Gadget DuJour: Is Samsung’s Gear Fit Right For You?

by Natasha Wolff | February 26, 2014 10:00 pm

Not to be outdone by Fitbit, FuelBand and Jawbone, Samsung has unveiled Gear Fit[1], the brand’s first official fitness tracker. The gadget won’t be available until April, so in the meantime, here are five things to know before jumping on the fitness bracelet bandwagon.

1. The screen

One of the biggest differentiating factors between the Gear Fit and its competitors is that Samsung’s version boasts a curved super AMOLED display. For the uninitiated, “curved super AMOLED” is basically a fancy way of saying “ultra-thin curved touchscreen.” This is a huge coup as far as fitness bands are concerned—none on the market currently have touch-screen capability, and some, like Fitbit Flex and Jawbone, have no digital readout whatsoever (your stats are only visible on the app).

2. The fitness functionality

The Gear Fit comes with the standard fitness monitoring functionalities like trackers for speed, distance, number of steps and sleep time. Plus, it also features a heart rate monitor, which isn’t currently available on Nike’s Fuelband, Jawbone and FitBit.

3. The notifications

Unlike its predecessors, the Fit serves as both a fitness band and a smartwatch. When paired with Galaxy smartphones, the band displays pop-up notifications such as incoming calls, emails, texts, appointments—plus enables users to control music, alarms and more.

4. The compatibility

That being said, it’s only compatible with Samsung Galaxy phones—so if you’re an iPhone user or have a non-Samsung Android device, this isn’t the fitness band for you.

5. The band

It is, however, perfect for those with commitment issues. The 1.84-inch device actually pops out from the band, giving users the ability to change strap colors, which isn’t an option with most other fitness trackers. At the moment, colors are limited to black, orange and mocha grey.

The Gear Fit will be available worldwide in April. Pricing has not yet been announced.

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