[chtorr280]

I want to buy the Gear S outright and not have it connected to a data plan. I basically want to use it as you would other smart watches. Currently I have the Gear Fit and want to use the Gear S in its place, just connected to my Verizon Note 3.

Without activating the Gear S on a data plan, what would I be missing other than talk and text on its own? I should be able to still use the Nike+ running app over the Gear S's GPS. Other than when I'm jogging I would have my phone with me so I don't see the point in paying a monthly fee for features I'd never use. I'd like to just use it as one would any Android Wear or Samsung Tizen watch with it connected to my phone through bluetooth.

Am I missing anything here?

Also, ATT has it for $299 to buy it outright which is cheaper than everyone else. Any reason I can't just buy it and not have it activated? I could then just use it like normal, but obviously I couldn't use it on its own for talk and text. Any other features I'd be missing? I particularly want it instead of the Android Wear watches because of the GPS with Nike + running app which is what I use on my phone (that app doesn't require data, just GPS; I've confirmed that by trying it with data turned off on my Note 3 and an old iPhone 4 and it worked flawlessly, so i assume the watch would have the same capability).

Thank you.

[dpham00]

You can use it without a data plan.

Att can sell you just the watch without service. Ymmv though, some people were able to do it in store

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4

[foxbat121]

You won't missing anything if you bring your phone with you most of time. Nike+ can work without the phone with you as long as you started it with phone nearby to get the initial location lock.

[chtorr280]

So you're saying the phone needs to be connected when you first start the nike app for it to work correctly?

also can you run nike+ and the samsung running app at the same time in order to get heart rate info during the run?

[foxbat121]

Without the data connection, the GPS would take verrrrry long time to get a lock. So, start with phone connected and Nike+ will take it from there quite nicely. S Health, on the other hand, will completely lose the location as it won't switch over to GPS on the watch once it disconnected from the phone.

No, you can only use one app a time.

[quangtran1]

Foxbat is accurate that it takes a lot longer to get a GPS lock without mobile data. This is true with cell phones in general. To establish a lock, a device needs to determine the time zone in order to narrow down appropriate satellite groups.