Gear S3 Classic & Frontier: Samsung duo in hands-on

April 17, 2020

Samsung today presented its latest generation of smartwatches at the IFA, consisting of Gear S3 Classic and the Gear S3 Frontier. While the Gear S3 Classic looks more like a subtle, fashionable wristwatch, the Frontier with its ruggadized design is much more striking. Speaking of: Both clocks are protected against dust and water according to IP68.

When looking at the data sheet, the devices are almost identical. The only difference is that the Frontier is 62 grams, five grams heavier than the Classic model. Otherwise, both devices offer an Exynos 7270 processor with two 1.0 GHz computing cores and 768 MB of RAM. The watches also have in common the 1.3-inch always-on display with 360 × 360 pixels and Gorilla Glass SR +.

We already know the operating concept before the predecessor Gear S2, which also runs with Tizen: The display is framed by a rotatable and high-quality processed bezel, which is used to navigate through the surface. To the right of the health home screen are the widgets, to the left of the health home screen there are various notifications from the smartphone. On the side of the housings there are two more mechanical controls with the back button and health home button.

And finally, the Gear S3 also supports wireless payment – either via NFC or thanks to MST integration also at terminals that only offer a magnetic card reader. To what extent the terminals and the banks support this in Germany remains to be seen.

Furthermore, there is an optical pulse sensor as well as GPS and Glonass on board as well as Bluetooth 4.2 and WLAN according to 802.11 b, g and n. Finally, the Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Frontier also have a speaker – and a microphone. The watches also serve as hands-free devices. And if you really want, you can also listen to music through the speaker, because there's a 4 GB memory. According to the manufacturer, the 380 mAh strong battery enables a running time of three to four days.

Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Frontier

The Samsung Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier should be available in stores from October. The Korean manufacturer has not yet disclosed prices.

You can find more reports, hands-ons and interviews from IFA 2016 on our topic page for the trade fair in Berlin.

Fitbit Flex 2

Tags