The Samsung Gear Fit is, as the name suggests, a fitness band that has joined Samsung's growing family of wearable devices. Announced at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, we had the chance to get one on our wrist to see what it offers.

The first thing you notice about the Gear Fit is that astounding curved Super AMOLED display. It's beautiful and really clear and with the various clock faces and backgrounds it makes for an attractive accessory. But is it smart enough to beat the heavily competitive market for a space on your wrist?

Heart rate

As expected, the heart rate monitor is fast at reading and, despite being small, the Fit offers an accurate reading just as quick as the S5 or the Gear 2. We tried it several times and didn't have a single problem, and it fitting snuggly probably helped.

The fitness capabilities go further, thanks to the in-built sensors which mean you can track walking, running, cycling and hiking. We couldn't test this in the limited hall space at MWC but with a pedometer already built into Samsung's phone range its algorithms should be pretty accurate.

Display

The 1.84-inch curved screen is stunning. It gives you a resolution of 432 x 128 pixels and the brightness can be pumped up to a high 6 but we were told this daylight setting would slip back down to 4 to save battery. How it chooses when to do this wasn't clear.

hands on samsung gear fit review image 10

The display can be flipped to suit left or right-hand users. But since it's always horizontal, across the wrist, it does require a bit of a bend in the neck to look at it straight on. Unfortunately there isn't an option to have the screen running down vertically.

The strap is changeable to suit your outfit and releases with a simple pop-off action. The whole thing is also IP67 rated to be dust and water resistant which come across in the tightly sealed build. But it's still very light on the wrist, in spite of that brilliant screen.

It measures 23.4 x 57.4 x 11.95mm and weighs just 27g. There's a 210mAh battery on board and Samsung says this will give you about 3-4 days of use.

Conclusion

Samsung's first step into the fitness tracker market measures heart rate, and has the potential to do more, thanks to that screen. As with the Galaxy Gear, options are limited now but the potential of the Fit is huge.

The Samsung Gear Fit, which will launch globally on 11 April, could be a great choice for those wanting fitness tracking without the expense of a full smartwatch.