The phone is a Samsung Galaxy J7. Even without a phone connection, you can use the basic S Health app (step count, cups of coffee/water consumed, stairs climbed, calories burned, heart rate, etc.), a barometer, calendar, and advance notification news briefing. To use communication features (including Samsung Pay), the phone must always be connected. You can make and receive calls and texts, but KakaoTalk only allows you to reply to new messages.

Samsung Pay is launched by holding down the button in the upper right corner. I installed the Gear S and Samsung Pay Mini on my phone. The Gear S offers a wide variety of apps, including watch faces, games, music players (Melon, Mnet), Seoul Public Transportation, Samsung-exclusive eBooks, dictionaries, and various launchers. I lost track of time browsing the app store.

Samsung Pay supports Samsung, Lotte, Hana, and Hyundai cards. After registering the card, I entered a six-digit PIN number into the Gear. After connecting Samsung Pay, I was required to enter the PIN even when using the default Gear app. Although it is only two digits, an additional screen appears even in normal times other than when using Samsung Pay.



The moment has come to pay with Samsung Pay.

Reporter : "Excuse me, payment." (Wrist cuffs)

Employee : “Yes?”

Reporter : "Oh, it's Samsung Pay. It's available on a watch. (Wink)"

Employee : “Oh, just a moment.”

Reporter : (moves his wrist busily over the force) “Hahaha…” (takes off his watch and hands it to an employee)

It's like Samsung Pay on your phone. It's convenient because the payment is completed the moment you say "Here it is." , but it can be a bit embarrassing when the payment doesn't go through.

It's useful for service industry workers who can't check their phones, but...

The Gear also has some pretty "friendly" features. Even though I didn't set a daily step goal, it vibrated to congratulate me on reaching 6,000 steps. A single press of the weather button said, "It's mostly cloudy and cool, perfect for outdoor activities," and provided information on fine dust levels, sunset times, UV index, food poisoning index, pollen index, and even the weather for each day of the week.

Heart rate monitoring is a smartwatch-specific feature, but for a healthy young adult, it's fun to measure it when you have free time or after a run. You can play games on the way to work when your bag is too tight to reach for your phone, or read brief articles with the news briefing.



"It's a shame the iPhone and Gear aren't compatible, but I'm using it very well," the hair designer's words came to mind. Due to the nature of his job, he can't carry a cell phone, but he has to constantly check it for client inquiries. He also said, "I use it to manage my time by checking my schedule and using the reminder function while I'm working."

On the other hand, reporters who always have their phones with them felt uncomfortable with the small screen of the Gear and buffering of apps over time. Since the typewriter is small, I often use the emoticon function to reply to KakaoTalk messages rather than writing text.

What about the meeting between iPhone and Gear?

This time, I connected the Gear S3 to my iPhone 6. It's been four months since the official launch of the Gear S app for iPhone. The recommended apps are similar to those of Samsung. I haven't compared the watch faces individually, but there are relatively few classic-feeling apps that are paid for. While it's a significant improvement over the days when watch faces had to be installed separately, compatibility still lags behind Samsung devices.

The email function that used to be supported when connected to a Samsung phone has disappeared, and text messages and KakaoTalk messages can only be checked, not replied to. Samsung Pay, of course, is absent.