The Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch packs LTE into a giant 46mm case

Samsung announced a new smartwatch today, the Gear S3. Like the Gear S2, this is a Tizen-powered smartwatch with a stainless steel case and a rotating bezel.

Samsung is packing everything it can into its smartwatch this year. There’s a bigger, 1.3-inch 360×360 display, an optional LTE version, the addition of MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technology for Samsung Pay, a speaker and microphone for calls, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a barometer. Bigger isn’t always better in the smartwatch world, though, and the Gear S3 sounds like a behemoth—the case has grown from 44mm to 46mm. Compare that to the Apple Watch, which comes in 38mm and 42mm sizes.

For specs, the S3 has a dual-core 1GHz “Exynos” chipset (no model given), 786MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and a 380mAh battery. The watch is IP68 rated for water and dust protection. There are two different styles to choose from this year: the traditionally styled “Classic” watch—which does not have LTE—and a more rugged-looking “Frontier” version, which comes with LTE baked in. Samsung is promising “3-4 days” on a charge, but that’s probably not with LTE turned on. Both watches are 12.9mm thick and are compatible with most 22mm watch bands.

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Source: Ars Technica – The Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch packs LTE into a giant 46mm case