I just purchased the Verizon 3G model. I never saw the point of having a smartwatch that has to stay tethered to your phone. So, I waited. The Gear S was a little bulky for my taste even though it had the features I liked. I have been using the MotoActV for fitness training the past 4 years or so.

3G; Has a built in speaker and mic; Plays stored music through watch or headset

Lack of apps for Tizen

We figured out smartphones a long time ago. It's been nearly a decade since the iPhone hit the market, and now every one of the millions of smartphones sold each year is a variation of a rectangular slab of glass, plastic, or metal. Smartwatches, on the other hand, are new and still evolving.

Attractive design; Great display; Great interface

Proprietary strap mounts (on standard model; Limited third-party apps; Voice controls are slow and limited

Samsung's back catalogue of smartwatches has been, to put it mildly, poor. The vast array of Gear-branded wearables have been bulky, ugly and running an operating system devoid of killer features and decent apps. The Gear S2 hopes to change this.

Bright; sharp display; Rotating bezel is the best wearable feature yet; Not limited to Samsung handsets

Tizen is limiting; Expensive for what you get; Poor; slow voice search

Samsung is notable in this field simply because it's issued so many smartwatches over the relatively short period in which smartwatches have even existed. It seems as though every time we turn around, there's a new Samsung smartwatch promising to wow us with new and innovative features.

Spinning bezel is ridiculously fun; Fast notifications; Excellent AMOLED screen; Works with most Android devices

Can't take calls; Tizen rather than Android Wear; Regular S2 model can't take a standard watch band

You may know Samsung as the lead manufacturer for Android, with its smartphone sales decimating those of the official Nexus series. However, it also has a habit of going off on a tangent, in the occasional bid for world domination.

Well implemented bezel control; good build quality; always-on screen option

Expensive; poor third-party app support; Huawei Watch aces design

You could argue that the Samsung Gear S2 3G is the best smartwatch around right now, with its balance of attractive hardware, intelligent user interface, performance, and functionality, but smartwatches are still a niche product category and the 3G component adds the additional expense of a monthly...

Great hardware and user experience; World's first wearable with eSIM; Attractive design; Robust software

So far, 2016 has been a quiet year for wearable tech. The best watches and fitness bands you can buy right now were, for the most part, released in 2015. You can count the number of new and notable wearable things that debuted in the first five months of this year on one hand: The Fitbit Blaze, Fitbit Alta and -- for hard-core runners -- several new GPS watches from Garmin.

Samsung's newest smartwatch reinvents itself with a whole new look and feel to create one of the best-designed wrist gadgets around -- but it still lacks the apps to set it above the competition.

The Gear S2 has an eye-catching design, a clever rotating bezel that's actually useful, beautiful display, solid health tracking and slightly better battery life than other high-end smartwatches; Plus, it works with a variety of Android phones.

Fewer available apps or seamless connected services than Android Wear and Apple Watch; no speakerphone; S-Voice commands work, but not as well as they could; not compatible with iPhone.

Android Wear currently rules the smartwatch roost, running on more devices than we could possibly list off the top of our heads. While that's a great thing for Google, it's not for consumers.

Plays nice with Android and iOS; Ingenious design enhanced by slick OS; Fitness tracking is a great positive

Aesthetically bland in some guises; Pricey for the average consumer; App support (on watch and phone) is dismal

While having the best smartwatch in the market right now may not mean much, Samsung's Gear S2 is definitely it. The fact that it's cheaper than an Apple Watch or LG Watch Urbane just adds points in its favour.

Rotating bezel is the most intuitive way to navigate around a smartwatch; Very good display; Premium build

Lack of apps; Battery life needs to be longer

( Also see: You Don't Need a Smartwatch, But Here's Why You Should Buy One Nonetheless ) Although there have been plenty of launches by smaller companies, such as the Intex iRist and Wickedleak Alpha, the market is still dominated by Pebble, Android Wear, the Apple Watch, and Samsung's Gear range of...

Beautiful; solid design; Superb screen; Rotating bezel is awesome; Tizen interface; Decent watch faces

Poor selection of apps; Minor connectivity issues; Expensive