My experiences thus far with the Verizon model LG-W200V (challenging)

ilovecellular

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I'm a forum reader but never a forum poster so bare with me.

No one that I've talked to at Verizon knows anything about this watch, they all have to refer to their materials and argue about the watches capabilities until they read the documentation.

I bought the watch at a local corporate store on 04/01 with cash, so no contract. I was already at 10 devices on my primary account so they created a sub account to accommodate this 11th device. Overall I'm very pleased with the watch itself however the services are another story.

This is my first smartwatch so I had limited understanding of it's function when I walked out the door but assumed it was activated on the Verizon network when I left. After learning to use it over the next 24 hrs it became obvious that it was not connected to the Verizon network. First call to customer service on 04/03, first tier support worked on it for awhile but determined the activation ended with an error and needed 24 hrs to clear the system. He said he would call me the following day with an update. 04/04, error didn't clear, sent me to tier 2 support. Tier 2 determined they needed to create a network ticket to resolve the error, and asked me to give it 24 hrs to be corrected. Indeed on 04/05 it was now connected to Verizon's network for the first time.

Calls through Verizon Messages + seemed to be working as expected. I find the quality of the connection to be a bit choppy, not as clear as using my phone but usable in a pinch, and yes you can use the calling feature with a bluetooth ear piece. I currently have it connected to a Plantronics Voyager Legend.

As of this post Verizon Messages +, for text messages, when used on LTE (not connected to the phone) has yet to work. I have spent hours on the phone with several Verizon support representatives. Tickets have been sent to the Network and IT departments with no resolution. They have even disconnected one of my tablets on the primary account and moved the watch to the primary instead of the sub account in case that had an affect on the Verizon Messages + app syncing, no luck. If you go into settings on my Verizon Messages + app on the phone under "Manage Devices" I can see that the phone bubble is lit but the texting bubble is grayed out on the watch. However there is no access to change this and Verizon Support doesn't know why it's this way either.

So I pose a question, is anyone on Verizon able to sent and receive text messages when connected to LTE (not to the phone) with the Verizon Messages + app?
 
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Ljayhova

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My experience with the verizon watch played out the EXACT way yours did. Spent almost a week troubleshooting. Coming from the Samsung Gear S2 I was under the impression the watch would use the phone number assigned to it, instead it shares the number of the phone its paired to. Verizon messages only works for me if I use that as the default texting app on my phone too.
 

tech_head

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I am on Verizon and I bought my with at full retail from AT&T. I got a pay as you go T-Mobile Sim for $3.00 a month for 30 minutes or 30 texts. I will only use it stand alone in an emergency. I am able to send and receive texts and make calls with no issue when away from the phone. Forget Verizon using an LTE only device. They don't know what they are doing yet.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

ilovecellular

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UPDATE:

Under the suggestion of Verizon Support I exchanged the watch for a different one at the local corporate store. Unfortunately the new watch worked (or didn't work in this case) in the exact same way. I ended up just returning the watch while I was there. If the price point wasn't $500 I my have just keep the watch and hoped for a future update, but at this premium the watch needs to work out of the box.
 

tech_head

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UPDATE:

Under the suggestion of Verizon Support I exchanged the watch for a different one at the local corporate store. Unfortunately the new watch worked (or didn't work in this case) in the exact same way. I ended up just returning the watch while I was there. If the price point wasn't $500 I my have just keep the watch and hoped for a future update, but at this premium the watch needs to work out of the box.

Save $150 and get the AT&T version.
Get a T-Mobile SIM or a SIM with data from one of the T-Mobile MVNOs if you want full featured device that also has data or a lot of minutes.
Here are a couple of alternatives. I only want an emergency phone so the $3 a month from T-Mobile works for me.
CALLMR Wireless USA - 16.99 with 1000 minutes and texts
Liberty wireless : Liberty Wireless ($10 - 100 minutes, unlimited texts)
US Mobile : https://www.usmobile.com/plans ($15 - 250 min, 250 text, 250MB)
 

mdw1995

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Save $150 and get the AT&T version.
Get a T-Mobile SIM or a SIM with data from one of the T-Mobile MVNOs if you want full featured device that also has data or a lot of minutes.
Here are a couple of alternatives. I only want an emergency phone so the $3 a month from T-Mobile works for me.
CALLMR Wireless USA - 16.99 with 1000 minutes and texts
Liberty wireless : Liberty Wireless ($10 - 100 minutes, unlimited texts)
US Mobile : https://www.usmobile.com/plans ($15 - 250 min, 250 text, 250MB)

