Surprise Samsung Gear S2 update brings a cleaner interface and more convenience

The Gear S3 and Sport may be Samsung's current flagship smartwatches, but that isn't stopping the Korean giant from paying some much-needed attention to its previous champ, the Gear S2 - a three-year-old smartwatch.

Samsung has issued a surprise update for the Gear S2 today. It's not a little dinky one that cleans up longstanding issues either, it's a fairly robust update that adds several new features. The big one is a cleaner new interface that updates icons and widgets for the Gear S2's circular display.

Read this: The best Gear S2 apps to use

There's also a new Apps Shortcuts widget that automatically places your most recent apps on your wrist. You can still manually place your favorite apps if you'd like, too. The Quick Panel, which you swipe down on to access quick settings, is also accessible from any screen or app, not just the watch face.

Health is also getting a couple of boosts. Firstly, information like pace and heart rate will be available for a quick glance on your wrist. You can also get quicker access to your preferred exercises by setting it as a preset in the new Multi-Workout widget. Oh, and when your Gear S2 nudges you after a period of inactivity, it'll give you options like stretching instead of just standing up and walking around.

If you're deep into the Samsung ecosystem, you'll be able to view your heart rate on your Samsung phone when you're following exercise-related videos from Samsung. If you've got a Samsung TV, you can even watch it up on there. Now that's what I call synergy.

Speaking of which, the Gear S2 will now allow you to control Gear VR with the Gear VR controller app. If you've got a PowerPoint presentation to do at work, you can also download the PPT Controller app to control it from your wrist. Last, and probably least, you can get full weather reports right from your wrist. Never get caught in the rain again.

The new Gear S2 update is available right now via the Samsung Gear app.