Samsung has released a number of smartwatches over the last 12 months. This time it was the turn of its first "standalone" smartwatch, a smartwatch which lets you make and receive calls from your wrist. Except, it's not really standalone, because you need a smartphone... a Samsung smartphone...

Great display; Voice calls and messaging work well; Good battery life; Sturdy build quality; It's kind of standalone

Expensive; Distractingly large; Initially uncomfortable; Watch face designs lack pizzazz

The Samsung Gear S is bigger, more feature-packed and less reliant on your smartphone than any other smartwatch we've wrapped around our wrist this year. Unlike Android Wear watches such as the Moto 360 or the LG G Watch R , the Gear S acts more like a smartphone, letting you make calls, browse the...

Big; bright screen; Improved app support; Good S Health integration

Slightly laggy performance; Apps still need to be downloaded on phone

The Samsung Gear S smartwatch breaks new ground with phone-free communications, but makes too many compromises. With a high up-front price and monthly service charge, buy at your own risk.

Receives calls, text messages and notifications without a phone nearby.; Battery life is better than most full-color smartwatches.;

Large, clunky design with annoying clasp and snap-on charger.; Expensive up-front price with an additional monthly cost for wireless service.; Contacts won’t recognize your number for outgoing calls.; Interface is confusing, inconsistent and lacking in actionable notifications.;

It is just so amazing .. you will never know how beautiful it until you wear it on and switch it on. It does get a bit warm, but honestly it's still my 1st day so I will leave another review after 2 weeks. I got it with special delivery and it arrived the next day, which was really great.

Samsung helped launch the idea of a modern smartwatch to general consumers when it unveiled the original Galaxy Gear . That was in September 2013, if you can believe it, and since then Samsung has launched four more smartwatches - the Gear 2 , Gear 2 Neo , Gear Fit and Gear Live .

Samsung started the smartwatch push in earnest with its over-the-top Galaxy Gear just last year. Now, some six smartwatches later, Samsung is releasing one that can make its own calls. The Gear S is a tiny phone on your wrist. But is that really a good idea? Discuss Bookmark

Great battery life; Curved design; Fulfills the smartwatch promise

Cumbersome in size; Only works with Samsung phones; Needs an additional data SIM

The dream of a fully standalone wrist gadget that can make phone calls, stay connected and even help you be sounds good, at least on paper. To own a smartwatch usually means having it be perma-paired to a phone in your pocket: it ends up being, largely, a phone accessory. That's starting to change.

The Samsung Gear S has a big, bright curved display, decent battery life, comes with its own bonus battery pack and can stay connected away from a phone with its own 3G data or Wi-Fi; It's attractive, albeit rather large; It's a complete on-wrist phone

It still requires a recent Samsung phone to pair with and install apps, and its standalone features don't work with all apps and notifications; The Gear app library is still weak compared with Android Wear

No. There's a lot you could potentially do with a watch that has its own data connection, but the Gear S doesn't do those things. And the Gear S is big and ugly in order to shove in that limited functionality. The trade-off just isn't worth it.

Nutzo battery life; The Gear S's 300 mAh battery isn't even big by smartwatch standards and still I was able to get a whole two days out of it in one stretch, and on the night in-between I was even using it for sleep tracking; This should be the baseline for smartwatches, period.

Ugh, it's so big and ugly and unhip ; It's vitally important to be able to wear a smartwatch without being uncomfortable, physically or mentally; Wearing the Gear S made me uncomfortable in both ways.

The Samsung Gear S might have some decent specs but we just don't understand the concept of a smartwatch which can take a SIM-card. It's too expensive, and the vast majority of users will find the device simply too big. Sorry Samsung, we just don't get this one.

Samsung claims to have gone back to the drawing board to design its Gear S smartwatch, and has worked to address those flaws and finally offer users the wearable wrist companion they've been waiting for.