Korean giant Samsung releases several new gadgets — a bigger smartphone with a stylish makeover, a bigger tablet computer and a brand-new smartwatch that includes a camera. There are lots of perks and apps but the phone is a bit complicated.

Samsung is giving its latest Galaxy Note smartphone a stylish makeover.

The Galaxy Note 3 has a soft, leather-like back. Grooves on the side of the big-screen phone make it easier to grip.

But I found the new phone to be complicated to use. Between Scrapbook, My Magazine, Air Command and dozens of other functions, it might take even the most experienced smartphone user several hours to figure out.

The company also unveiled its next tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1, which is basically an extra-large version of the Galaxy phone, but without the cellular service, and a smartwatch.

I tested out the Note 3 for about 45 minutes. The soft back can be snapped off the phone to reveal the battery. Samsung will sell replaceable back covers in several different colors, but the phone itself will come in just three: black, white or pink.

The Note 3 has a bigger screen than its predecessor, measuring 5.7 inches diagonally compared with the Note 2’s 5.5 inches. But it still weighs less and is slightly thinner.

The biggest changes are with the S Pen. The pen unlocks a new feature called Air Command. With that, you can open five other features, such as handwrites a note; captures a screen and writes comments on that.

You can also open Air Command, then Pen Window. Draw a box on the screen, and eight icons pop up. You then click the one for the calculator. Pen Window currently opens a limited number of applications including two separate chat apps — Samsung’s ChatON and Google’s Hangouts. (Two different ones? Did I mention the phone’s complicated to use?).

I couldn’t figure out how to open Air Command on my own. During the presentation that Samsung unveiled the device, it shows that pointing the pen to the screen was all it took to open Air Command. That wasn’t the case.

I learned that I had to click the S Pen’s button while hovering over the screen to get to Air Command.

Another new feature, My Magazine, was also hard to find. The app was developed in partnership with Flipboard, an app that pulls content from news sources and your social media accounts and presents it in an easy-to-read magazine format. My Magazine does the same thing.

But first I had to find it. A representative had to show me that an upward swipe at the bottom of the screen opens it up.

The redesigned S Pen is tough to use too. It is small and thin, making it hard to grip. Not surprisingly, the button on the stylus was quite small. You end up spinning the pen around every time you need to click it. 

Bigger tablet

The Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, also unveiled early this month, has the same features of the Note 3 phone, just with a bigger, 10-inch screen. Like the phone, it has the leather-like backing and grooves on the side.

The tablet has a few extra bells and whistles. One of the big perks is the tablet’s file organization system, which is similar to that of a traditional personal computer. It lets you create folders and sub-folders for documents, providing easy access. Also like a PC, the tablet lets you create up to eight profiles, so you can let your kids, spouse or guests use the tablet without fear that they will read your email, delete your photos or access apps you don’t want them to.

The tablet also comes with a host of freebies that the phone doesn’t have, including free trial subscriptions to The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek and other news sources, along with extra space with online storage service Dropbox.

The tablet’s display is bright and clear, good for watching TV or viewing photos. It also has stereo speakers and cameras on both its front and back sides.

Gear smartwatch

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, a new computing device worn like a wristwatch, is certain to pique much curiosity when it starts being seen in public.

It wants to attract not only tech addicts who must have the latest gadget but also young, design-conscious consumers. The Gear’s design flair and ease of use are its sweetest attributes, but it may not entirely please either group. Although powered by the Android operating system, like many phones and tablets, it will work only with Samsung devices — and only with newer models: the Galaxy Note 3 or the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Samsung will start shipping the US$299 Gear smartwatch this month, ahead of a similar Apple product.

Like similar products, the Gear is not an independent device. For useful functionality, it needs to be linked with a specific Samsung smartphone or tablet computer through bluetooth.

The Gear’s display is a touch screen measuring 4.14 centimeters diagonally. Its strap has an embedded camera. The Gear supports many apps and the wearer can answer incoming calls or check e-mail without picking up the smartphone that’s paired with it. In addition, moderate use will require a daily battery top-up with yet another charger to keep track of.

The strap comes in six different colors — black, gray, orange, beige, gold and green. But the screen, which is pitch black in idle mode, probably draws more attention than a tasteful accessory should. The dark recess in the strap where the camera’s lens is embedded will also elicit questions.

The three features I tested worked efficiently. It was easy to activate the camera and quick to shoot a photo. It left both hands free while placing and answering calls.

The Gear alerted me with a nice soft buzz and previewed new e-mail. The full message can also be read. Samsung says replies are possible through voice dictation.

Taking photos felt natural except at very high or low angles, which forced the wrist into an awkward position.

Overall, the Gear gives us more ways to imagine what wearable computing gadgets might do for us in the future. The Gear is smart but in a limited way, as it’s essentially a slave to the smartphone it’s paired to.

After my brief hands-on experience, I decided the first generation of the Gear was cool but not compelling enough to convince me to ditch my current device, an iPhone.

One downside is that the Gear doesn’t support a wireless earpiece, so both sides of any conversation can be overheard. The big disappointment is that the Gear does not work with most of its phones and tablets.