 Every smart watch you've probably seen, whether it's an Apple watch, an Android Wear model, or a Pebble, needs to be connected to a phone to be smart. If you disconnect it from the phone, well, then you kind of lose the smarts and it just becomes a regular old watch. Well Samsung's got a Gear S2 that has a cellular radio in it now, which means that it doesn't need to be connected to your phone to do something. You can place calls, you can text message, you can do a couple other things when your phone and your watch are not in the same place. It sells for about $299, you can get it with AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile support. I happen to have the AT&T model here and it lets me leave my phone behind and still have some smart functions. Mostly what it lets me do is make phone calls and receive phone calls on my wrist when my phone isn't around, and I can also send and receive text messages. But other things like alerts from my phone, notifications, apps, stuff like that, I really can't do that when it's separated from my phone. The design of the 3G model of the Gear S2 is very similar to the WiFi model. It looks really similar, it's got the same circular bezel controls, same round display that's really vibrant and brilliant. It's a little bit thicker than the other one, but it's not totally uncomfortable to wear. Functionally it functions exactly the same as well. It's got the same apps available, the same interface, the same features and stuff like that. You can control your music with it, you can get your notifications and stuff like that when it's all paired to your phone over Bluetooth. Of course it also has the same drawbacks, meaning there's not a lot of apps here still. That's kind of one of the biggest faults of the Gear S2 model is that Samsung doesn't have a ton of apps available. That actually becomes a bigger deal when you're using it as a cellular device, because if you want to take it on a run, you can track your activity, you can still get text messages and phone calls and stuff like that when you're out and about, but it doesn't have a lot of fitness tracking apps available. You're not going to find Strava or MapMyFitness or other popular apps that you might want to use when you're tracking your run. Pretty much you're left with Samsung's S Health app and that's about it. Other things that aren't really great about it, the battery life when it's on 3G is really poor. It's not going to last much more than three or four hours when it's disconnected and out and about on the cellular network. You also always have to have your phone on, whether it's at home or at your desk or in your car, to connect to the cellular network to make any of these functions work. It's not really a fully standalone device. You have to pair it with your phone to set it up, you have to install all the apps through your phone, you have to change all the settings through your phone. It just lets you separate your device from your phone every once in a while. Personally I didn't find that particularly useful. Most of the time I have my phone with me anyways. The only times that I might not have my phone is like I mentioned when I'm out on a run and then I could possibly use the wireless features on the Gear S23G. The other downside of this is you're going to have to pay a monthly service fee to use this. With AT&T it's $10 per month, the other carriers are about $5 a month. Personally I don't think that's particularly worth it for the features that it gives you right now. In the future all smart watches will probably be connected, meaning you can use it separate from your phone and completely standalone device. Right now we're still a few steps away from that.
 Every smart watch you've probably seen, whether it's an Apple watch, an Android Wear model,
 or a Pebble, needs to be connected to a phone to be smart.
 If you disconnect it from the phone, well, then you kind of lose the smarts and it just
 becomes a regular old watch.
 Well Samsung's got a Gear S2 that has a cellular radio in it now, which means that it doesn't
 need to be connected to your phone to do something.
 You can place calls, you can text message, you can do a couple other things when your
 phone and your watch are not in the same place.
 It sells for about $299, you can get it with AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile support.
 I happen to have the AT&T model here and it lets me leave my phone behind and still have
 some smart functions.
 Mostly what it lets me do is make phone calls and receive phone calls on my wrist when my
 phone isn't around, and I can also send and receive text messages.
 But other things like alerts from my phone, notifications, apps, stuff like that, I really
 can't do that when it's separated from my phone.
 The design of the 3G model of the Gear S2 is very similar to the WiFi model.
 It looks really similar, it's got the same circular bezel controls, same round display
 that's really vibrant and brilliant.
 It's a little bit thicker than the other one, but it's not totally uncomfortable to wear.
 Functionally it functions exactly the same as well.
 It's got the same apps available, the same interface, the same features and stuff like
 that.
 You can control your music with it, you can get your notifications and stuff like that
 when it's all paired to your phone over Bluetooth.
 Of course it also has the same drawbacks, meaning there's not a lot of apps here still.
 That's kind of one of the biggest faults of the Gear S2 model is that Samsung doesn't have
 a ton of apps available.
 That actually becomes a bigger deal when you're using it as a cellular device, because if
 you want to take it on a run, you can track your activity, you can still get text messages
 and phone calls and stuff like that when you're out and about, but it doesn't have a lot of
 fitness tracking apps available.
 You're not going to find Strava or MapMyFitness or other popular apps that you might want
 to use when you're tracking your run.
 Pretty much you're left with Samsung's S Health app and that's about it.
 Other things that aren't really great about it, the battery life when it's on 3G is really
 poor.
 It's not going to last much more than three or four hours when it's disconnected and out
 and about on the cellular network.
 You also always have to have your phone on, whether it's at home or at your desk or in
 your car, to connect to the cellular network to make any of these functions work.
 It's not really a fully standalone device.
 You have to pair it with your phone to set it up, you have to install all the apps through
 your phone, you have to change all the settings through your phone.
 It just lets you separate your device from your phone every once in a while.
 Personally I didn't find that particularly useful.
 Most of the time I have my phone with me anyways.
 The only times that I might not have my phone is like I mentioned when I'm out on a run
 and then I could possibly use the wireless features on the Gear S23G.
 The other downside of this is you're going to have to pay a monthly service fee to use
 this.
 With AT&T it's $10 per month, the other carriers are about $5 a month.
 Personally I don't think that's particularly worth it for the features that it gives you
 right now.
 In the future all smart watches will probably be connected, meaning you can use it separate
 from your phone and completely standalone device.
 Right now we're still a few steps away from that.