New Gear S user - Can I do this with he Gear S?

Ric Standen

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May 28, 2015
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I want to get a Galaxy Gear S. O2 in the uk will give me one at £19.50 per month with no upfront cost. I can then upgrade the plan to get more data allowance.

But the thing is, I currently use and iPhone 5s (with a nano sim) again on O2. I understand if I switch over to the new plan I will loose my current deal on my iPhone 5s which I'm not worried about as I can upgrade to a more expensive plan at anytime. But I can't use my iPhone with the Gear S i.e. setting it up and configuring it.

I do have an old Note 2 phone kicking around the house, and it seems it is compatible with the S. If I was to connect the Note 2 to my wifi to activate the Gear S and keep the Note 2 at home all the time would I get all the features on the Gear S?

There would be no simcard in the Note 2. It would only be used to activate the Gear and have emails/Facebook etc come through via the Wifi.
 

BarryH_GEG

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Jun 8, 2011
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My guess would be somewhat. When connected remotely the Gear S is relying on call forwarding from the host phone to receive voice and MMS from it. Your N2 won't be able to act as a proper host without a SIM. You couldn't even set call forwarding up on your N2 without a SIM in it. Someone could call and text you (and vice versa) directly to the Gear using its discrete phone number though.

In terms of other notifications if your Gear S and N2 remain connected via Wi-Fi the N2 should be able to parrot what it receives to your Gear. I say "should" because there are generic notifications and app-based notifications, the latter gives you additional options to respond and manipulate what you receive. Those apps can behave differently when connected remotely and I don't have enough experience to share which work and which don't. Generic notifications (EG: Facebook) are view only and don't allow you to respond either via BT or remotely. I say "if" regarding the Gear and N2 staying connected because if you lose that connection there's nothing you can do about it from the Gear side so restoring the connection will require you to re-connect both devices via BT when they're back in the same room again.

Getting a FB notification on your Gear S from some far off N2 would still require you to pull out your iPhone to do anything with it. Unless you want to try interacting with FB using the Gear's Opera Mini browser. That to me would be painful. The only advantage of getting a Gear S over a Apple Watch based on your use case is sending/receiving calls and texts without having to have a phone with you. Anything else you'd want to do would be better handled via an Apple Watch working with your primary driver which is an iPhone.

There are stories on here from people who tried to use their Gear S as a full-time phone replacement. Their experiences would be close to what you'd experience. Read them, you'll learn about the limitations of remote access.
 

chtorr280

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Feb 21, 2015
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If you're sort of wanting the Gear S as a standalone phone replacement then you probably won't be disappointed. Since you have the Note 2, and it's compatible with the Gear S, you'll be able to download apps, watch faces, wallpapers etc to your Gear S. I assume you'll just use the phone number assigned to your Gear S and have people call or text you on your watch. Personally I think it would still be worth having if that's how you want to use it, especially if you use the fitness apps and GPS.

Of course, if you upgrade your phone at some point you might want a newer Samsung phone since it works with your watch.
 

DonShock

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Mar 19, 2015
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If you're sort of wanting the Gear S as a standalone phone replacement then you probably won't be disappointed. ......
That was why I didn't jump on the wearable bandwagon until the Gear S came out. I had been maintaining 2 lines and manually forwarding calls between my Note3 and an S3mini depending on my needs. When the Gear S arrived, I dumped the second line and now rely on just the Note 3 and the Gear S. Cheaper, better linked to cell phone, more portable than the S3mini, and automatically shifts modes and call forwarding as needed. I wouldn't want the Gear S as my only phone, but as a second phone it's nearly perfect for my needs.