Galaxy Gear. Here's what to LOVE and what to HATE.

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As I come down from cloud-9 and consider the ramifications of Samsung's announcements, I feel torn right down the middle.  Half of me is waiting in line to order the Galaxy Gear. The other half is disappointed and longing for the Galaxy Gear 2.  Let me start with my dislikes and and end on a positive note......THE GALAXY NOTE 3 (ha, ha).

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The disappointments:

One day Battery Life

This is one of the major concerns in the wearable-tech sphere.  How much productivity do you sacrifice for convenience? Apparently, for Samsung, almost none.  With only 25 hours of battery life, the Galaxy Gear will most likely become a 'charge every night device.'  That will not sit well for power-users and technology buffs who expect more life with less battery.  Many early adopters of smart watches have been spoiled by Pebble, which lasts approximately 5-7 days on one charge. However, the extended battery life comes at the extent of functionality. The Galaxy Gear is unquestionably a more powerful and versatile product. Samsung made the conscious choice to sacrifice battery life for performance and features. The perfect smart watch would have no such compromises.

The Camera 

On one hand, no one expected the Gear to have a camera built into the wristband. It will be a useful selling point if the software is functional. The problem is, Samsung shouldn't have launched a wristband camera with just a 1.9 megapixel sensor.  I understand it must have been an engineering challenge to incorporate any camera at all, let alone a battery, flash storage and RAM, in such a small device. And I also understand a bigger camera would have been a drain on battery life and storage on the device. And I also also understand even the best smart phones on the market only carry a 2 megapixel front-facing camera.  

All that being said, if Samsung wanted to surprise us with this feature, I would have been much more impressed if the MP count was a little higher.

Limited Market

Once the Gear is usable with the S3, S4 and Note 2, sales will explode...I think.  Samsung is taking a risk by shunning the masses and only rewarding loyal customers with this smart watch.  Only time will tell (what a great joke) if the Gear can be profitable as well as functional.

What I LOVE:

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The Applications

I am a proponent of a small smartphone screen on my wrist, not just a cursary look at notifications and caller ID. The Gear truly feels like a small smartphone with over 70 applications at launch which are specifically designed for the smart watch. However, it is unclear how independant these applications can be when not paried to the phone. Heck, they may be completely unusable without the Note 3.

The Calling Feature

I should find this gimmicky, but I don't. I think it would be extremely cool (maybe geeky is the right word) to raise my hand to my face to answer a call. As with many Samsung products, real world testing is necessary to see the responsiveness of this feature. I really hope it works well.

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The Design

I don't think anyone can argue that Samsung crashed and burned with the design.  The build and materials are high quality, making this device a pioneer in fashionable wearable tech, an industry that will explode when Google, Apple and Microsoft get in the smart-watch game. I can definitely see myself wearing this device everyday.

Verdict

Will I get a Galaxy Gear? Definitely not until I know the Galaxy Note 2 is getting the necessary software upgrade. Even then, I want to see what the technology world thinks of this device, particularly in battery life and application usefulness. But I'll guarantee one thing, I am getting a smart watch as soon as I think the industry has matured. Again....time will tell.