Samsung’s Gear S3 will be available in Australia next week
Samsung’s latest smartwatch goes on sale in Australia from 18 November.
Samsung announced the existence of the Gear S3 smartwatch back at IFA in early September, with the promise that we’d see Australian availability by Christmas. It has now opened up pre-orders from today for the Gear S3, which will go on sale from 18 November through its online store, as well as through Samsung Experience stores and Harvey Norman.
The Gear S3 comes in two varieties, the Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier. The classic is meant to be your more traditional timepiece where the Frontier looks more rugged, although the reality is that the core technology underneath, including IP68 ratings that should see either watch survive dunkings up to a metre without issue. Both watches feature the "always on display" found in phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S7, as well as built-in GPS functionality. They use a standard 22mm watch band, so switching out different watch band styles should be quite simple.
While many competing smartwatches run on Google’s Android Wear platform, the Gear S3, like its predecessor, runs instead on Samsung’s own Tizen platform. That has allowed Samsung a degree of optimisation not seen in many Android Wear devices, at the slight cost of a smaller pool of available smartwatch apps for it.
Either the S3 Classic or S3 Frontier could be yours from 18 November for $599 outright, with Samsung offering a special pre-order promotion of an additional red band for early customers.
| Samsung | Gear S3 frontier | Gear S3 classic |
|---|---|---|
| Display Size | 1.3in | 1.3in |
| Resolution | 360x360 | 360x360 |
| Display Density | 278ppi | 278ppi |
| Processor | Dual core 1.0 GHz | Dual core 1.0 GHz |
| OS | Tizen Based Wearable Platform 2.3.2 | Tizen Based Wearable Platform 2.3.2 |
| Size | 46 x 49 x 12.9 | 46 x 49 x 12.9 |
| Weight | 62g (without band) | 57g (without band) |
| Memory | 4GB Internal memory, 768MB RAM | 4GB Internal memory, 768MB RAM |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Gyro, Barometer, HRM, Ambient light | Accelerometer, Gyro, Barometer, HRM, Ambient light |
| Battery | 380mAh | 380mAh |
| Price | $599 | $599 |
Can it work independently without the phone? Does it have network connectivity?
Hi Vansh,
Thank you for your enquiry.
The Samsung Gear 3 and Gear 3 Frontier can work independently without a phone. Both devices have Bluetooth and WiFi network connectivity features.
Please check out our Samsung Gear S3 review to learn more.
Cheers,
Jason
Is Samsung Gear S3 Frontier compatible or works with Samsung S6 Edge?
Hi Jared,
Thank you for your enquiry.
The Samsung Gear S3 Frontier can pair and work with Samsung S6 Edge. It can also work with other phones that has Android 4.4 or higher and have at least 1.5GB of RAM. Just open the Samsung Gear app on your smartphone to pair your Gear S3 and you should be able to sync or set it up.
Cheers,
Jason