Samsung gear S3 IOS help

[rrigters93]

Good evening, I currently use an Iphone 7 and still under contract with ATT but I am extremely impressed with the samsung Gear S3 and turned off by the Apple Watch. Once my contract with ATT comes to an end I will get the Samsung S8. I would like to purchase the Gear S3 now and get the LTE version with ATT, can I Number Sync my number without having to pair the phone with IOS and just use it as a stand alone? If possible what will be available to use on the watch...or do I HAVE to pair the watch with IOS?

Appreciate any comments

 

[arunma]

I don't know if this is possible, but there's a separate problem to consider. Even if you can set your AT&T watch up without pairing it to a phone (AFAIK this isn't possible on the T-Mobile version, which is what I have), you might want to think about the battery life of the Gear S3 when it's in LTE mode.

The Gear S3 has great battery life for a smartwatch. When connected via Bluetooth to a phone, it turns off the LTE and WiFi radios, and gets over 2 straight days of battery life this way. However, in LTE mode it will get significantly less. Sometimes when I'm at work I leave my phone at my desk and go outside for a walk, and if I'm away for just 20 minutes, about 3% of my battery life is gone. Let's assume that 1% of that can be accounted for by connecting to the cell tower, and the discharge rate is 6% per hour. In that case, you've got about 16 hours of battery life. That's doable, and it's better than the discharge rate you'll get from your phone. But keep in mind that your phone can easily be recharged by USB charging ports, which are ubiquitous these days, whereas your watch needs a charging cradle to be recharged. Not trying to dissuade you here. I have a friend who used the Gear S2 (which has a worse battery life) as a standalone watch, and was able to get through a day with it. But he turned it off when it wasn't in use, which sort of defeats the purpose of a smartwatch.

Part of what makes the Gear S3 cool is its long battery life. I usually wear mine during the day and even to bed (it can track your sleep), and then charge it for 20 minutes when I'm showering and getting ready for work. The LTE connectivity is meant more as a backup data connectivity option than as a primary use case, for example if you go jogging outdoors or leave your phone at your desk when you're out at lunch. If you use it exclusively as a standalone LTE watch, I feel like you're going to be charging it too often to make it enjoyable or useful. Of course, if anyone has tried this and gotten better milage than me, please let me know!

 

[afblangley]

Straight out the box, the LTE version of the S3 can be setup without ever connecting to a smartphone. In this capacity it will be able to provide time/date, do phone calls and texts, monitor biometrics (ie. HR, steps), and run basic apps that are pre-installed like weather, calendar. I call this independent mode.

Setup with a smartphone running Gear Manager increases functionality by importing contacts and allowing greater access to apps. The Gear Manager app is available for iOS devices, though obviously not as robust as the Android version. The functionality gained remains even when the watch isn't paired with a phone. This is called standalone mode.

Using its embedded sim, the watch can connect to a smartphone from a distance. This allows for notifications (ie. email) from the phone to be passed to the watch. The phone can be located anywhere and doesn't even need cellular service if it's connected to wifi. This is called remote connect mode.

The S3 is designed to be a companion device to a (ideally Samsung) smartphone. This provides the most functionality and greatest efficiency. Most people keep their watch connected to their smartphone in Bluetooth mode.

With a service that facilitates sharing one number across multiple devices (ie. NumberSync, Digits, Number Share, Google Voice) the watch can be an ancillary phone. Battery size is the limiting factor.

During the 7 months I've owned a S3, I've used the watch in each connection mode. I've stopped carrying a smartphone. The watch is remotely connected to a cheap phone dedicated to the task, docked on my home wifi. I have cellular tablets for tasks requiring a larger screen. GV keeps everything accessible across all my devices.

I suggest trying the S3 with your iPhone. If you're dissatisfied with that experience, get a cheap android phone just for the watch and continue using your iPhone for everything else.

 

[rrigters93]

I appreciate the response from everyone, what I will do is get the Samsung Gear s3 LTE version from ATT (via BestBuy at full price) and numbersync it with my Iphone and then get a very cheap Android phone and pair it for apps and watch faces...let me know if its not possible...thanks

 

[arunma]

I appreciate the response from everyone, what I will do is get the Samsung Gear s3 LTE version from ATT (via BestBuy at full price) and numbersync it with my Iphone and then get a very cheap Android phone and pair it for apps and watch faces...let me know if its not possible...thanks

Cool, let us know what your battery life situation is like! I'd very much like to know if mine is atypical or something.