Samsung Galaxy Watch (Gear S‪)‬ 4+

I received my Gear S3 Frontier the Christmas holiday of 2018. I’ve loved and enjoyed it first moment I received it. Personally I would’ve gone with what was most popular at that time if I’d purchased myself (fitbit/Apple Watch etc). But it was a gift from my spouse who is one who searches and reads reviews and ratings before making a section on any purchase. About 3 weeks ago I began trying to complete the newest update. After so many unsuccessful attempts of updating I gave up and finally a couple days ago was able to complete the update successfully. I can see the difference in the look of the icons and colors on the screen. I’m not tech savvy therefore I don’t know what this new update, now with Bixby, means. Sounds like something I could really care less about. I pretty much only use it for its step count & health app and making calls here and there. Seeing as though I have an iPhone I can’t respond to messages but I can receive my texts and iMessages on my watch. I have noticed my battery life doesn’t last nearly as long. Even on the off days of working out, my battery life is at about 50% around noon and I still have a full day ahead almost. Seeing as though I charge it until it’s completely charged and only use my watch the most when I’m active my battery life should last longer it seems. Please help me figure out why my battery life is so much less since I’ve updated. Thank you!

Dear user, we are sorry for the inconveniences. GPS, WI-FI can consume a lot of battery. Additionally, the display takes up the lion's share of the battery when turned on so we recommend you use the always-on feature sparingly.
Unfortunately, reply to message function is not integrated with iOS yet. We have duly noted your suggestion and will pass it along to the development team. Thank you.

I read a lot of reviews about compatibility with iPhone before getting my Galaxy Watch (standalone version from T-Mobile). Everything I found said I would lose a lot of functionality because iOS did not play well with Samsung products. I’m happy to report that I can make and receive calls and texts without issue, even if I turn my iPhone off and leave it at home (reviews all said I would not be able to reply to texts from my watch). Almost everything seems to work without issue with the major exception of Samsung Pay. I’ve paired my watch with a Samsung phone, and I must admit this is a function I will really miss as I don’t like carrying a phone and wallet when I work out. Apple Pay won’t work on the watch either, for obvious reasons. One other thing that is not working on my watch (which worked when paired to a Samsung phone) is the voice to text feature. I think it worked when I first linked the iPhone, but it’s stopped working. This is a feature I hope can be fixed since it’s difficult to type out even short texts on the little screen.

Dear user, we are glad you did the research and found out exactly what the limitations were before purchasing the Watch.
We will pass along your suggestion to the development team, thank you.

I received a response from my earlier reviews a few days after I left the review. I had already fixed by deleting the app from my iPhone and doing a factory reset. This fresh install made everything start working again however I did lose all my watch faces that are not showing available any longer. I give a 5 star now because I love the fact that they responded and it works.

Earlier review: I have had the watch for about 6 months and about a month in the raise hand gesture to wake quit working. I have it turned on in settings. I just did update where one of the changes is touch screen to wake and that doesn’t work either. Also about a month in the notifications of incoming calls and messages quit working. I get no sound or vibrations. I made sure theatre mode, do not disturb are not on. I have notifications turned on for the galaxy watch and messages. I have an iPhone 8 Plus and all software is up to date on both. I love the styling of the galaxy watch plus the personalization available over the Apple Watch but not happy with the issues I’m having. I can take a call and read messages when I see it is coming in on my phone. I used the Galaxy iOS app to ask for help several months ago but never got a response. I can’t find a number to call for text support.

Dear user, we are really sorry to hear of your troubled experience. Please toggle off the wake-up gesture, turn your Watch off and on again, then turn on the gesture on. Additionally, please go to your Gear Settings→ Sound and vibration→ Select Sound in Sound Mode→ Set volume to Max for all four categories. Let us know how it goes.