Smartwatch manufacturer Pebble has long been associated with the production of affordable rectangular wearable devices, but recently, it launched a round bodied offering in the form of the Pebble Time Round. Here is how this new device compares to the Gear S2 from Samsung. 

Design

When it comes to design, both devices are remarkably similar as they have round cases.

However, the Gear S2 has two versions: a basic model that looks like a smartwatch and a more traditional Gear S2 Classic that looks like an ordinary watch. The Gear S2 is also a little bigger and heavier than the Classic model but both have rotating bezels that can be used to scroll through content on the display. When it comes to colors, however, there are limited options as the Gear S2 only has two, a gray body and a silver body, and each has bands of the same color made from plastic. The Gear S2 Classic has a black body with matching band in leather. As for water and dust proofing, it has an IP68 rating and can remain in 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. 

The Time Round, on the other hand, is a much smaller device and is lighter and thinner even though its body is crafted from Marine Grade stainless steel. It comes in three colors: silver, rose gold, and black. Its straps are currently only available in leather, but steel bands are going to be arriving soon, and customers can pick from a 20 mm version or a much smaller 14 mm version, which is targeted at women. Finally, the device is not waterproof and can only withstand splashes as it has an IPX7 rating. 

The Time Round runs the operating system created by Pebble and it can be paired with both Android and iOS devices. The Gear S2 runs Tizen and can only be paired with Android devices. 

Display

There is an e-paper display on the Pebble Time Round which has a 38.5 mm case and a big bezel running along its edge. The Gear S2 comes with a 1.2-inch super AMOLED display with a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels and density of 302 pixels per inch. 

Specs

When it comes to hardware, the Gear S2 has an Exynos 3250 chipset with a dual core CPU clocked at 1.0 GHz along with 4 GB memory and RAM of 512 MB. As for the Pebble Time Round, it appears to have the same ARM Cortex-M3 processor which is present on the Pebble Time steel. 

Sensors

There is no heart rate sensor on the Pebble Time Round but it can track the user's steps and activity and monitor their sleep. The Gear S2 has an accelerometer, barometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope and heart rate monitor.

Price

The Samsung Gear S2 has a starting price of $299 while the Pebble Time Round costs $249.