Montblanc Summit 3 tour gives us a look at Wear OS 3 without Samsung’s One UI Watch on top
Until late June, Samsung’sGalaxy Watch4series was the only smartwatch running Google’s revampedWear OS 3. That changed last month with thearrival of the Montblanc Summit 3, a pricey $1,290 smartwatch running the latest version of Wear OS. Unlike Samsung’s, the Montblanc wearable will offer a different experience as there’s no One UI Watch skin running on top of it. The company has now posted how-to videos of the smartwatch on YouTube, giving us a closer look at the Wear OS 3 experience the way Google intended it to be.
Right off the bat, the significant difference between Samsung and Montblanc’s wearable is how you connect them to your phone (viaAndroid Authority). The Montblanc Summit supports Fast Pair, so pairing it starts with bringing it close to your Android smartphone, and you then need to use the Montblanc Summit app to continue further with the setup process. For the Galaxy Watch4, you must first download the Galaxy Wearable app on your non-Samsung Android device before starting the pairing process.
The video also gives us a look at the new Wear OS 3 boot animation. Interestingly, the video also confirms the Summit 3 will work with iPhones — iOS compatibility is missing from the Galaxy Watch4 lineup. This keeps the door open for future Wear OS 3 smartwatches to be also compatible with iPhones.
Another fundamental difference between the Galaxy Watch4 and Montblanc Summit is how you access the notification shade. To access notifications, you swipe right on the Galaxy Watch 4’s clock face. On the Montblanc Summit 3 though, you swipe up from the bottom of the display. The same gesture brings up the app launcher on the Samsung watch. A swipe down brings up the Quick Settings panel on both wearables. Swiping left/right on the Summit 3’s clock face will bring up the various tiles. UI elements look similar on both smartwatches in the video below, barring some theme differences.
There areplenty of other videos on the Montblanc channelthat you can go through to get an idea of the watch’s various health features and how they will work. The Montblanc Summit 3 goes on sale in the US and Europe starting today (July 15) for $1,290. If you are not a fan of Samsung’s One UI Watch skin, another (more expensive) option is available now.
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