I don't have AT&T or T-Mobile so I went this route also but you have to be careful which MVNO you choose. Some may not work. I tried both Ting (T-Mobile) and H20 (AT&T) and could not get the data to work because the APN settings didn't import correctly and there is no way to manually edit them. I then tried Truphone and now have a fully functional watch. Truphone has a prepay plan that is 9 cents per minute/message/MB with incoming calls and texts free.
 

mdw1995

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Truphone website says 3g... So didn't know if the sim was limited on ATT/T-Mobile network.

I have mine on right now and the cellular indicator on the watch shows LTE. It shows H (HSPA) sometimes also and I don't notice any difference in speed/functions.
 

haus

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That messages+ thing is a total mess. It's an ugly SMS/MMS client, and when I tried it with my tablet it was unusable for voice (I could hear OK but I couldn't speak without choppiness). Is there any way to just sync notifications over the LTE connection the same way you can over BT/Wifi on a regular AW watch, and just use the watch number for outgoing calls? This is how I use my Gear S2. I don't usually forward to the watch number because I don't want calls to go to the watch voicemail if I don''t answer, so I just check the number and call the person back on the watch if I'm away from my phone. But if you have to use Messages+ this device is a non-starter.
 

mdw1995

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.... Is there any way to just sync notifications over the LTE connection the same way you can over BT/Wifi on a regular AW watch, and just use the watch number for outgoing calls?

Is there an option on the Verizon version to turn off sharing the phone number with the watch? My option (AT&T watch but don't use AT&T service) is under settings> cellular> advanced>"watch shares number with phone". I have mine turned off and I'm using it this way. I sync notifications/texts paired through cell data and use my watch's number to make calls. I also forward my calls to the watch when I leave the phone behind.
 

Jaycemiskel

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I tried that on my Verizon watch. Unfortunately, my watch won't make calls if I turn the account off. Also, when I call my watch number, there's just a busy signal.
 

Jaycemiskel

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I am on Verizon and I bought my with at full retail from AT&T. I got a pay as you go T-Mobile Sim for $3.00 a month for 30 minutes or 30 texts. I will only use it stand alone in an emergency. I am able to send and receive texts and make calls with no issue when away from the phone. Forget Verizon using an LTE only device. They don't know what they are doing yet.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
So I have a question. Can you still use message + with the AT&T version and make phone calls with your Verizon number if you so choose?
 

foxbat121

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No, message+ is a Verizon specific feature. AT&T version has a similar functionality called NumberSync but it only works with AT&T account. Besides, AT&T version of the watch won't work on Verizon network anyway (only Verizon devices can work on Verizon network) for many reasons. One of which is AT&T version doesn't even support Band 13 LTE required for Verizon usage.
 

mattress74

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Man I am so disappointed hearing this.. I had money in hand when they pulled it from the shelves the first time. I have money in hand ready to buy this watch now but all these problems with Verizon has put me on hold again. I want it to work like it was connected to my phone all the time even if its not connected to my phone. The way I read these problems is it is not working like that correct?
 

Jaycemiskel

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No, message+ is a Verizon specific feature. AT&T version has a similar functionality called NumberSync but it only works with AT&T account. Besides, AT&T version of the watch won't work on Verizon network anyway (only Verizon devices can work on Verizon network) for many reasons. One of which is AT&T version doesn't even support Band 13 LTE required for Verizon usage.
I have message + installed on my non cellular android wear watch. I don't want to use the watch on the Verizon network. So I already know I can install it to my watch. I'm just wondering if it can use any of the functions while not on wifi or Bluetooth. Have you tried it, and can say no for sure?