will the galaxy watch LTE pair with two phones?

[Android Central Question]

Haven't received the pre-order yet, but I am planning ahead. I have an iPhone, which I don't want to use, but have to for work. I got the LTE with its own number from Tmobile, and I intend to use it for communication, as well as everything else.

Since the watch is allegedly compatible with Android or iOS, I wonder if I can pair it with the iPhone, even though that phone has a different carrier and number?

Thinking about it, I don't know that there is any value in this, except that I could transfer contacts, and manage the watch through the phone's watch interface. Clearly, the iPhone's messages and calls will not get sent to the watch, since the carrier and number are different.

I did by a cheap Android phone to add to the T mobile account. My hope is that the watch will be pretty independent - T mobile offers a standalone package for it, which Samsung refers to when you buy the watch from the Samsung site.

My experience with the iPhone was always that you really need to have an iPhone to use the Apple Watch. I always attributed that to Apple's infamous marketing scheme of getting the user of one product to be forced into buying all the other products. I hope this is not the case with the Samsung watch. I just want a tool on my wrist that requires nothing but my wrist!

 

[B. Diddy]

I moved this to the Galaxy Watch forum for more specific traffic.

 

[buzzy3970]

You can only pair it with one phone at a time. If you link call forwarding you will get calls and text sent to the watch when in stand alone mode. I have phone service with Verizon and a gear s3 with t-mobile. The communication between watch and phone is seemless.

 

[kc0olm]

Awesome. That's the best answer. I just don't know what you mean by "link call forwarding." I know what call forwarding is, normally - Verizon has a call forwarding service. I wasn't aware that texts could be forwarded as well. Can you get me started in the right direction? Thanks again!

 

[buzzy3970]

Lol that was suppose to be call forwarding and yes the LTE version can receive text through remote connection.

 

[kc0olm]

Thanks. So on the Verizon account, you set up both text and call forwarding, to the T-mobile number of the watch?

 

[buzzy3970]

Thanks. So on the Verizon account, you set up both text and call forwarding, to the T-mobile number of the watch?

You set up call forwarding for the watch in the galaxy wearables app. The text will automatically forwarded if you have stand alone mode on(when disconnected from bluetooth).

 

[kc0olm]

After 24 person-hours I got it to work. Here are the instructions:

This is the only correct answer. The rest are valuable information, but the do NOT answer this question.



I have now spent a total of 8 hours on this issue, and it is resolved. It took one T Mobile tech at the store, an online internal T Mobile tech, as part of an escalation, and finally an online technician at Samsung.



So with a total of 24 person-hours, the conclusion is that neither T Mobile nor Samsung was prepared to release this watch. Both companies need to apologize to their customers, AND prepare NEW documentation! This watch is NOT the same as every other Galaxy watch.



I work in IBM Level 3 support, so I have a great deal of experience. Here is the actual issue:



During the watch setup - which is done mostly on a phone (this is bad design), the network section of the setup is where the failure comes: the order of the steps, inside the software is backwards:

1) Find network

2) Download eSIM profile



The eSIM profile is the issue! Without the eSIM profile, the internal eSIM cannot be activated - not by ANY T Mobile tech, nor Samsung. The mistake in the software is tying the eSIM prompt with the network discovery: if the network is not found ON THE PHONE, then the eSIM download is SKIPPED! Unbelievable! No matter what your cell provider, the watch will NEVER work on a cell network without enabling the eSIM. Ridiculous.



So, the "solution" is, you have to BUY a T Mobile phone! Or, as elsewhere in this thread, find someone a T Mobile that will allow you to do the complete installation on THEIR phone - only so you can get past the (cell) network discovery, and thus download the eSIM profile. Then, after the watch is completely set up on the "wrong" phone, you can pair is with any phone, and it work amazing! You will automatically get texts, calls, messages from your phone, when in paired mode, and then from the cell provider (T Mobile) when in standalone. Seamless and no configuration.



Here are additional problems that tech support doesn't know



1) The entire initial setup requires connection to the internet (wi fi). You can't set up the watch without connecting your phone to wi fi, even if you have a T Mobile phone connected to mobile data.

2) There is NO WAY to unpair the "wrong" phone after the "false" setup! There is no unpair menu option! Wow! Instead, you need to go to the watch menu, and select "Connect to other phone". This is nerve wracking, since it then says "Resetting" - you worry that the reset will delete the eSIM activation. After this, the other phone's data is erased (I guess?!?!?)

