Samsung Gear Fit Wrist Band Offers Gorgeous Curved Display, Heart Rate Monitor

Samsung has officially unveiled its new fitness tracker, the aptly named Gear Fit, and it’s nothing like you’ve seen before. Whereas most fitness bands use fairly simplistic monochromatic displays or LED indicators, Samsung’s Gear Fit sports a gorgeous, though relatively large 1.83-inch, 432 x 128 curved AMOLED display. And with its slick proprietary interface, the Gear Fit could be one of the most promising fitness trackers we’ve seen yet.

Measuring 2.3 x 0.9 x 0.47 inches and weighing 0.95 ounces, the Gear Fit was lightweight and comfortable to wear. The Fit’s home screen is taken up by a customizable analogue or digital clock that, unfortunately, like Samsung's Gear 2 and Gear Neo, isn’t always on.

Like the Gear 2 and Gear Neo, the Gear Fit includes a built-in heart rate monitor on its rear panel, allowing the fitness tracker to measure your beats per minute via its onboard app. During our hands-on, the app was able to instantly detect our heart rate and display it on the Fit’s screen.

A built-in pedometer adds to the Fit’s fitness capabilities, letting users see how many steps they take in a given amount of time. The band is also compatible with Samsung’s S Health app, so you’ll be able to track and improve your exercise regimen from Galaxy smartphone. Oh, and don’t worry about working up a serious sweat while wearing the Gear Fit. Like the Gear 2 and Gear Neo, Samsung’s fitness tracker is water-resistant, so you’re sweat won’t short it out.

In addition to its heart rate sensor and pedometer, the Gear Fit includes a media controller, so you can easily flip through your list of favorite workout songs and blast the volume when you need some extra motivation. There’s also a notifications option that will inform you when you receive a message or email. Samsung has also thrown in its Find My Device app, which, when activated, will cause your smartphone to ring so you can quickly find it. Customization options include a changeable wallpaper for the Fit and interchangeable wrist straps.

As with the Gear 2 and Gear Neo, the Gear Fit is only compatible with Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones. A Gear Fit Manager app lets users control various aspects of the Fit from their handsets including notification settings, the clock appearance and S Health options.

Samsung has yet to announce availability and pricing for the Gear Fit, though we’re expecting it to hit the market around the same time as the Galaxy S5 and Gear 2 and Gear Neo. Check back for our full review of what may be the coolest fitness tracker in the coming weeks.

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Dan Howley is a writer and editor whose work has appeared on Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, CNN business, MSN, AOL, and more, covering smartphones, laptops, and wearables. He now works full time at Yahoo Finance, where he writes articles covering the tech and gaming industries. He lives in New York.