Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Classic: Super-size watches go big on style

The Samsung Gear S3 is Samsung's newest smartwatch. It's feature-packed.

It's also stunningly designed.

There are plenty of bands. In fact, you can attach any 22mm band.

It's ruggedized to withstand heat, cold, water (it has a IP68 water-resistance rating) and dust.

Sitting in ice, S3-style.

The Gear S3 runs the same Tizen OS and apps as last year's Gear S2.

It's beautiful, but big: 46mm, bigger than last year. And thicker.

Here it is next to a Gear S2 Classic (left). See the size difference?

The outer bezel, which controls the watch, is thicker. There are two models: Classic (pictured), and the more sporty Frontier.

There's a Nest app coming this year.

The S3 side buttons: One brings up Samsung Pay.

Seen here, the Gear S3 looks like a regular high-end watch.

Heart-rate monitoring on the back. The Gear S3 can monitor heart rate just like last year's Gear S2.

There are many preinstalled watch faces, and they can stay on in a variety of colors.

The Gear S3 Frontier. It also comes in an LTE version.

We don't know the Gear S3 price yet, but expect it to be slightly expensive.

All models have GPS now, and speakerphones for answering calls.

Comparing the sides of both the Classic (bottom) and Frontier (top) variants of the Gear S3.

Samsung Pay is also onboard for mobile payments.

The steel case and design feel far more watchlike.

A larger 380 mAh battery should last an extra day: up to 4 days, according to Samsung.

Paying via Samsung Pay: Thanks to MST, it should work at more places.

The Gear S3 could work at credit card terminals that lack tap-to-pay, just like recent Samsung Galaxy phones.

Comparing models.