Many have been curious to know the reason Sasmung used Tizen to power the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo. Just like Android, Tizen is an open source operating system. Some have speculated that Samsung wants to reduce its reliance on Google. That may be true but Tizen also enables Samsung to offer longer battery life and better performance with its smartwatches. Here is what Samsung’s director of product planning Drew Blackard told Business Insider at MWC:
Today, Android isn’t optimized as a wearable platform .. In the meantime, Samsung has been working on Tizen for a long time. In the meantime, Samsung has been working on Tizen for a long time.
Google is going to release a lightweight version of Android for wearable devices later this year, so things could change. Android still has the upper hand.