As I now own both, I thought I would take a few minutes to record my observations, likes and dislikes between the Apple Watch and the Samsung Gear S2.
I've been running the Gear S2 (standard dark gray model) through my work phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, a phone I'm very familiar with. The Apple Watch (42mm space gray) is the newest arrival and I'm running it on my wife's old iphone 5, which I completely rebooted, and upgraded to the newest software, iOS 9.1. So, there is a bit of a learning curve for me with the iphone.
That being said, my early vote is going for the Apple Watch. There is certainly nothing terribly wrong with the Gear S2 other than more limited apps at this point, but I've been wearing the Apple Watch since I got it and don't see any reason to go back.
Following are some more specifics on my comparison:
Build and shape - Both watches seem to be of great quality. The Gear S2 with the round face definitely looks more like a standard watch but honestly I prefer the rectangular display for viewing data. An example might be scrolling through an extended weather forecast. With the Samsung you're really kind of forced to concentrate on just the one or two lines in the middle - those above and below are truncated with the round screen. With the Apple's rectangular screen you can see the whole screen at once, maybe 5 or 6 lines at a time. It just makes it easier on the eyes and to gather the data you want. Both are equally comfortable in my opinion - I have the sport band on both, very similar.
Scrolling - Here, I actually prefer the crown on the Apple watch over the bezel on the Samsung. Don't get me wrong, the bezel is a great idea but it just requires more movement. On the Apple it's easy for me to simply roll my finger to scroll, on the Gear S2 I find I have to pick up my finger to swipe the bezel more often, if that makes sense. If you try to "roll" your finger with the bezel, well, it's round so your finger moves left or right as well requiring a relocation. Or, with the Samsung you can kind of pinch the bezel with finger and thumb but this requires more wrist/hand movement.
Locating apps - I've heard some reviewers comment on how disorganized the Apple Watch apps look, as they are all scattered on a single screen which you can navigate around with swipes and then you have to find the one you want and select it. On the Gear S2 the are all organized in different pages that you scroll through with the bezel. When you find the one you want you simply have to select the center of the screen to launch. This sounds great but honestly, I find the Apple system much easier. One push of the crown gets me to the app screen and then just find and tap, easy. On the Samsung you have to swipe over one screen then select apps, then …. depending on where you were last you may have to rotate the bezel around and around to navigate through 2 or 3 screens to find your app. From my personal experience I find Apple's method much easier.
Speaking of Apps - Most of you are probably already aware that the Apple is WAY ahead in this category. Whether Samsung will be able to catch up, well, only time will tell. What you do get on the Samsung is decent, but there's just not much more. Once I learned what I had, the fun starts to run out a bit. With the Apple, well for instance last night I downloaded translator, an awesome app and just another example of MANY that you just won't find on the Samsung (remote camera operation quickly comes to mind). Also the native weather app on the Samsung annoys me, if for nothing else the background color they use. During certain times of the day, I guess they are trying to mimic the sky but it's a very light blue, not appealing to me at all. I know it's a small thing but Apple's weather app with the consistent black background is always sharp and clear for my old eyes. Also, for whatever reason my Gear S2 weather app never updated unless I actually opened the app on the watch, no such issue with the Apple. And, the Apple weather app has more data, with the extended forecast, hour by hour rain, temp and cloudiness forecasts, really a nice easy to grasp package. Both have nice heart monitors and workout apps, in that regard it's probably just personal preference.
Watchfaces - I'm a little biased here as I just LOVE the modular watch face on the Apple Watch. I think it's the only one that gives you 5 complications - so much info I want on just one screen, awesome, especially in the multi color! Samsung has some nice choices too, and as stated earlier might be preferred by people who want an analog face that looks like a regular watch. What else I like about the Samsung here is you can choose and customize the watch faces on your phone. This makes it quite a bit easier in my opinion. I don't believe you can do this with the Apple watch, all customization is done solely through the watch.
Voice recognition - Another win for Apple with Siri. Samsung's is not bad but I get better search results with Siri and it's quite a bit quicker with better accuracy. Also, perhaps because of marketing (watching the apple instructional videos they link in an email you get), I'm learning of other controls I can do with Siri, such as set a reminder, or start a workout. I'm just left a little more not knowing about the Samsung voice control so I default to only using it for transcribing text messages, (which does work quite well).
Accessories - as with apps, there appears to be at this point in time a much larger selection of aftermarket straps for the AW. Samsung has some companies working on it but not much available at this point unless you opt for the classic model, then it's wide open as any 22mm (?) should work.
Both have very sharp and easy to read displays with great color. Interestingly, I really like the maps better on the Samsung. They seem to include many more street names and the contrast seems better. On the Apple watch, it appears washed out and I can barely make out the street highlights etc.
Overall I definitely prefer the Apple Watch over the Gear S2. I think it's just a lot of the little things that add up, more refined, slight edge in software, HUGE advantage in apps. Oh, and did I mention I love the multi colored modular screen? haha
Edit: One other important advantage of the Apple watch I forgot to mention is that it has a speaker so you can actually make or take phone calls right from your watch. The Gear S2 only has a michrophone.
