Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch heading to EE, Phones 4U
EE and Phones 4U have confirmed they will stock Samsung's Bluetooth-connected Galaxy Gear smartwatch, but prices remain under wraps for now.
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Phones 4U has launched a pre-sale campaign for the Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3 ahead of its planned launch on 25 September.
The mobile reseller is offering the Galaxy Note 3 on a two-year contract with EE, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange from £41 to £52 per month, depending on upfront costs.
While it has not set prices for the Galaxy Gear, customers that pre-order the Galaxy Note 3 can opt-in to receive a £100 ($155) discount on the smartwatch too.
The Galaxy Note 3 — one of a few Galaxy devices the watch is compatible with — is the latest phablet offering from Samsung, which sports a 5.7-inch full HD AMOLED display, 13 megapixel rear camera, 3GB RAM and includes the S Pen stylus. The LTE device is available in 32GB or 64GB models.
EE has also confirmed it will stock the smartwatch, but has similarly not revealed pricing. Fellow UK mobile operators Three, Vodafone and O2 have not confirmed whether they will carry the Samsung smartwatch yet.
Samsung unveiled both devices this week at the IFA consumer tech trade conference in Germany. While the Gear was more attractive than earlier leaked images suggested it would be, consumers may still baulk at the smartwatch's $299 price tag.
As ZDNet's Larry Dignan noted this week, $150 would approach the right price point for the device, but $99 would be the sweet spot to encourage serious sales.
Bundled discounts such as the one offered by Phones 4U, however, may help address the perceived price problem, at least for consumers that are also in the market for a new smartphone.