Hello ‘Driods!
Let me start by giving you a little background on myself. I’m a 55 year old active male living in the United States and not much of a techie. Most (if not all) of my cell phone experience is talking and texting. Data is not something I use on my phone. Before I bought this Samsung Gear S Smartwatch “phone” on AT&T in the USA, I was a T-Mobile Pay-As-You-Go no contract customer, using a Samsung Galaxy S DUOS quad-band factory unlocked phone bought outright from overseas. I’ve never liked cell phones in my pocket or contracts of any kind, but I eventually gave in to the progress of modern technology and joined the mobile revolution several years ago (somewhat). Today I became an “early adopter” of the Samsung Gear S, because I have been waiting for a decent watch phone from day one. I’m hoping I won’t regret it.
After reading what I could find on the internet it was unclear if you can purchase this device as a standalone phone, so I went to my local AT&T store to inquire. I was told I can purchase it for $199 with a 2yr contract at $30/mo. with unlimited talk and text, plus 300MB of data or outright for $299 without a contract at all, but can still get the $30 unlimited talk/text/300MB data on a monthly plan. The rep said they will set the phone up for me and activate it. This sounded too good to be true, so I slept on it for a couple days and did some more research on the net.
Everywhere I looked it appeared you have to have a “compatible phone” to pair it with for setup. None of the carrier’s state they sell this as a standalone phone on their sites and AT&T online chat said you have to have an existing plan with a compatible phone, plus pay another $10 per month to add it. Well, my AT&T store said they can do it, so I went down there today to take them up on their previous offer.
I first selected the $199 2yr contract plan, but when it can down to the end they tried to charge me an additional $40 setup fee. I told them I thought you said the setup was included? He said it is if you buy the phone outright at $299, but not with the $199 2yr contract plan. So I told him I’d rather pay $299 without a contract, then $199 plus a $40 setup fee and be locked into a 2yr contract. He said that’s fine if you want to do it that way. I asked if I can still get the $30/mo. unlimited talk/text/300MB data plan without a contract and he said yes. Heck, sign me up!
Then came the error message on his screen when he tried to change the 2yr contract out for a no contract sale and into the back room he went… When he came back out he had a high-end earphone set in his hand and said when he changed the plan it gave me a promotional item choice for free (maybe because I was porting my number over from another carrier, who knows?). I told him I have plenty of earphones already, I’d rather have a Bluetooth ear setup, so he grabbed a $99 “sweat proof” Plantronics Voyager Legend off the shelf and threw it in for free. Suddenly my too good to be true deal just got even better. ;-)
He set the Gear S up using one of their compatible phones and we tested the talk and text. It worked great. So here I am sporting a brand new Samsung Gear S Smartwatch running as a standalone phone for $299 without a contract and a very reasonable $30/mo. unlimited talk/text plan I can cancel at any time, and a nice sweat proof Bluetooth ear piece to boot. Can’t say if all the features will work right yet, but he said I can bring it in to update anything I need anytime.
The first test will be to remove the Nano-SIM (if you can) and put it into a Micro-SIM cradle (after I order and receive it) to try it in my factory unlocked Samsung Galaxy S DUOS to see if it works. If it does, I’ll be a super happy camper; because I can always revert to that phone should I need to on a moment’s notice or if this whole early adaptor experience doesn’t work out.
Please don’t start asking me to test everything quickly. Like I said earlier, I’m not a techie and this stuff doesn’t come easy to me. I haven’t even figured out how to send a text yet; it receives them perfectly. I will eventually get to trying everything out and hopefully (time permitting) will post it here.
Can’t wait to go for a ride on my ElliptiGO with my new toy on my wrist and NOTHING IN MY POCKET!
Cheers all.
Let me start by giving you a little background on myself. I’m a 55 year old active male living in the United States and not much of a techie. Most (if not all) of my cell phone experience is talking and texting. Data is not something I use on my phone. Before I bought this Samsung Gear S Smartwatch “phone” on AT&T in the USA, I was a T-Mobile Pay-As-You-Go no contract customer, using a Samsung Galaxy S DUOS quad-band factory unlocked phone bought outright from overseas. I’ve never liked cell phones in my pocket or contracts of any kind, but I eventually gave in to the progress of modern technology and joined the mobile revolution several years ago (somewhat). Today I became an “early adopter” of the Samsung Gear S, because I have been waiting for a decent watch phone from day one. I’m hoping I won’t regret it.
After reading what I could find on the internet it was unclear if you can purchase this device as a standalone phone, so I went to my local AT&T store to inquire. I was told I can purchase it for $199 with a 2yr contract at $30/mo. with unlimited talk and text, plus 300MB of data or outright for $299 without a contract at all, but can still get the $30 unlimited talk/text/300MB data on a monthly plan. The rep said they will set the phone up for me and activate it. This sounded too good to be true, so I slept on it for a couple days and did some more research on the net.
Everywhere I looked it appeared you have to have a “compatible phone” to pair it with for setup. None of the carrier’s state they sell this as a standalone phone on their sites and AT&T online chat said you have to have an existing plan with a compatible phone, plus pay another $10 per month to add it. Well, my AT&T store said they can do it, so I went down there today to take them up on their previous offer.
I first selected the $199 2yr contract plan, but when it can down to the end they tried to charge me an additional $40 setup fee. I told them I thought you said the setup was included? He said it is if you buy the phone outright at $299, but not with the $199 2yr contract plan. So I told him I’d rather pay $299 without a contract, then $199 plus a $40 setup fee and be locked into a 2yr contract. He said that’s fine if you want to do it that way. I asked if I can still get the $30/mo. unlimited talk/text/300MB data plan without a contract and he said yes. Heck, sign me up!
Then came the error message on his screen when he tried to change the 2yr contract out for a no contract sale and into the back room he went… When he came back out he had a high-end earphone set in his hand and said when he changed the plan it gave me a promotional item choice for free (maybe because I was porting my number over from another carrier, who knows?). I told him I have plenty of earphones already, I’d rather have a Bluetooth ear setup, so he grabbed a $99 “sweat proof” Plantronics Voyager Legend off the shelf and threw it in for free. Suddenly my too good to be true deal just got even better. ;-)
He set the Gear S up using one of their compatible phones and we tested the talk and text. It worked great. So here I am sporting a brand new Samsung Gear S Smartwatch running as a standalone phone for $299 without a contract and a very reasonable $30/mo. unlimited talk/text plan I can cancel at any time, and a nice sweat proof Bluetooth ear piece to boot. Can’t say if all the features will work right yet, but he said I can bring it in to update anything I need anytime.
The first test will be to remove the Nano-SIM (if you can) and put it into a Micro-SIM cradle (after I order and receive it) to try it in my factory unlocked Samsung Galaxy S DUOS to see if it works. If it does, I’ll be a super happy camper; because I can always revert to that phone should I need to on a moment’s notice or if this whole early adaptor experience doesn’t work out.
Please don’t start asking me to test everything quickly. Like I said earlier, I’m not a techie and this stuff doesn’t come easy to me. I haven’t even figured out how to send a text yet; it receives them perfectly. I will eventually get to trying everything out and hopefully (time permitting) will post it here.
Can’t wait to go for a ride on my ElliptiGO with my new toy on my wrist and NOTHING IN MY POCKET!
Cheers all.
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