartwatches will offer full support for Samsung Pay, which is set to go live in the coming month. Samsung Pay promises compatibility with almost all current paying terminals with no special hardware required.

If you purchase the 3G enabled model, you will have to put in an seperate SIM card for calling and mobile data. The 3G version of the watches features a 300mAh battery (while the regular ones sport a 250mAh one), required because of the extra strain that comes with always-on connectivity. This makes the watches slightly heavier and thicker: the S2 3G weighs 1.8oz (51g) and measures 13.4mm thick.

The new family of Gear S2 smartwatches will be available on all four major US carriers - Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile - in the near future for a yet undisclosed price.