3) On the watch, prior to eSIM profile download, the watch gives the message "Please insert SIM card." This is TERRIBLE programming! There is no physical way to insert ANYTHING into this watch - the SIM is built in! So, no matter what, that message should NEVER appear on this device. Instead - imagine this! - a message that says "Would you like to download the eSIM profile?"

4) In paired mode, when you make a call from the watch, it actually makes the call from the phone's number, not the watch's. Just fyi



As for the DIGITS account, T Mobile never had any problem with this: my DIGITS accounts was easily activated, I got a phone number for the watch, and could send calls to voicemail.

 

[evlarberryman]

After 24 person-hours I got it to work. Here are the instructions:

This is the only correct answer. The rest are valuable information, but the do NOT answer this question.



I have now spent a total of 8 hours on this issue, and it is resolved. It took one T Mobile tech at the store, an online internal T Mobile tech, as part of an escalation, and finally an online technician at Samsung.



So with a total of 24 person-hours, the conclusion is that neither T Mobile nor Samsung was prepared to release this watch. Both companies need to apologize to their customers, AND prepare NEW documentation! This watch is NOT the same as every other Galaxy watch.



I work in IBM Level 3 support, so I have a great deal of experience. Here is the actual issue:



During the watch setup - which is done mostly on a phone (this is bad design), the network section of the setup is where the failure comes: the order of the steps, inside the software is backwards:

1) Find network

2) Download eSIM profile



The eSIM profile is the issue! Without the eSIM profile, the internal eSIM cannot be activated - not by ANY T Mobile tech, nor Samsung. The mistake in the software is tying the eSIM prompt with the network discovery: if the network is not found ON THE PHONE, then the eSIM download is SKIPPED! Unbelievable! No matter what your cell provider, the watch will NEVER work on a cell network without enabling the eSIM. Ridiculous.



So, the "solution" is, you have to BUY a T Mobile phone! Or, as elsewhere in this thread, find someone a T Mobile that will allow you to do the complete installation on THEIR phone - only so you can get past the (cell) network discovery, and thus download the eSIM profile. Then, after the watch is completely set up on the "wrong" phone, you can pair is with any phone, and it work amazing! You will automatically get texts, calls, messages from your phone, when in paired mode, and then from the cell provider (T Mobile) when in standalone. Seamless and no configuration.



Here are additional problems that tech support doesn't know



1) The entire initial setup requires connection to the internet (wi fi). You can't set up the watch without connecting your phone to wi fi, even if you have a T Mobile phone connected to mobile data.

2) There is NO WAY to unpair the "wrong" phone after the "false" setup! There is no unpair menu option! Wow! Instead, you need to go to the watch menu, and select "Connect to other phone". This is nerve wracking, since it then says "Resetting" - you worry that the reset will delete the eSIM activation. After this, the other phone's data is erased (I guess?!?!?)

3) On the watch, prior to eSIM profile download, the watch gives the message "Please insert SIM card." This is TERRIBLE programming! There is no physical way to insert ANYTHING into this watch - the SIM is built in! So, no matter what, that message should NEVER appear on this device. Instead - imagine this! - a message that says "Would you like to download the eSIM profile?"

4) In paired mode, when you make a call from the watch, it actually makes the call from the phone's number, not the watch's. Just fyi



As for the DIGITS account, T Mobile never had any problem with this: my DIGITS accounts was easily activated, I got a phone number for the watch, and could send calls to voicemail.

How do you download the "e-sim profile"? I'm following you except for how to do this step.

 

[Guitar_Jesus]

You can only pair it with one phone at a time. If you link call forwarding you will get calls and text sent to the watch when in stand alone mode. I have phone service with Verizon and a gear s3 with t-mobile. The communication between watch and phone is seemless.

How did you do this? I have a Sprint Note 8, and a Tmobile Galaxy Watch and while I can get LTE, I can't get voice or text on the watch without initially pairing with a Tmobile phone, according to a Tmobile rep. This was after the first rep said I didnt need a Tmo phone.

 

[Guitar_Jesus]

You set up call forwarding for the watch in the galaxy wearables app. The text will automatically forwarded if you have stand alone mode on(when disconnected from bluetooth).View attachment 289143

Is that with a working "phone number" attached to your watch? Or LTE alone? Tmobile tells me I need a Tmobile phone to be able to activate calling or texts for the watch.

 

[buzzy3970]

Is that with a working "phone number" attached to your watch? Or LTE alone? Tmobile tells me I need a Tmobile phone to be able to activate calling or texts for the watch.

