By Will Goodbody, Science & Technology Correspondent
Is it a smartwatch? Is it a fitness tracker? Or is it something in between?
Following its unveiling at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Samsung's latest stab at the smartwatch/fitness tracker market has finally been released.
With the Gear Fit, the company is trying to grab a slice of the mushrooming and increasingly valuable wearable tech market, with a hybrid product that it is hoping will appeal to two segments - fitness freaks and gadget geeks.
It's an attractive looking device - considerably prettier than the Galaxy Gear - Samsung's first effort in the smartwatch market.
It sports a curved 1.84" Super AMOLED screen, which is bright, display colours vividly and is very responsive to touch.
The strap is changeable and comes in a range of colours to match your luminous, lycra exercise gear.
The curved plastic design means the watch sits snugly on the arm, and is easy to do-up, unlike the awkward Galaxy Gear.
It is also IP67 rated, meaning it is resistant to the dust and water that may come in contact with it during outdoor exercise.
The interface is simple, easy to navigate and the layout and designs of the display can be modified to suit your preferences.
I found it was simpler to use the vertical display, because it makes it easier to read when it is on your wrist - although it looks better in horizontal mode. I also liked the way the accelerometer could be used to wake the device up automatically when you tilt it towards you, in the way you do when you look at your watch.
There is a built in pedometer, which seems to be pretty accurate and keeps a chronological history.
It also has an exercise tracker, with different modes for running, walking, cycling and hill walking.
Each allows you to set goals, and as you'd expect, track your performance over time. There is also a built in heart-rate monitor, which is a little temperamental.
It doesn't like you moving or talking while it takes measurements - which isn't exactly ideal.
However it does work, which gives the Fit a distinct advantage over the competition in that it provides a feature which other fitness tracking products don't have. As you'd expect, there's also a sleep monitoring function.
The watch can only pair by Bluetooth with Galaxy smartphones, which is something of drawback.
However, once connected, it syncs up with the Gear Manager app, to allow you play around with settings.
It also connects with Samsung's S-Health monitoring app, which gives you a more rounded view of your exercise and training regime. But by restricting compatibility to just Galaxy devices, Samsung is significantly disadvantaging the Fit, when compared to other fitness trackers like those offered by Jawbone or Fitbit.
As a smartwatch it works fine.
Once paired with a Galaxy device it will display notifications like incoming calls, texts, emails etc. You can also control music that is playing on your smartphone using the device, and there's a stopwatch and timer for good measure.
Battery life was OK. Samsung says it lasts 3-4 days with typical usage - I found it more like 2-3 days with light usage.
All-in-all the Gear Fit is a big improvement on the Galaxy Gear, though the restrictive nature of the devices it pairs with, the hit and miss heart rate monitor and the limitations of the software mean there is probably better still to come.
