While the Samsung Gear S landed at other carriers and Best Buy last week, it finally landed at T-Mobile today. The magenta carrier is selling the Gear S for $350 outright, or you can finance it starting at $0 down. Remember earlier this year, T-Mobile began to allow you to finance your accessories and such too, which include smartwatches, that are over $60. And the Gear S fits that category. The Samsung Gear S will set you back about $349.92 or $0/down and $14.58 per month for 24 months. Additionally, there is going to be an extra charge per month to use it, since it does connect to LTE. T-Mobile notes “post-paid voice customers can add service to their Gear S for as little as $5 more a month.”
The Samsung Gear S does run on Tizen, and not Android Wear so most of the Android Wear apps you see on the Play Store will not be compatible. But unlike Android Wear, you can make calls and texts from your smartwatch. Sure Android Wear can do texts, but you can’t carry on a call on your smartwatch with the LG G Watch R or another Android Wear smartwatch, like you can the Gear S. Which is where the “wow’ factor comes in. It also supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n networks, Bluetooth 4.1 (for Low Energy), and has 4GB of storage inside for your apps and such.
Verizon is offering the Gear S for $399, while AT&T and Best Buy have it for $299. AT&T is also offering it on contract for $199, if you really want to sign a two-year contract to save a hundred bucks right now, it’ll cost you more in the long run though so we wouldn’t recommend it. So yes, the Gear S is the most expensive smartwatch out there right now, but that’s primarily because it’s a standalone smartwatch, meaning it doesn’t need to stay connected to your phone. How many of you are interested in picking one up anytime soon?