Yes that's with a working number from tmobile for the watch. Seperate from my Verizon phone number.

 

[Guitar_Jesus]

Yes that's with a working number from tmobile for the watch. Seperate from my Verizon phone number.

I guess i mean does it have to continue to be working? Or can you just use someone else's account to activate the watch?

 

[evlarberryman]

After 24 person-hours I got it to work. Here are the instructions:

This is the only correct answer. The rest are valuable information, but the do NOT answer this question.



I have now spent a total of 8 hours on this issue, and it is resolved. It took one T Mobile tech at the store, an online internal T Mobile tech, as part of an escalation, and finally an online technician at Samsung.



So with a total of 24 person-hours, the conclusion is that neither T Mobile nor Samsung was prepared to release this watch. Both companies need to apologize to their customers, AND prepare NEW documentation! This watch is NOT the same as every other Galaxy watch.



I work in IBM Level 3 support, so I have a great deal of experience. Here is the actual issue:



During the watch setup - which is done mostly on a phone (this is bad design), the network section of the setup is where the failure comes: the order of the steps, inside the software is backwards:

1) Find network

2) Download eSIM profile



The eSIM profile is the issue! Without the eSIM profile, the internal eSIM cannot be activated - not by ANY T Mobile tech, nor Samsung. The mistake in the software is tying the eSIM prompt with the network discovery: if the network is not found ON THE PHONE, then the eSIM download is SKIPPED! Unbelievable! No matter what your cell provider, the watch will NEVER work on a cell network without enabling the eSIM. Ridiculous.



So, the "solution" is, you have to BUY a T Mobile phone! Or, as elsewhere in this thread, find someone a T Mobile that will allow you to do the complete installation on THEIR phone - only so you can get past the (cell) network discovery, and thus download the eSIM profile. Then, after the watch is completely set up on the "wrong" phone, you can pair is with any phone, and it work amazing! You will automatically get texts, calls, messages from your phone, when in paired mode, and then from the cell provider (T Mobile) when in standalone. Seamless and no configuration.



Here are additional problems that tech support doesn't know



1) The entire initial setup requires connection to the internet (wi fi). You can't set up the watch without connecting your phone to wi fi, even if you have a T Mobile phone connected to mobile data.

2) There is NO WAY to unpair the "wrong" phone after the "false" setup! There is no unpair menu option! Wow! Instead, you need to go to the watch menu, and select "Connect to other phone". This is nerve wracking, since it then says "Resetting" - you worry that the reset will delete the eSIM activation. After this, the other phone's data is erased (I guess?!?!?)

3) On the watch, prior to eSIM profile download, the watch gives the message "Please insert SIM card." This is TERRIBLE programming! There is no physical way to insert ANYTHING into this watch - the SIM is built in! So, no matter what, that message should NEVER appear on this device. Instead - imagine this! - a message that says "Would you like to download the eSIM profile?"

4) In paired mode, when you make a call from the watch, it actually makes the call from the phone's number, not the watch's. Just fyi



As for the DIGITS account, T Mobile never had any problem with this: my DIGITS accounts was easily activated, I got a phone number for the watch, and could send calls to voicemail.

One caveat here to your process... I think you mean to say you need a SAMSUNG T-Mobile phone for the initial pairing to get past network discovery and the e-sim profile download. I did what you said with a T-Mobile LG phone and it didn't work.

 

[Guitar_Jesus]

You set up call forwarding for the watch in the galaxy wearables app. The text will automatically forwarded if you have stand alone mode on(when disconnected from bluetooth).View attachment 289143

How do you get to the call forwarding in the app? I'm not seeing it. Hopefully it's not carrier specific. I finally got the watch activated for LTE, and talk/text but I want my sprint calls and texts forwarded to the watch.

 

[evlarberryman]

After 24 person-hours I got it to work. Here are the instructions:

This is the only correct answer. The rest are valuable information, but the do NOT answer this question.



I have now spent a total of 8 hours on this issue, and it is resolved. It took one T Mobile tech at the store, an online internal T Mobile tech, as part of an escalation, and finally an online technician at Samsung.



So with a total of 24 person-hours, the conclusion is that neither T Mobile nor Samsung was prepared to release this watch. Both companies need to apologize to their customers, AND prepare NEW documentation! This watch is NOT the same as every other Galaxy watch.



