Hey everyone,
I have had the Galaxy Watch LTE on the Bell network in Canada for about two weeks now, so I thought I would share some of my experiences and feedback. I bought the watch direct from Samsung.
Firstly, I/d like to share what it took to get the LTE activated.
My phone is a Sony XZ2 compact which I bought factory unlocked (not from Bell). When trying to set up the LTE via the Galaxy Wearables app, I would get a message that said something like "Mobile service set up can not be initialized from this device. Contact your carrier for details". So I visited a Bell store for assistance and the customer service rep there told me that it was likely because I hadn't set up a mobile service plan. So he allegedly set up the plan on my account and told me to wait 24 hours and try to initiate the LTE on the watch again (this did not work and this was not the issue). I called Bell Mobility customer service and got bounced around from department to department as nobody was quite sure how to set the LTE service up and most people I spoke to weren't even aware that the watch was available from Bell. Finally, after hours on the phone, a representative told me that the LTE functionality was only compatible with a Samsung device. This I found to be quite concerning as the Galaxy Watch is advertised by Samsung as being compatible with all android phones. Anyway, after researching a bit online I found something on the Bell site that said the LTE setup had to be "initiated" by a Samsung phone. Given that wording, I thought there might be a chance that if I activated the LTE using my SIM in a Samsung phone I could switch back and re-pair with my Sony. So I went back to a Bell store and asked if they had a "dummy" Samsung phone that I could pop my SIM card into. They did, and so i went through the the set-up process on a Samsung phone and when it came to initializing the LTE on my watct; as part of the process you are asked to LogIn to your Bell account and activate a wearables LTE plan. After doing so the Wearables app downloaded my network details to the watches eSim successfully. I then popped my SIM back into my Sony phone and paired the watch with that phone using the "Connect to a new phone" option in the watch settings. It asks you if you would like to "Reset" the watch to complete the pairing which made me a bit nervous but I did so and...... IT WORKED. So now my watch is connected to the LTE network and it is paired with my Sony.
TL;DR: On the Bell network (and perhaps others) the initial LTE set up must be done with a Samsung phone, but once set up you can then pair with ANY Android device.
Having said all of that, I'm not sure that I am getting the full benefit of the LTE functionality, as I have observed the following:
- While I seem to receive calls and can stream Spotify over LTE, I do not receive any text, email, or WhatsApp messages. I seem to only receive those messages when I am connected to my phone via Bluetooth. Does anybody have any ideas on why this might be? Perhaps if its because I'm not using a Samsung phone?
Other than the above, the experience has been pretty solid. The battery life gets me through about two days with fairly regular use, including streaming Spotify on the watch to my bluetooth earbuds for about 1-1.5 hours per day. The Watch seems fast and smooth when navigating around, and I really like the look of it and all the watch face options.
I would really like to see if I can get text messages over LTE though, as I believe that is one of the major selling points for the LTE functionality. Please let me know if any of you have any ideas. Thanks
I have had the Galaxy Watch LTE on the Bell network in Canada for about two weeks now, so I thought I would share some of my experiences and feedback. I bought the watch direct from Samsung.
Firstly, I/d like to share what it took to get the LTE activated.
My phone is a Sony XZ2 compact which I bought factory unlocked (not from Bell). When trying to set up the LTE via the Galaxy Wearables app, I would get a message that said something like "Mobile service set up can not be initialized from this device. Contact your carrier for details". So I visited a Bell store for assistance and the customer service rep there told me that it was likely because I hadn't set up a mobile service plan. So he allegedly set up the plan on my account and told me to wait 24 hours and try to initiate the LTE on the watch again (this did not work and this was not the issue). I called Bell Mobility customer service and got bounced around from department to department as nobody was quite sure how to set the LTE service up and most people I spoke to weren't even aware that the watch was available from Bell. Finally, after hours on the phone, a representative told me that the LTE functionality was only compatible with a Samsung device. This I found to be quite concerning as the Galaxy Watch is advertised by Samsung as being compatible with all android phones. Anyway, after researching a bit online I found something on the Bell site that said the LTE setup had to be "initiated" by a Samsung phone. Given that wording, I thought there might be a chance that if I activated the LTE using my SIM in a Samsung phone I could switch back and re-pair with my Sony. So I went back to a Bell store and asked if they had a "dummy" Samsung phone that I could pop my SIM card into. They did, and so i went through the the set-up process on a Samsung phone and when it came to initializing the LTE on my watct; as part of the process you are asked to LogIn to your Bell account and activate a wearables LTE plan. After doing so the Wearables app downloaded my network details to the watches eSim successfully. I then popped my SIM back into my Sony phone and paired the watch with that phone using the "Connect to a new phone" option in the watch settings. It asks you if you would like to "Reset" the watch to complete the pairing which made me a bit nervous but I did so and...... IT WORKED. So now my watch is connected to the LTE network and it is paired with my Sony.
TL;DR: On the Bell network (and perhaps others) the initial LTE set up must be done with a Samsung phone, but once set up you can then pair with ANY Android device.
Having said all of that, I'm not sure that I am getting the full benefit of the LTE functionality, as I have observed the following:
- While I seem to receive calls and can stream Spotify over LTE, I do not receive any text, email, or WhatsApp messages. I seem to only receive those messages when I am connected to my phone via Bluetooth. Does anybody have any ideas on why this might be? Perhaps if its because I'm not using a Samsung phone?
Other than the above, the experience has been pretty solid. The battery life gets me through about two days with fairly regular use, including streaming Spotify on the watch to my bluetooth earbuds for about 1-1.5 hours per day. The Watch seems fast and smooth when navigating around, and I really like the look of it and all the watch face options.
I would really like to see if I can get text messages over LTE though, as I believe that is one of the major selling points for the LTE functionality. Please let me know if any of you have any ideas. Thanks
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