Forum Discussion

EJoSoFTL's avatar
EJoSoFTL
Newbie Caller
3 years ago
Solved

Samsung Gear S2

Does T-Mobile still support 2G 3G data and calling as a standalone device on the Gear S2 watch?  I am activating a new one and it is activated but I am unable to make calls.  “Emergency Calls only” I...
samsung
  • HeavenM's avatar
    HeavenM
    3 years ago

    Hey @EJoSoFTL Smartwatches are a great alternative to carrying around a cell phone. Unfortnately, the Gear S2 is not compatible with your network. When you activate the device, it can get a basic connection to the network to pull the information like its phone number. In order for any device to be able to make calls on T-Mobile’s network, it has to be VoLTE compatible and the Gear S2 is not. The earliest Samsung watch that I am seeing was VoLTE compatible is the Samsung Galaxy Watch3.

    Hope this helps

HeavenM's avatar
HeavenM
Community Manager
3 years ago

I love to hear that you got some great use out of the standalone capabilities of the Watches. When the Gear S2 came out, it was capable of making and receiving calls on 3G without the phone around. Recently, T-Mobile retired the 3G network so now all calls go over VoLTE. Since the Gear S2 used 3G to make calls and is not capable of using VoLTE, those watches are no longer able to connect calls without the phone. 

I am not quite sure what you mean by “I have three newer watches and they are tied to my original S2 plan so I can’t have them ring when the phone isn’t with me like the newer wearable plans work.” Each watch needs its own watch line on the account, but I think you can link multiple watch lines to one phone line. To my knowledge, all of the watch plans should have the ability to ring the watch when the phone is not around; even the old plans. I don’t have account access here on the Community, so can you tell me the name of the watch plan that you have on your account? I want to make sure that I double check the details and features of the plans so I can get you the right information and you don’t have to change your fantastic plan. You should return the “new” S2 that you have, because it is not going to do what you are looking for, but as long as your plan is good, it is not hopeless.