These are my first day observations with the Samsung Gear S.

Out of the box I loved the bold and size of the Gear S. Mark my words it is massive, really massive but I personally think that is a selling point and style point alone which I really like.

I have set up the Gear S with my Note 4 and tested most of the functions. I am pleased to report the battery ended day 1 at 44%. The battery cradle also acts as a power pack so if you are away for a couple of days you can snap on the cradle and it will charge the Gear S. However, compared to the LG G Watch, the battery cradle is a PITA to attach and detach. The LG G Watch has a magnetic base that just pinged together as easy as ABC with its magnets.

The curve of the Gear S is lovely. The screen is responsive and all the functions work as advertised. I inserted a nano sim and made a few phone calls without using the Note 4. First up, the loudspeaker of the Gear S is not loud enough for my ears, so a bluetooth headset will be needed.

I wanted to test the in built music player so I moved my music across from the Note 4 to the watch using the Gear Manager on the Note 4. This process is done via bluetooth and take ages. Next problem is the music quality is just average via bluetooth headphones. In my mind it is not really worth the aggravation of using the Gear S as an mp3 player unless you really wanted to. S Voice worked fine. Notifications seem to work fine, but only after the second software update. Before that I don’t think I was getting any notifications.

Clock faces. There are some great clock faces, but in my mind not enough decent ones to choose from. I wish it was possible to change the background colour on some of these. I need to explore the situation of the nano sim and micro sim of the Note 4. Apparently, according to Carphone Warehouse it is possible to get a duplicate sim with your same number for the watch.

As I have owned the original Gear, Gear 2 and Gear Fit the Gear S held no surprises. It all worked as advertised.

More next week plus my thoughts on the Gear S and Note 4 combination and whether these devices are worth their mustard. Plus my views versus smart watches like Pebble and LG G Watch which I have both owned.