When comparing Samsung Gear 2 vs Microsoft Band 2, the Slant community recommends Microsoft Band 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best smartwatches?” Microsoft Band 2 is ranked 14th while Samsung Gear 2 is ranked 18th. The most important reason people chose Microsoft Band 2 is:
The Microsoft Band 2 comes in 3 sizes to ensure it fits: Small (145-165mm or 5.7-6.5"), Medium (160-190mm or 6.3-7.5"), or Large (185-215mm or 7.3-8.5").
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Pros
Pro 1.63 inch Super AMOLED Touchscreen
Although the screen (320x320 pixels) is not as easily readable in sunlight as other smartwatches like the Pebble with its e-ink display. The Gear 2 is still designed to be used outside and the AMOLED display provides other advantages over e-ink displays. Smartwatches with e-ink displays cannot use a camera or many apps that the Gear 2 can.
Pro Standalone Music Player
The Gear 2 features a standalone music player with 4 GB of space and the ability to connect to a bluetooth headset. This is an improvement over the Galaxy Gear and the Pebble smartwatches that can only control your phone's music player.
Pro Infrared Sensor
The infrared sensor allows the Gear 2 to use Samsung's WatchOn app to control your TV.
Pro 1GHz Dual Core Processor
The Gear 2 also gets an upgrade from the 800MHz single core of the original Galaxy Gear. This upgrade will likely allow for more powerful apps and more software upgrades.
Pro 2 Megapixel Camera
The 2 megapixel camera is a slight improvement from the Galaxy Gear and a useful addition to a smartwatch. Although the position of the camera makes it impossible to have a video chat on your wrist.
Pro Up to Three Days of Battery Life
Although the battery is not as long lasting as the Pebble smartwatches. Three days is still far better than charging the original Galaxy Gear every night and not too inconvenient.
Pro Improved Design
Pro Interchangeable Straps
Watches are as personal as clothing, but most people are likely to own only one smartwatch. The Gear 2 provides a solution with interchangeable straps even after you buy it. This was not possible on the original Galaxy Gear because the camera was built into the strap.
Pro Fitness Features
The Gear 2 has the usual fitness Features like a pedometer and a fitness mode. But the Gear 2 like the Galaxy S5 includes something unique, a heart rate sensor.
Pro Fits well on virtually any wrist
The Microsoft Band 2 comes in 3 sizes to ensure it fits: Small (145-165mm or 5.7-6.5"), Medium (160-190mm or 6.3-7.5"), or Large (185-215mm or 7.3-8.5").
Pro Natural feeling display
The display is slightly curved, making it more natural to wear and use. You also won't be hitting it off walls and doors as often as other watches because it doesn't stick out as far from your wrist as other fitness trackers.
The OLED display doesn't light up black pixels, meaning the background blends in perfectly with the bezels making for a more pleasing look as well as saving battery life when displaying mostly black colors.
Pro Custom guided workouts
The fitness tracker allows you to ditch the notebook before heading to the gym.
Pro Smartphone connected
The Microsoft Band 2 connects to your Android, Windows Phone, or iPhone to provide notifications on your wrist. Swiping left from the main screen shows notifications that have been synced from the watch. It doesn't show context for these notifications however - just the number of missed notifications and their respective icons.
Cons
Con Limited Compatibility
Although the Gear 2 is compatible with a solid amount of Samsung devices, if you ever decide to go on a fling with one of Google's irresistible Nexus phones your Gear 2 will be practically useless. The Gear 2 is only compatible with Samsung devices like the
-Galaxy S5
-Galaxy S4 (Active, Zoom, and Mini)
-Galaxy SIII
-Galaxy Mega
-Galaxy Note 2 and 3
-Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
-Galaxy Note Pro
-Galaxy Tab Pro
Con Band 2 is discontinued - no Band 3 on the horizon
Most likely due to the very high incidence of returns (due to charging issues and the straps cracking in half), the Band fitness tracker brand seems to be entirely discontinued.
Con Poor HR sensor + Poor data visualization
The fitness tracker's HR sensor is very inaccurate during HIIT/weight lifting movements, it takes forever to even lock-on, and once locked-on it doesn't stay locked-on. All of this contributes to very poor HR accuracy. To top it off, the app/web site does not display high-frequency data, it will plot a single HR point for every 1 minute of activity which makes it very, very useless.
Con Bulky clasp
Under the clasp is a sensor that determines whether it's being worn or not (so it can save power when not in use), which adds bulk.
Con Poor battery life
Without using the GPS, battery life can be stretched to a day and a half, but if you do use the GPS that time will be reduced to just a day. Either way, you will want to charge it every night.