The Gear 2 retains a similar hardware design to the original Galaxy Gear, although a Home button has been added below the screen, and the device's 2-megapixel camera was moved from the strap to the top of the watch itself, alongside a newly added infrared blaster. This particular design change allows the strap to be user-replaceable. Two models of the Gear 2 were released, the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo; the Gear 2 has a steel exterior and includes a camera, while the Gear 2 Neo is made from plastic and excludes the camera. They are otherwise identical. The device's processor was upgraded to a 1.0 GHz dual-core Exynos 3250 system-on-chip. As with the Galaxy Gear, the Gear 2 has a 1.63-inch, 320 pixel-wide square-shaped Super AMOLEDtouchscreen, 512 MB of RAM, and 4 GB of internal storage. An optical heart rate monitor is located on the bottom of the device. Despite having a smaller, 300 mAh battery, the Gear 2 has increased battery life over its predecessor, with Samsung rating it for 2–3 days of normal use. As with the previous model, the device itself does not contain a charging port and must be placed inside a special Micro USB-equipped charging case.
Software
Unlike the original Galaxy Gear, which ran Android, the Gear 2 runs Tizen, a Linux-based operating system co-developed by Samsung. The Gear 2 uses a similar user interface to the Galaxy Gear, allowing users to sync notifications from a host device and display them the Gear's screen when received, use Smart Relay to automatically open the relevant app for the notification on their smartphone or tablet, use S Voice for dictation and voice commands, place and answer phone calls, and locate the host phone or tablet, or vice versa with the "Find My Device" tool. Notable new apps added on the Gear 2 include the fitness app S Health, WatchOn—a remote control app which integrates with its infrared blaster, and an integrated music player which can store songs on the device's internal storage. As with the Galaxy Gear, an updated Gear Manager app is installed on the Galaxy device to coordinate communications, customize the watch, and download apps from Samsung Apps. The Gear 2's Gear Manager adds the ability to customize which apps the watch displays notifications from, upload a custom wallpaper, and perform backups.
Reception
The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo received mixed reviews. TechRadar considered the device to be a "much, much better attempt at making the smartwatch more relevant", with particular praise towards the streamlined design and ability to use custom watch straps, and its improved battery life, but panned the high cost of the device and its "convoluted" user interface.
