Samsung’s first smartwatch was a surprising thing. Announced at IFA 2013 along with the Galaxy Note 3, the Samsung Galaxy Gear was a marvel in the early smartwatch world. It contained features no one expected – including a camera – and managed to set the bar particularly high for what smartwatches can do.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear was primarily sold as an accessory to the Galaxy Note 3. In fact, it was only compatible with the Note 3 at launch. The $ 299 smartwatch serves a 1.63-inch AMOLED display with a high resolution of 320 x 320 pixels. It was powered by an 800 MHz processor and had 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. It was connected to the Note 3 via Bluetooth 4 Low Energy and included other functions such as an accelerometer and a gyroscope. The internal 315 mAh battery was enough for 24 hours of battery life per charge.
See also: The best Wear OS watches you can buy
What? A camera?
The watch had two eye-opening functions for the time: a camera and a speakerphone. The camera was built into the wristband of the watch and took 1.9 MP pictures and could record 720p videos. Samsung introduced the camera as a tool of opportunity, something to use when your smartphone wasn’t close at hand. (No, Samsung didn’t encourage spying, even though a camera on your smartwatch is like a spy.) Video recording was limited to a maximum of 10 minutes thanks to 4GB of storage. The quality of the photos and videos was questionable at best, which was no surprise given the limitations of the technology at the time. Also, because the camera was an internal part of the strap, there was no need to replace the straps.
The camera was built into the bracelet of the watch and took 1.9 MP images.
Hands-free phones may be common on smartwatches today, but they weren’t in 2013. The speakerphone produces just enough sound to manage your voice calls in quiet rooms. Gear owners could make calls and give commands to Samsung’s S Voice tool right from the watch.
Pushing the boundaries
The Samsung Galaxy Gear had some limitations. For example, it didn’t have Wi-Fi, LTE, or any other way to connect to the internet independently. It completely relied on the Galaxy Note 3 for its connection. The charger was awful. It was a chunky affair that looked more like a clip around the clock than a cradle. The watch could not serve as a standalone music player, although it could control the music app of the associated phone.
Connected: The best Wear OS apps for Android
Speaking of apps: the phone ran the Android operating system from Google (before Android Wear) with an extensive user interface overlay. Samsung said it reduced the user interface to make the watch easier to use with a single finger on the go. A single hardware button took you back to the home screen. It included multiple watch faces, as well as simple apps like a stopwatch and a pedometer. There were also a few third-party apps, including Evernote, eBay, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, and Tripit. There was even a Find My Phone tool that could help you find your lost Galaxy Note 3 – as long as it was within Bluetooth range.
Have there been smartwatches with cameras since the Galaxy Gear? Samsung released a Gear 2 that also had a camera, but few of the major smartwatch makers added the technology to their own wearables. For example, you won’t find a camera on the Apple Watch. The majority of smartwatches with cameras on the market today are novel devices, many of which are geared towards children rather than serious users.
That makes Samsung’s approach to the original Galaxy Gear a semi-unique one in the smartwatch world.
This is the seventeenth entry in our Did You Know series, where we dive into the history books of Android and consumer technology to uncover important and interesting facts or events that have been forgotten over time. What would you like us to cover next? Let us know in the comments.