Nearly a month after first going hands-on with Samsung’s new smartwatch, we finally have a concrete price and release date.
The Gear S2 will go on sale this Friday, October 2 starting at $299.99 for the low end model and $349.99 for leather-and-metal Classic.
To recap, the Gear S2 is Samsung’s first circular smartwatch, and its first to work on other Android devices.
It uses Tizen rather than Android OS, but thanks to a complete overhaul that actually doesn’t sound so bad this time around. We were tentatively optimistic after our hands-on, and Samsung promised “over 1,000” apps for watch around launch time, though time will tell if there’s any serious developer traction.
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The watch will be available from a few different retailers at launch, including Amazon, Best Buy and Macy’s (in addition to Samsung’s own Web store). Units will be available at Best Buy retail locations on the same date and Macy’s in NYC’s Herald Square (it will arrive at 50 more Macy’s locations on the 16th).
If you’ve been holding out for news on the LTE-enabled version though (which can work completely independently of a smartphone), Samsung is only saying it will launch later this fall, and that pricing will be left up to carriers.
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