We’ve known for a while now that the Gear S2 is different from past Samsung smartwatches because it’s got a round face rather than a square one, but it turns out that that’s not the only thing that differentiates the Gear S2.
It’s been revealed that the Samsung Gear S2 will work with a variety of Android smartphones, not just Galaxy-branded handsets like past Samsung Gear smartwatches. There are a couple of requirements to pairing your Android phone with the Gear S2 — you’ll need a phone with Android 4.4 and at least 1.5GB of RAM — but the S2’s compatibility is still far wider than past Samsung watches.
Samsung notes that there might be a little wonkiness when connecting a non-Galaxy phone to the Gear S2 because of APIs, and that a few features, like Samsung Pay and the phone dialer, simply may not work.
Even though the Gear S2 may not work quite as smoothly with non-Samsung phones as it does with Samsung-made handsets, it’s still great to see Samsung expand compatibility of its new round smartwatch to more products. That’s especially true considering the early praise that the device is getting, including from our own Marco Hanna. Check out his hands-on video with the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic above.
