Samsung’s current crop of smartwatches are designed to pair with your Samsung phone or tablet to display notifications on your wrist, act like a remote control for your media player, and let you start a phone call without taking your phone out of your pocket, among other things.
But Samsung may be preparing to launch a smartwatch that lets you do all of those things without a phone.
Rumors of a Samsung Gear 2 Solo have been making the rounds for weeks, and now a device by that name has shown up in India.
The Gear 2 Solo has the model number SM-R710, and if the rumors are to be believed, it’s basically a wearable smartphone. While it’ll probably have a user interface similar to that of the Samsung Gear 2 or Gear 2 Neo smartwatch, this model is expected to have a SIM card slot and cellular capabilities.
That would let you make calls, send and receive text messages, and possibly access internet services without carrying a separate phone.
It seems to be priced at about $200 wholesale in India, which means it will likely cost more than that when it hits retail availability.
via SamMobile, BGR, and MakTechBlog
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18 Comments on "Samsung Gear 2 Solo could be a smartwatch that makes phone calls"
What a horrible idea. It is already very clear that the best smart watches are the simple, and passive ones. They just need to provide notifications, and they only need to be a companion to your smartphone. Samsung already fell on their face with the Galaxy Gear because they tried to make it something that they shouldn’t have.
Samsung needs to stop thinking “What is the most amount of unique features we can possibly cram into this device, nevermind the fact that they are completely useless to everyone, the only thing that matters is that we do it before Apple does”.
Sometimes I just think that Samsung is only making electronic devices for the purpose of having a feature in the market, so when Apple needs to include it out of necessity, they will either get royalties, or settlements. Its kinda like your immature little brother who licks things to claim them.
Amen! Something with a small footprint and limited capability (little screen) like a smart watch would force us to enjoy LIFE, instead of stare at a device and type away all day. I would think it’d be annoying/difficult to be on facebook for hours on this thing. That’s a plus.
That’s a horrible argument. How many of us would like to go jogging, cycling, shooting hoops, etc., without that smartphone flapping around our active wear pockets? I think the majority of us do. Yeah, there’s the armband, but it’s terrible, it slides off, it puts pressure on your arms, and it can still be smashed by a basketball. Leave it on the side of the court? Right. Let’s just leave it all there and have it swiped by some bum while you’re in the heat of your game. Wear a fanny pack? Not a bad idea if this was still the 90’s. Don’t bring your phone? Well, guess you’re not calling anybody then.. even if you’ve injured yourself on a bike ride 100km away from home.
Just because you can’t find a use for it doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t.
No I dont need to text while I’m playing hoops, but I’d like to be able to make calls after i’m done and when I’m on my way home. Do you never go for a jog or a ball game? You would understand the inconvenience of bringing a phone if you do.
Pebble sounds like the pretty useless device to me. It’s a watch that relays information from your phone.. without your phone, it’s just a watch.
I leave my phone in my car if I’m ever going somewhere, and it’s impractical to carry my phone. If I bike somewhere (like the gym), it stays in my bag, in a locker.
I can’t imagine a situation where I’m going somewhere that I don’t want to carry a phone, but yet there is nowhere safe to keep it.
Like going jogging at a park? Or a doing a marathon?
I said it before, it’s not about while you’re doing the activities. It’s about before and after. You can choose not to get calls while you’re jogging by not bringing your phone, but what do you do when you need to look up bus times to transit home, to call to meet up with friends after your jog?
I mentioned the issues with the armband, I use it now because that’s the closest thing but it certainly can be better.
Again, just because you wouldn’t spend $200 to buy another device + another plan doesn’t mean others won’t. I know too many people with two phone numbers.
In today’s society of instant gratification, I think a smart watch like this is great. It makes going online or checking facebook a DESTINATION instead of a WAY OF LIFE. It allows us to experience reality for what it is, because who in the world would want to stare at a tiny tiny screen. It’d make me experience what’s before me and wait till I get home to go into facebook. It’d allow me to experience boredom, which is where the mind opens up and becomes creative. I think a phone like this would by nature be more limited in it’s capability compared to a full smartphone, which is not bad at all–it’d help us really live.
You are incorrect. This is a brilliant idea.
As long as they can figure out how to make the battery last all day this would be great.. some kind of kinetic energy charging system maybe… body heat to electricity.. something.. anything..
I’m curious about how hot it will get while making a call. That’s a non-negligible amount of heat generation, and not a lot of free surface area for dissipation. If you’re walking and swinging that arm while calling, you get the advantage of forced convection over the top surface, but what if you’re just sitting or standing somewhere?
i wonder if this might work better as a pendant hanging from a chain or a lanyard? it seems that the size and shape of the wristwatch could be adapted to other types of clothing or jewelry that wouldn’t be pressed flush against the skin.
A valid concern, considering the 1st gen Gear received a few complaints about getting too hot when recording video.