My husband and I have both owned this smart watch before the Apple Watch was released. Although the Apple Watch has more bells and whistles (and apps), we would still choose the Gear S over it because of its ability to be a "phone" independent of the smart phone. We only need to pair it with the smart phone when adjusting a few settings other than that, we don't need to lug our smart phones (or phablets) along with us in order to use the Gear S as a phone. It's quite convenient when going out for a run or picking up groceries when lots of children in tow. We've used it to communicate with each other whenever we're out on the beach as well. The health-related apps are pretty useful and we love the "stickers" / "badges" that motivate us of our health-related accomplishments (or reminders that we need to get up and get going). The apps are not Android-based, though; it's specific to Samsung's environment, so the choices of apps still need a whole lot of improvement. We can only hope that they would hire more developers to create more apps for them. The battery life isn't too great if you use it to talk on the phone a lot (approx 30 min talk time). It charges pretty fast, though. You can also hook it up via blutooth to a headset or you could just "talk to the phone". Bottom line, it's a great device, especially if you're looking for an "independent" smart watch. If you're looking for the bells and whistles and don't necessarily need an independent smart watch, then go for the competition.