I work in IBM Level 3 support, so I have a great deal of experience. Here is the actual issue:



During the watch setup - which is done mostly on a phone (this is bad design), the network section of the setup is where the failure comes: the order of the steps, inside the software is backwards:

1) Find network

2) Download eSIM profile



The eSIM profile is the issue! Without the eSIM profile, the internal eSIM cannot be activated - not by ANY T Mobile tech, nor Samsung. The mistake in the software is tying the eSIM prompt with the network discovery: if the network is not found ON THE PHONE, then the eSIM download is SKIPPED! Unbelievable! No matter what your cell provider, the watch will NEVER work on a cell network without enabling the eSIM. Ridiculous.



So, the "solution" is, you have to BUY a T Mobile phone! Or, as elsewhere in this thread, find someone a T Mobile that will allow you to do the complete installation on THEIR phone - only so you can get past the (cell) network discovery, and thus download the eSIM profile. Then, after the watch is completely set up on the "wrong" phone, you can pair is with any phone, and it work amazing! You will automatically get texts, calls, messages from your phone, when in paired mode, and then from the cell provider (T Mobile) when in standalone. Seamless and no configuration.



Here are additional problems that tech support doesn't know



1) The entire initial setup requires connection to the internet (wi fi). You can't set up the watch without connecting your phone to wi fi, even if you have a T Mobile phone connected to mobile data.

2) There is NO WAY to unpair the "wrong" phone after the "false" setup! There is no unpair menu option! Wow! Instead, you need to go to the watch menu, and select "Connect to other phone". This is nerve wracking, since it then says "Resetting" - you worry that the reset will delete the eSIM activation. After this, the other phone's data is erased (I guess?!?!?)

3) On the watch, prior to eSIM profile download, the watch gives the message "Please insert SIM card." This is TERRIBLE programming! There is no physical way to insert ANYTHING into this watch - the SIM is built in! So, no matter what, that message should NEVER appear on this device. Instead - imagine this! - a message that says "Would you like to download the eSIM profile?"

4) In paired mode, when you make a call from the watch, it actually makes the call from the phone's number, not the watch's. Just fyi



As for the DIGITS account, T Mobile never had any problem with this: my DIGITS accounts was easily activated, I got a phone number for the watch, and could send calls to voicemail.

This is the BEST and MOST USEFUL comment on the entire Galaxy Watch forum. This saved me from giving up on the watch altogether.

I can confirm that the above steps work to setup your watch with a non-Samsung Android phone, BUT it's a Samsung phone you need for initial setup. After going through the setup on a Samsung phone (I used an unlocked Samsung S8 with my T-Mobile SIM card) you can opt to pair to a new Android phone but it'll retain the E-Sim profile download and work just fine.

Since I didn't have a Samsung phone (I use LG G7 Thinq), I decided to purchase an unlocked Samsung S8 from Walmart since they have free returns with no restocking fee and popped my SIM in it and viola, I was able to successfully setup my Galaxy Watch with the E-Sim downloaded. Once the watch worked I just went to the "pair to another watch" option in the watch menu and repaired it with my LG G7 Thinq. Everything worked perfect, including the LTE radio connection with my T-Mobile paired digits.

 

[al777]

This is the BEST and MOST USEFUL comment on the entire Galaxy Watch forum. This saved me from giving up on the watch altogether.

I can confirm that the above steps work to setup your watch with a non-Samsung Android phone, BUT it's a Samsung phone you need for initial setup. After going through the setup on a Samsung phone (I used an unlocked Samsung S8 with my T-Mobile SIM card) you can opt to pair to a new Android phone but it'll retain the E-Sim profile download and work just fine.

Since I didn't have a Samsung phone (I use LG G7 Thinq), I decided to purchase an unlocked Samsung S8 from Walmart since they have free returns with no restocking fee and popped my SIM in it and viola, I was able to successfully setup my Galaxy Watch with the E-Sim downloaded. Once the watch worked I just went to the "pair to another watch" option in the watch menu and repaired it with my LG G7 Thinq. Everything worked perfect, including the LTE radio connection with my T-Mobile paired digits.

I'm still a bit confused. Can you guys clarify please? Once the eSIM is downloaded and activated on the Galaxy Watch using a phone with Tmobile, can you then switch/link to another phone with another carrier? Will that keep the eSIM profile in place or will the watch prompt you to re-activate the eSIM with the new carrier?
If the eSIM is kept with the first carrier (Tmobile) how will that work with a phone on another carrier? Will the watch "behave" like a standalone phone when not connected with the phone via BT or wifi? How does that affect calls, texts, noticications, depending on whether the watch is connected via cellular network or BT/wifi? Thanks