As a smartwatch, the Gear fit focuses on calls and notifications which includes third-party applications. When a notification/call comes in, the unit quietly vibrates. From here you either delete, reject, or scroll through and respond with pre-programmed computer speak like “I’ll call you right back” or “I’m in a meeting talk later”. At first it wasn't all sunshine, the default horizontal mode made reading messages an arm twister, but Samsung quickly got the message and updated the Fit with a vertical rotation option. Once I got the hang of it, I was answering messages, emails, and monitoring my workout with a few swipes. It’s a discreet way of checking your messages, but the Gear Fit would benefit from a built-in microphone. Imagine having voice recognition to dictate a quick response or just answer a call, but I guess that’s what Samsung calls the Galaxy Gear 2.
The Gear Fit comes packed with typical fitness-tracking functions, such as a pedometer, running, walking, cycling and hiking, and with one tap, an integrated heart monitor shows your beats per minute. The latest update gives you a basic sleep tracker—timing how long you sleep and how long your body isn't moving. If you’re wearing it to bed though, swipe to the right inside the sleep tracker and turn on blocking mode to silence notifications.
During my time with the device, the Fit worked perfectly fine. When I decided to put my feet to pavement I decided set the Fit to run mode and to also track my heart rate. I also had my Fitbit Force on my other arm for a comparison. The Gear Fit and the Fitbit were nearly identical with the Gear giving a slightly higher reading.
The Gear Fit comes packed with typical fitness-tracking functions, such as a pedometer, running, walking, cycling and hiking, and with one tap, an integrated heart monitor shows your beats per minute. The latest update gives you a basic sleep tracker—timing how long you sleep and how long your body isn't moving. If you’re wearing it to bed though, swipe to the right inside the sleep tracker and turn on blocking mode to silence notifications.
During my time with the device, the Fit worked perfectly fine. When I decided to put my feet to pavement I decided set the Fit to run mode and to also track my heart rate. I also had my Fitbit Force on my other arm for a comparison. The Gear Fit and the Fitbit were nearly identical with the Gear giving a slightly higher reading.
