Samsung Gear S2 likely to be released on October 2nd in US, 3G model restricted to America and Korea initially

Samsung’s recently announced Gear S2 has stirred a lot of attention for itself over the past few weeks. The sleek, round design, attractive user interface, rotating bezel and non-discriminatory Android support all sets it up nicely to be one of this year’s most desired wearables. Samsung is yet to announce when the device will hit retail stores in the States, but if a leaked internal training video is anything to go by, it looks as though the company is prepping for an October 2 release…

A video published to YouTube (and promptly removed) stated clearly that retail staff should expect the smartwatch to be available from the 2nd of October. Thankfully, Android Authority got to watch the video before it was wiped from YouTube and confirmed that the Gear S2 will be available from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular on that day. No pricing has been revealed yet, but European pricing suggests it will cost around the same as the Apple Watch Sport.  For those hoping to get the 3G-equipped model, you’ll have to wait a little longer.

Samsung is planning to release the Gear S2 3G until November 6 in the States, with T-Mobile and Verizon having already confirmed that they will be stocking the device. Sadly, for those of you living outside the US, you may not get a chance to buy the Gear S2 3G, at least not this year. One of Samsung’s European execs spoke with Wareable and stated that the initial rollout would be US and Korea only. The reason being that the e-SIM standard is already more widely adopted in the States than across the pond in Europe, suggesting that any restriction in global rollout is merely technical, not just a marketing decision.

The company also told the reporter that global pricing and release information would be published officially next week, from September 21st. Once available, the Gear S2 will be directly competing with the likes of Motorola’s new Moto 360, the Huawei Watch and — of course — the newly refreshed Apple Watch. While it’s only going to be compatible with Android smartphones initially, Samsung has stated in the past that it is looking in to bringing iOS compatibility.

Until then, Android Wear devices will have one more trick up their sleeves than the Tizen-based Samsung smartwatch. Google’s wearable platform added iPhone support fairly recently and — although its performance depends heavily on which model watch you’re wearing — it is a bold move by Google to make it available to virtually everyone on the planet who owns a smartphone.