Verizon Wireless has announced that pre-orders for the 3G-enabled version of Samsung’s Gear S2 Classic smartwatch will go live from Tuesday, February 23rd. According to America’s largest carrier, the smartwatch will be priced at $399.99 at full retail and $349.99 on a new two-year contract and will cost just $5 per month when added to a new or existing Verizon account. The device comes with 3G connectivity unlike any of Samsung’s other Gear S2 models, all of which were launched last year just ahead of the IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany. Along with the Gear S2 Classic 3G, the South Korean tech company had also launched the Gear S2 and the Gear S2 Classic at the same event, and both those devices are already available for purchase in just about all major markets around the world.
Coming to the Gear S2 Classic 3G, the device comes with an eSIM, which is a GSMA-compliant embedded electronic SIM card that lets users switch carriers without having to change their SIMs. The inclusion of the eSIM is the USP of the device here, as that nifty little feature renders it capable of making and receiving voice calls independently, without being synced to any smartphone. The device, just like any other current-generation Gear smartwatch, runs on Tizen, and not on Android Wear. However, it is compatible with Android smartphones and tablets that are running on Android 4.4 KitKat and have at least 1.5 GB of RAM onboard.
The Gear S2 Classic 3G smartwatch from Samsung comes with a circular Super AMOLED display with a rotating bezel, making it the very first time the company introduced a circular watch face to its smartwatch lineup, as earlier smartwatches from the company came with quadrangular displays. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 SoC, which also happens to be the default option for many Android Wear devices. However, that’s expected to change soon with the introduction of Snapdragon Wear 2100 – a chip recently announced and aimed specifically at the wearables segment. Either way, there’s no info just as yet on when Verizon will actually start shipping the devices to those who pre-order.