I've been running the Gear S2 (standard dark gray model) through my work phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, a phone I'm very familiar with. The Apple Watch (42mm space gray) is the newest arrival and I'm running it on my wife's old iphone 5, which I completely rebooted, and upgraded to the newest software, iOS 9.1. So, there is a bit of a learning curve for me with the iphone.
That being said, my early vote is going for the Apple Watch. There is certainly nothing terribly wrong with the Gear S2 other than more limited apps at this point, but I've been wearing the Apple Watch since I got it and don't see any reason to go back.
Following are some more specifics on my comparison:
Build and shape - Both watches seem to be of great quality. The Gear S2 with the round face definitely looks more like a standard watch but honestly I prefer the rectangular display for viewing data. An example might be scrolling through an extended weather forecast. With the Samsung you're really kind of forced to concentrate on just the one or two lines in the middle - those above and below are truncated with the round screen. With the Apple's rectangular screen you can see the whole screen at once, maybe 5 or 6 lines at a time. It just makes it easier on the eyes and to gather the data you want. Both are equally comfortable in my opinion - I have the sport band on both, very similar.
Scrolling - Here, I actually prefer the crown on the Apple watch over the bezel on the Samsung. Don't get me wrong, the bezel is a great idea but it just requires more movement. On the Apple it's easy for me to simply roll my finger to scroll, on the Gear S2 I find I have to pick up my finger to swipe the bezel more often, if that makes sense. If you try to "roll" your finger with the bezel, well, it's round so your finger moves left or right as well requiring a relocation. Or, with the Samsung you can kind of pinch the bezel with finger and thumb but this requires more wrist/hand movement.
Locating apps - I've heard some reviewers comment on how disorganized the Apple Watch apps look, as they are all scattered on a single screen which you can navigate around with swipes and then you have to find the one you want and select it. On the Gear S2 the are all organized in different pages that you scroll through with the bezel. When you find the one you want you simply have to select the center of the screen to launch. This sounds great but honestly, I find the Apple system much easier. One push of the crown gets me to the app screen and then just find and tap, easy. On the Samsung you have to swipe over one screen then select apps, then …. depending on where you were last you may have to rotate the bezel around and around to navigate through 2 or 3 screens to find your app. From my personal experience I find Apple's method much easier.
Speaking of Apps - Most of you are probably already aware that the Apple is WAY ahead in this category. Whether Samsung will be able to catch up, well, only time will tell. What you do get on the Samsung is decent, but there's just not much more. Once I learned what I had, the fun starts to run out a bit. With the Apple, well for instance last night I downloaded translator, an awesome app and just another example of MANY that you just won't find on the Samsung (remote camera operation quickly comes to mind). Also the native weather app on the Samsung annoys me, if for nothing else the background color they use. During certain times of the day, I guess they are trying to mimic the sky but it's a very light blue, not appealing to me at all. I know it's a small thing but Apple's weather app with the consistent black background is always sharp and clear for my old eyes. Also, for whatever reason my Gear S2 weather app never updated unless I actually opened the app on the watch, no such issue with the Apple. And, the Apple weather app has more data, with the extended forecast, hour by hour rain, temp and cloudiness forecasts, really a nice easy to grasp package. Both have nice heart monitors and workout apps, in that regard it's probably just personal preference.
Watchfaces - I'm a little biased here as I just LOVE the modular watch face on the Apple Watch. I think it's the only one that gives you 5 complications - so much info I want on just one screen, awesome, especially in the multi color! Samsung has some nice choices too, and as stated earlier might be preferred by people who want an analog face that looks like a regular watch. What else I like about the Samsung here is you can choose and customize the watch faces on your phone. This makes it quite a bit easier in my opinion. I don't believe you can do this with the Apple watch, all customization is done solely through the watch.
Voice recognition - Another win for Apple with Siri. Samsung's is not bad but I get better search results with Siri and it's quite a bit quicker with better accuracy. Also, perhaps because of marketing (watching the apple instructional videos they link in an email you get), I'm learning of other controls I can do with Siri, such as set a reminder, or start a workout. I'm just left a little more not knowing about the Samsung voice control so I default to only using it for transcribing text messages, (which does work quite well).
Accessories - as with apps, there appears to be at this point in time a much larger selection of aftermarket straps for the AW. Samsung has some companies working on it but not much available at this point unless you opt for the classic model, then it's wide open as any 22mm (?) should work.
Both have very sharp and easy to read displays with great color. Interestingly, I really like the maps better on the Samsung. They seem to include many more street names and the contrast seems better. On the Apple watch, it appears washed out and I can barely make out the street highlights etc.
Overall I definitely prefer the Apple Watch over the Gear S2. I think it's just a lot of the little things that add up, more refined, slight edge in software, HUGE advantage in apps. Oh, and did I mention I love the multi colored modular screen? haha
Edit: One other important advantage of the Apple watch I forgot to mention is that it has a speaker so you can actually make or take phone calls right from your watch. The Gear S2 only has a michrophone.