Hey everyone! Today, we're diving deep into the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier, a smartwatch that was quite the talk of the town back in its day, and still holds a special place in the hearts of many tech enthusiasts. We're going to break down everything you need to know about its specs, features, and overall performance. So, if you're curious about this classic smartwatch, stick around!

Design and Build Quality

When it comes to design, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier screams ruggedness and durability. The watch features a robust, circular design that mimics the look of a traditional watch, making it appealing to those who aren't necessarily fans of the typical techy look. The case is made from high-quality stainless steel, giving it a premium feel and ensuring it can withstand daily wear and tear. Guys, this watch is built to last!

One of the standout features of the Gear S3 Frontier is its rotating bezel. This isn't just a gimmick; it's a highly functional tool that allows you to navigate through the watch's interface with ease. You can effortlessly scroll through notifications, apps, and settings by simply rotating the bezel. It’s intuitive and adds a tactile element that many smartwatches lack. The watch also includes two physical buttons on the side – a back button and a home button – which provide additional control options.

The Gear S3 Frontier comes with a standard 22mm strap, which is easily interchangeable. This means you can customize the look of your watch with a wide variety of straps available in different materials and styles. Whether you prefer a sporty silicone band, a classic leather strap, or a rugged nylon band, you can easily find one that suits your personal style. The watch is also IP68-certified for water and dust resistance, meaning you can confidently wear it while washing your hands, working out, or even taking a swim. However, it's worth noting that it's not suitable for high-speed water sports or diving.

In terms of size, the Gear S3 Frontier is on the larger side, which may not be ideal for those with smaller wrists. However, the larger size does allow for a bigger display, making it easier to read notifications and interact with the watch. The overall design is well-thought-out, combining style and functionality in a way that sets it apart from many other smartwatches on the market. The build quality is top-notch, ensuring that the watch can withstand the rigors of daily life.

Display

The display on the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is one of its strongest assets. It features a 1.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels, resulting in a sharp and vibrant image quality. The AMOLED technology ensures that colors are rich and blacks are deep, providing an excellent viewing experience in all lighting conditions. Whether you're indoors or outdoors, the display remains clear and legible.

One of the key advantages of the AMOLED display is its energy efficiency. It consumes less power compared to traditional LCD displays, which helps to extend the watch's battery life. The display also supports an always-on mode, which allows you to see the time and other essential information at a glance, without having to wake the watch. However, keep in mind that enabling the always-on mode will have an impact on battery life.

The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass SR+, which provides excellent scratch and shatter resistance. This is a significant advantage, as it ensures that the display can withstand daily wear and tear without getting easily damaged. The touch screen is highly responsive, making it easy to navigate through the watch's interface and interact with apps. The display also supports a variety of watch faces, which allow you to customize the look of your watch to suit your personal style. You can choose from a wide range of pre-installed watch faces, or download additional ones from the Samsung Galaxy Store.

The brightness of the display can be adjusted manually or automatically, depending on your preference. The automatic brightness setting uses an ambient light sensor to adjust the display's brightness based on the surrounding lighting conditions. This ensures that the display is always easy to see, without being too bright or too dim. Overall, the display on the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is excellent, providing a sharp, vibrant, and durable viewing experience.

Performance and Software

Under the hood, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is powered by a dual-core 1.0 GHz processor and 768MB of RAM. While this may not sound like much compared to today's smartphones, it's more than sufficient for running the watch's operating system and apps smoothly. The watch runs on Samsung's Tizen operating system, which is known for its intuitive interface and smooth performance.

Tizen offers a clean and user-friendly experience, with easy access to notifications, apps, and settings. The rotating bezel makes navigating the interface a breeze, allowing you to quickly scroll through menus and select options. The watch also supports a variety of gestures, such as swiping and tapping, which provide additional control options. The Gear S3 Frontier comes with 4GB of internal storage, which can be used to store music, apps, and watch faces. This is enough space for most users, but if you plan on storing a lot of music, you may want to consider a smartwatch with more storage.

