[Samsung Gear S] mitchellvii:
Let me preface my comments by saying I have REALLY been looking forward to this watch and am very disappointed that I have now decided I do not want it. Here are my reasons:

1) It's HUGE. I'm a big guy, 6'5", 250 and this watch is HUGE.

2) The geek factor is 11. It's like wearing a calculator strapped to your wrist.

3) This would look HORRIBLE with a suit as a businessman.

4) The only benefit of the phone capability would be for when I don't have my smartphone with me - but I ALWAYS have my smartphone with me for many reasons. Why try to tap out a text or email on a tiny screen when I can just pull out my cell phone and do it better?

5) It's too big to use as a fitness watch.

6) The interface seemed laggy to me with a slitter jitter when swiping screens.

7) It looks cheap compared to the Moto 360.

After seeing this I really believe the future of smart watches will remain as a companion device to a phone and not a complete standalone solution. Notifications, Google Now, Navigation, Spoken Texts. That's what it is good for.

Just my opinion, YMMV.

** UPDATE: Went back to Sprint and totally changed my mind. Yes all of the above is still true but I just couldn't resist the sheer gadgety joy of it. So I'm onboard! << THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE - SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED MY INITIAL INSTINCTS.

** UPDATE: Well, I gave it a try but this watch just isn't ready. The culprits are navigation and S-Voice. Navigation won't do turn by turn driving (only walking) and S-Voice is pretty damned close to useless. Compared to Google Now it is very laggy and can answer only the most basic of questions without redirecting you to the phone. It really is hard to believe Samsung has had S-Voice for years now and this is the best they can do.

All of the benefits of having a "stand-alone" device which can make calls and GPS are negated by the fact navigation and S-Voice require me to always have my phone with me anyway.

Will give it a few more days but right now, not happy.

** THE LAST STRAW:

WARNING TO POTENTIAL GEAR S BUYERS!!!

This is NOT a standalone device and that's not because you need to pair it with a Samsung phone to add apps. There is one and only one reason the Gear S as a standalone device is a complete and utter fail:

THE BATTERY LIFE IS HORRIBLE: As a test using this standalone and leaving my phone at home, I went to the gym this morning with a 50% charge. I used Navigation to get to the gym (about a 5 minute ride). Although it only offers "walking" directions, this basically worked for driving. However, there are no voice prompts and the vibration when a turn is coming up is very weak. At the gym I used it to play stored music to my bluetooth headphones.

That's all I did. No phone calls, no texting, nothing.

THE WATCH WAS DEAD HALFWAY THROUGH MY WORKOUT! So just using GPS and playing music, I burned through 50% battery charge in less than an hour! I can't imagine how long it would have lasted were I on the phone! Being generous, that is maybe 2 hours use on a full charge using the Gear S as a phone replacement. FAIL.

So you are paying a $150 premium over the Moto 360 for a "standalone" watch which cannot stand alone. Battery is terrible, navigation sucks, S-Voice is a joke. No, just no. This watch is going back today.

Felicia out.

P.S., One more thing. Email notifications are buggy as hell. I got 10 new emails this morning and only 1 showed up in my Gear S notifications.