Samsung's first smartwatch had a camera

Samsung's first smartwatch was a surprising thing. Announced alongside the Galaxy Note 3 at the 2013 IFA show, the

Samsung Galaxy Gear

was a marvel in the smartwatch world. It had features no one expected, including a camera, and managed to set the bar particularly high for what

smart watches

could do.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear was primarily sold as an accessory to the Galaxy Note 3. In fact, it was only compatible with the Note 3 at launch. The $299 smartwatch served a 1.63-inch AMOLED display with a high resolution of 320 x 320. It was powered by an 800 MHz processor and packed 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. It connected to the Note 3 via Bluetooth 4 Low Energy and included other features such as an accelerometer and gyroscope. The 315mAh internal battery was enough to provide 24 hours of battery life per charge.

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What? A camera?

The watch had two telltale features for the time: a camera and a speaker. The camera was integrated into the watch band and captured 1.9 MP images and could record 720p videos. Samsung pitched the camera as a tool of opportunity, something to use when your smartphone wasn't to hand. (No, Samsung didn't encourage spying, despite the spy-like nature of having a camera on your smartwatch.) Video capture was limited to a maximum of 10 minutes, thanks to the 4GB of storage. The quality of photos and videos was questionable to say the least, which was unsurprising given the limitations of technology at the time. Also, since the camera was an internal component of the strap, this meant that there was no swapping of straps.

The camera was integrated into the watch band and captured 1.9MP images.

Speakers may be common in today's smartwatches, but in 2013 they weren't. The speaker produces just enough sound to handle your voice calls in quiet spaces. Hardware owners were able to dial calls directly from the watch and send commands to the S Voice tool

Samsung

.

Push the limits

The Samsung Galaxy Gear faced some limitations. For example, it had no Wi-Fi, LTE, or any other way to independently connect to the Internet. It completely depended on the Galaxy Note 3 for its connection. The charger was horrible. It was a clunky affair that acted more like a clamp around the watch than a cradle. The watch couldn't act as a standalone music player, although it could control the companion phone's music app.

Related:

The best WearOS apps for Android

Android Wear

) with a heavy UI overlay. Samsung said it removed the user interface to make the watch easier to use with one finger on the go. A single hardware button took you back to the home screen. It included several watch faces, as well as simple apps like a stopwatch and a pedometer. Some third-party apps were also available, including Evernote, eBay, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, and Tripit. There was even a "find my phone" tool that helped you locate your lost Galaxy Note 3, as long as it was within Bluetooth range.

Have there been smartwatches with cameras since the Galaxy Gear? Samsung released a

Gear 2

, which also had a camera, but few of the major smartwatch makers have added the technology to their own wearables. For example, you won't find a camera on the

AppleWatch

. Most smartwatches with cameras on the market today are novelty devices, many of which are targeted at children rather than serious users.

This makes Samsung's approach with the original Galaxy Gear a semi-unique approach in the world of smartwatches. .

This is the seventeenth article in our "Did You Know" series, in which we dive into the history books of Android and consumer technology to uncover important and interesting facts or events that have been overlooked. over time. What do you want to see us cover next? Let us know in the comments.