Samsung Gear S: curved, big, and it's a phone (hands-on pictures)

The Samsung Gear S is, amazingly, Samsung's sixth smartwatch in a year. What makes it different? Screen and 3G.

The 2-inch 360x480 curved AMOLED screen feels like a super-sized Gear Fit. It's wide, but very vivid.

There's plenty of room for notifications.

The strap snaps together like Samsung's previous Gear 2 watches.

We checked out a Gear S with white rubber strap. It pops into the band accessory, as opposed to a regular watch's individually-attached straps.

A look from the side shows its thickness.

The snap-on battery charger also doubles as its own battery: a 350 mAh battery inside tops off your Gear S on the go.

The Gear S runs Tizen, including the apps that launched for Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo.

Browsing headlines and stories feels a little like using a mini-smartphone.

An optical heart-rate monitor on the back works like the ones on previous Samsung Gear watches this year.

The Gear S is also IP67 water and dust resistant, but not fully waterproof.

The pre-set watchfaces have shortcut buttons for notifications and weather, but vary in aesthetics.

Fitness data via S Health.

The Gear S is comfortable, and even feels a bit sporty. But, again, it's awfully big.

The Gear S has its own 3G connectivity and SIM card slot for making phone calls and getting messages.

The band almost feels like a cuff.

Another look at the battery charger, which charges via micro-USB.

The Gear S also has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and GPS.

A light lets you know when the battery pack's fully charged your watch.

You'll need a Samsung phone running Android 4.3 to use the Gear S.

You'll also need a phone to install apps onto the Gear S, despite the watch having its own Wi-Fi and 3G.

A Nike+ Running App turns the Gear S into a Fuel-earning fitness gadget, a first for Samsung Gear wearables.

Apps are stored on the Gear S's 4GB of memory. You can also store music tracks to play via Bluetooth headphones.

Will this be the shape of future Gear watches?

As for data plan pricing and carrier compatibility, stay tuned. But 3G on a watch will be a tall order to ask anyone to pay for unless it works really, really well.