Many tech journalists are advising consumers to hold off on buying Samsung's Galaxy Gear while the device gets its kinks worked out, but Oprah has just given the smartwatch her stamp of approval. The Galaxy Gear has landed one of the coveted spots on her "Favorite Things" list.
Although the Galaxy Gear has a lot of potential — it promises synced apps and phone calls directly to your wrist — in our assessment, it's not exactly where it needs to be just yet. From an uncomfortable band to a high price point ($299) to charging difficulties and issues with built-in notifications, Samsung itself has even said it's working on fixing the model and recruiting new talent to do so.
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Nevertheless, Oprah has given it her blessing as one of the items you should consider buying for the holidays.

"At last, a polite way to check calls, texts, and emails when you're in a meeting," Oprah said in her "Oprah's Favorite Things 2013" list. "This Samsung Galaxy Gear watch will discreetly notify you of incoming messages as long as it's within a five-foot radius of your Galaxy Note 3 smartphone. And everyone will think you're just looking at the time."
Other tech gadgets that made one of her 60 gift suggestions include the Kindle Paperwhite, the Qooq Touch Kitchen tablet and phone charger cases (the Mophie Juice Pack).
This isn't the first time the media mogul has put some high-profile tech toys on her list — last year, she recommended Microsoft's Surface tablet, but gained criticism when she tweeted the news from her iPad. She first endorsed the iPad back in 2010.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch is big -- but it will also fit on small wrists.
The default watch face displays time, date and weather. You can customize the face to include other digital faces, analog faces or to show shortcuts to different apps.
Speaking of apps, the Galaxy Gear comes with a bunch of pre-installed apps, including access to your contacts, the phone dialer and controls for the built-in camera.
Evernote and Line are two third-party apps available for the Galaxy Gear.
Other apps include Snapchat, Path and RunKeeper.
The camera is on the wrist strap, perfect for taking photos of your food.
The camera's location means that you can't replace the strap. It also means you don't want to get the strap wet.
You can adjust the Galaxy Gear to make it surprisingly snug on even the smallest of wrists.
The Galaxy Gear is designed to work with other Galaxy devices, including the brand new Galaxy Note 3.
The Galaxy Gear installs a Gear Companion app on compatible smartphones. This is what controls app installation and configuration settings.
You can customize the clock face in the Gear Companion app.
Lots of third party apps can be downloaded from Samsung's Hub via the Gear Companion app. To the right, this is what a photo I took via the Path app on the Gear looks like.
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Image: Jason Kempin/Getty Images