The watch supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing you to connect it to your smartphone and other devices. It also includes NFC and MST technology, which enables you to make contactless payments using Samsung Pay. This is a convenient feature that allows you to leave your wallet at home and pay for purchases with your watch. The Gear S3 Frontier also includes a built-in GPS, which allows you to track your workouts and outdoor activities without having to carry your smartphone with you. The GPS is accurate and reliable, providing detailed information about your route, speed, and distance.

One of the key advantages of the Tizen operating system is its integration with Samsung's ecosystem of devices and services. If you own a Samsung smartphone, you'll find that the Gear S3 Frontier integrates seamlessly with your phone, allowing you to easily manage notifications, calls, and messages. The watch also supports a variety of third-party apps, which can be downloaded from the Samsung Galaxy Store. While the app selection is not as extensive as on Android Wear or watchOS, there are still plenty of useful apps available, including fitness trackers, music players, and productivity tools.

Health and Fitness Features

For the fitness enthusiasts, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier comes packed with a variety of health and fitness features. It includes a built-in heart rate sensor, which continuously monitors your heart rate throughout the day. This allows you to track your heart rate during workouts and monitor your resting heart rate to get a better understanding of your overall health. The watch also includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, which track your steps, distance, and calories burned.

The Gear S3 Frontier automatically detects and tracks a variety of activities, including walking, running, cycling, and swimming. It also supports manual activity tracking, which allows you to manually start and stop tracking specific activities. The watch provides detailed information about your workouts, including your heart rate, pace, distance, and calories burned. You can also set goals and track your progress over time. The watch is compatible with Samsung Health, which is Samsung's health and fitness tracking app. Samsung Health allows you to view your activity data, track your sleep, and set goals. You can also use it to connect with friends and family and participate in challenges.

The Gear S3 Frontier also includes a built-in GPS, which allows you to track your outdoor activities without having to carry your smartphone with you. The GPS is accurate and reliable, providing detailed information about your route, speed, and distance. The watch also includes a barometer, which measures air pressure, and an altimeter, which measures altitude. These sensors can be useful for tracking outdoor activities such as hiking and climbing. The watch also supports sleep tracking, which monitors your sleep patterns and provides insights into your sleep quality. It tracks your sleep duration, sleep stages, and sleep efficiency. You can use this information to identify potential sleep problems and make changes to improve your sleep habits.

Battery Life

Battery life is always a crucial factor when considering a smartwatch, and the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier doesn't disappoint. It comes with a 380mAh battery, which provides excellent battery life compared to many other smartwatches on the market. With moderate usage, you can easily get two to three days of battery life on a single charge. This means you won't have to worry about charging your watch every day, which is a significant advantage.

The actual battery life will vary depending on your usage patterns. If you use the watch for frequent workouts, enable the always-on display, or use the GPS frequently, you can expect the battery life to be shorter. However, even with heavy usage, you should still be able to get through a full day on a single charge. The Gear S3 Frontier supports wireless charging, which makes it easy to charge the watch. Simply place the watch on the included charging dock, and it will start charging automatically. The watch also supports fast charging, which allows you to quickly charge the battery when you're in a hurry.

To extend the battery life, you can disable features that you don't use frequently, such as the always-on display, Wi-Fi, and GPS. You can also adjust the display brightness and reduce the screen timeout duration. Additionally, you can disable notifications from apps that you don't need to be notified about. Overall, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier offers excellent battery life, making it a great choice for those who don't want to worry about charging their watch every day.

Conclusion

The Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is a fantastic smartwatch that offers a great combination of style, features, and performance. Its rugged design, rotating bezel, and vibrant display make it a pleasure to use, while its comprehensive health and fitness features make it a great companion for your active lifestyle. Although it's an older model, it still holds up well against newer smartwatches and offers excellent value for money. If you're looking for a reliable and feature-rich smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is definitely worth considering. Hope this review helped you guys out!