Samsung Galaxy Gear 2: release date, news and rumors

The Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 is likely to be a surprising addition to the MWC 2014 party, namely because it's predecessor has been on sale for such a short amount of time.

But if you read our initial Galaxy Gear review, you'd see why. A smartwatch may be cool, but if it costs too much, has too short of a battery life and is filled with useless gimmicks, it's not going to sell well – and that's precisely what we found with Samsung's first effort.

So the rumor mill has been cranking into full force in recent weeks to talk at length about a possible sequel that will emerge with the Samsung Galaxy S5 – read on to find out what we know will likely be coming as Samsung battens down the hatches ahead of the iWatch release later this year.

Galaxy Gear 2 design

When it comes to the new look of the Galaxy Gear, it's easy to speculate on what it might be, given the first iteration was so chunky.

We actually liked the design, as it combined industrial-looking materials with sleek lines – but combined with the camera it was just too large. A Samsung spokesperson late last year dropped some news that the new version was in the works, and that it would be '15% to 20% thinner than the previous production', which means Samsung has realised that the current incarnation is just too chunky.

Since then, we've heard some pretty exciting things about the design. The first being that the new Galaxy Gear will be completely redesigned to get rid of the 'dull and boring' elements – and the best of these will be a flexible screen.

This would be something that would put the Samsung smartwatch on the map, although we doubt it would be totally flexible, rather curved to make it look a lot nicer.

The second things is that this might not be the only device that pops up – Samsung's said to be pulling some of the technology out of the Gear and putting it into an advanced fitness band called, cleverly, the Galaxy Band, which would put it in direct competition with the LG LifeBand Touch.

Rumors have been put about that reckon multiple versions of the Gear will launch at MWC – if so, the Galaxy Gear 2 and a fitness band would make sense as to the identities.

All new OS

We've heard loads about Tizen in the run up to MWC 2014, where Samsung is supposed to be showing off phones using the new operating system.

But here's an interesting one: the Galaxy Gear 2 could be running the OS as well. While such a jump in strategy would normally be tossed out as useless speculation, this could have legs as it would make the watch a lot more enticing for developers.

Word is that the Gear 2 would use an HTML5 version of Tizen, making it much easier for devs to make apps for the device and therefore increase its appeal – given the UI is already nothing like Android, there wouldn't need to be much of a change to make things look like an evolution.

And don't worry about the apps that are already created (not that there are a lot of them) for the Gear – as these can be ported over with relative ease.

Pricey as before?

The new Galaxy Gear needs to be cheaper than the original, coming as it did for £299 or $299 (around AU$333) off the shelf.

The good news is that the new version of the device will have chopped the cost a little as it worries about what Apple will be doing with its first wrist-adorning option.

Samsung knows that it wouldn't fare well if it pitted its watch against the premium quality of Apple's (just look at some of the high end tablets Samsung offers for the same cost as the iPad Air) and will look to offer a lower cost as well as an enhanced feature set.

With that in mind, the Galaxy Gear 2 is a crucial device for the South Korean brand – it's already had one bite with the first option, and if the next iteration fails to ignite then it could be handing the keys to the wearable kingdom to Apple before it's even brought anything out.

Galaxy Gear release date

The Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 launch date is almost certain to be MWC 2014 alongside the Galaxy S5 – pairing the two together will be a no-brainer for Samsung as it looks to maximize the appeal of the new phone.

But when it actually reaches shop shelves is yet to be seen, as the brand has a lot of options here. One will be to launch the Gear 2 at the same time as the Galaxy S5, which hints at it being on sale at the end of March.

This notion is certainly backed up by the fact multiple US retailers are slashing the price of the current Gear by almost 50% in an effort to eradicate stock – which usually heralds a new device.

The other main option would be to tag the new Galaxy Gear release date for the same time as the fancier Samsung Galaxy S5 version, clad in metal and rocking a QHD screen, as many rumors are tagging that as arriving later than the first version due to issues

So here's the best case scenario: a Galaxy Gear 2 and fitness band with advanced functionality are announced at MWC 2014, and go on sale a month after launch. It will come at a more palatable price point and feature all-new design… is that wishful thinking?