The Samsung Gear S3 has proven to be a popular smartwatch, so much so that Samsung postponed a refresh, instead launching the Gear Sport in 2017. Presumably, we'll see the Samsung Gear S4 later this year.
One of the big advantages Samsung has over the Apple Watch is the selection of watch faces available, which spans well outside Samsung's own walls. Like Android Wear, you can also load on third-party creations, giving you no end of ways to make your smartwatch stand out.
Read this: Best Samsung Gear S3 apps
But that's also a downside: there really is no end. So to make the selection process less overwhelming, we've whittled down a list of our current favorites. Of course it's going to be a matter of personal taste, but we think we've herded together a pretty good crowd of diverse, eye-catching faces to choose from. Some of these cost money, some are free; we've highlighted the exact costs under each.
For the stylish
Hugo Boss
Though not actually contributed by Hugo Boss, this imitation watch face is spot on. It's minimalist, classy and elegant AF. It's also a nice fit on both the Classic and Frontier models, while a rose gold variant, also available on the store, is better suited to the former.
Free, Samsung Gear store
GMAN GA 100 24H
There are quite a few mechanical faces for the Gear S3 but this one from GearMasterX is one of our favourites. As well as displaying the date and a digital clock complication, it can be tweaked with shortcuts to apps like S-Health, your calendar and the weather.
, Samsung Gear store
Sleep Time Analog
If you wear your watch to bed to track your sleep, then this simple face is for you. It's designed to minimise the screen glare in the night, while you also benefit from a bit more battery life.
, Samsung Gear store
Luxury Purple WF
Super basic, this one, but we're really into the purples and blues that make that background pop. There's a step counter on there too, so you've got an excuse to gaze into that beautiful purple abyss on the regular.
, Samsung Gear store
Mondaine (Facer)
As much as we've liked Mondaine's hybrid smartwatches to date, nothing beats that classic Swiss railway clock design. Here you can get it in its cleanest, most minimal form – and it looks great on the Gear.
Free, Facer
Sapphire Pulse
There are several faces that try to pull off the "future look" but few do it better than Sapphire Pulse. Available in a handful of different colours, the face subtly displays information around the edge of the clock so as to not overcrowd it. It won't hit that battery too badly either, with an always-on mode available if you want it.
, Samsung Gear store
For the sporty
Adventure
We really dig the layout of this one, which puts a selection of app shortcuts against a beautiful night sky. It strikes that difficult balance of fitting a lot in without seeming overcrowded. And all for the princely cost of absolutely nothing.
Free, Samsung Gear store
Samsung Sports Watchface
This Samsung-made watch face looks great and fits in a lot of data, but our favourite feature is the GPS complication that shows you your place on the map. It also makes it super easy to start a workout from the face.
Free, Samsung Gear store
MbM – Aileron 2 Gold (Facer)
Winner of the grand prize in Samsung, Facer and aBlogToWatch's design contest, the MbM is busy but handsome, with everything from weather data to battery gauge, and a really neat outer dial for counting seconds.
$1.99, Facer
TimeWalker TW Discover Line
This sports watch face comes with eight colour schemes to choose from and a rugged design that nicely fits the Gear S3 Frontier. It crams a lot on that face too, with complications in the middle and app shortcuts around the outside.
, Samsung Gear store
For the fun lovers
Mickey Premium (Facer)
A timeless classic, and there are plenty of variations of the Mickey face out there, but for our money this one's the best. You know the score – Mickey's arms are the clock hands rotating around – and you get the date on there too.
Free, Facer
Mr Time x David Flores
Samsung teamed up with artist David Flores for the Mr Time collection of faces that bring his stained-glass style to the smartwatch. There are four to choose from, all of them pretty funky.
, Samsung Gear store
Tronic – Neon
A tad more garish than the Sapphire Pulse, the Tronic face was born to be worn on the dance floor. It's like every 80s sci-fi movie rolled into one clock face, and we love it. Its creator signs off the app store summary with "Good luck". Who needs luck when you've got this neon party breaking out on your wrist?
, Samsung Gear store
Q-Watch
We're both orphans, James – but only one of us is rocking this cool-ass watch face. Yes, the Classic Goldeneye watch face can be yours in 12-hour and-24 hour versions. Based on the watch in the classic N64 game, the health bars around the side display your battery life – when they deplete, it's game over.
Free, Samsung Gear store
Futurom – Luxury and aquarelle
This one might be a bit too psychedelic for some tastes, but if you like having the loudest watch in the room, the Futurom faces fit the bill without going too OTT. Each one comes with a catalogue of wallpapers to choose from and a peppering of metrics across the face.
, Samsung Gear store
TextWatch Two in One
TextWatch doesn't show you the time – it tells you the time. It'll display the current time in words, updating in five-minute intervals (so if you always like to know the time down to the very minute, this one's not for you). It'll also show you the date and battery status, and there's an ambient mode here too.
, Samsung Gear store
How we test
By Hugh Langley
Now at Business Insider, Hugh originally joined Wareable from TechRadar where he’d been writing news, features, reviews and just about everything else you can think of for three years.
Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider.
Prior to Wareable, Hugh freelanced while studying, writing about bad indie bands and slightly better movies. He found his way into tech journalism at the beginning of the wearables boom, when everyone was talking about Google Glass and the Oculus Rift was merely a Kickstarter campaign - and has been fascinated ever since.
He’s particularly interested in VR and any fitness tech that will help him (eventually) get back into shape. Hugh has also written for T3, Wired, Total Film, Little White Lies and China Daily.