When comparing Samsung Gear S3 vs Ticwatch E, the Slant community recommends Ticwatch E for most people. In the question“What are the best smartwatches for Android phones?” Ticwatch E is ranked 2nd while Samsung Gear S3 is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Ticwatch E is:
The best thing about Android Wear is that there are many options of apps to choose from, both third-party and built-in. The latest Wear OS offers access to the massive Google Play library, giving you the freedom of choice. The timepiece has 21 default watch faces, leaving much room to customize. The Ticwatch E handles fitness surprisingly well – the GPS is precise and so is the heart rate monitor and, as established before, there is a wide plethora of fitness apps to choose from. Similarly, there are a few music apps to stream music from, though only Google Play Music offers the possibility of downloading music straight to your smartwatch for offline listening. The mic and speaker also work fine for taking calls in a Wi-Fi environment or using Google Assistant. A big part of Android Wear is notification control and messaging – the Ticwatch E handles both aspects very well with many apps at the user’s disposal. Regarding the watch’s performance and UI browsing, it’s very smooth, letting the user swiftly scroll through apps, menus, settings and interfaces.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Unique and comfortable interface browsing
The Samsung Gear S3 has an original and easy-to-use rotating bezel around the face of the watch that is used for cycling through screens, apps, menus and seeing new notifications. The timepiece has two buttons on the right side, the upper one being the “Back” button and the lower one being the “Home” button, which can be pressed multiple times to do different things. All of this combined with a touchscreen makes browsing an effortless experience.
Pro Provides an immense amount of features
Some built-in highlights of the Samsung Gear S3 include a SOS command, health and fitness tracking (heart rate, daily steps, sleep tracking, distance data via GPS), weather reports, a calendar for scheduling, a music player (the device offers 4 GB of internal storage, so songs can be put straight on the smartwatch), a news reader and an optional LTE connection for making calls and sending messages (though this requires a monthly sum of 10$ and users have reported the loudspeaker not being loud enough, crackling and not dealing too great with higher pitches), all offering the possibility of using the watch as a standalone machine to your smartphone.
Tizen Wearable also offers over 10,000 (and growing) apps, many of which can effortlessly be installed on the watch without any communication to a phone. The Gear S3 is compatible with a lot of popular third-party apps, such as Spotify, Uber, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Gmail and more. Another popular highlight is Samsung Pay, letting the user pay at credit card terminals with literally only a flick of the wrist by adding their credit and debit card information to the timepiece.
Pro Well-built
The Samsung Gear S3 is a powerful-looking watch with the appearance of a real wristwatch. Since it is IP68-certified and has passed military specification (MIL-STD-810G), providing protection against water (check specifications for more), dust, drops from 4.9 feet, extreme temperatures, shock/vibration, low pressure/high altitude, it lives up to the visual impression.
In terms of aesthetics, Samsung Gear S3 is compatible with standard 22mm bands which can be exchanged to better suit casual, formal or fitness attire. The timepiece also comes with 15 preloaded watch face designs and offers many more at the Gear App Store, adding to the already big scope of customizability.
The display itself is also proportionally big, the 1.3” AMOLED screen is covered by Gorilla Glass SR+ and is colorful, bright and easily visible from any angle.
Regarding battery life, the Samsung Gear S3 can last up to 4 days and can be charged fully in approximately two hours.
Pro Packs a lot of features
The best thing about Android Wear is that there are many options of apps to choose from, both third-party and built-in. The latest Wear OS offers access to the massive Google Play library, giving you the freedom of choice.
The timepiece has 21 default watch faces, leaving much room to customize.
The Ticwatch E handles fitness surprisingly well – the GPS is precise and so is the heart rate monitor and, as established before, there is a wide plethora of fitness apps to choose from.
Similarly, there are a few music apps to stream music from, though only Google Play Music offers the possibility of downloading music straight to your smartwatch for offline listening. The mic and speaker also work fine for taking calls in a Wi-Fi environment or using Google Assistant.
A big part of Android Wear is notification control and messaging – the Ticwatch E handles both aspects very well with many apps at the user’s disposal.
Regarding the watch’s performance and UI browsing, it’s very smooth, letting the user swiftly scroll through apps, menus, settings and interfaces.
Pro Admirable quality
Though the Ticwatch E packs a plastic-y look and is quite thick, the build quality of the product is noteworthy. The display is vibrant, bright and bigger than that of a few more expensive counterparts. It’s also made of anti-scratch glass, so the only thing to worry about are fingerprint marks. The watch has a single “Home” button on the left-hand side, which is rather unusual, but it does provide comfort in the sense that the user won’t accidentally press the button while bending their wrist for some reason.
The watch has IP67 water resistance, so users won’t need to worry about sudden rain or a water spill on the sleeve. The 20 mm straps are comfortable and light and, if they happen to seem cheap, aesthetically disappointing or of bad quality, they can easily be swapped out for different options.
Regarding fitness possibilities, the Ticwatch E has a heart rate monitor and built-in GPS, which tracks health data reliably; best part is - all of this can be done without bringing a smartphone to a workout.
Pro Great value
Going at a retail price of 159.99$, the watch is an amazing option for people wanting to get into the world of smartwatches or for people on a budget. It provides a vast number of features and a lovely blend of design, comfort and quality for the price.
Cons
Con Massive
Since there is no smaller, more compact design of the timepiece, it simply won’t comfortably fit everyone, for the watch might look to big for people with smaller wrists, particularly women.
Con Pricey
Coming at a retail price of 349$ and potentially 10$ per month for LTE, there might not be enough features to justify the price.
Con Design won’t suit everyone
Probably the most talked about thing regarding the Ticwatch E is its design, there’s only so much you can do by swapping the watch face or the band, for the plastic build throws off a lot of people. A lot of it comes down to color – the Ticwatch E is sold in three different tints – shadow, ice and lemon, with the former two blending in with differing types of attire better than the latter. Since the timepiece is also quite big, sleeves are going to be a struggle.
Con Battery life falls short
Although 1.5 – 2 days is solid battery life, it’s very easy to chew through power and it’s recommended to turn off the always-on watch face, because it can potentially create unnecessary midday stress. Most wearers suggest charging the watch overnight, but by doing this users can miss out on the sleep tracking feature. On the bright side, the charging speed is very quick, going from 0-100% in approximately an hour.