Gear S2 gains two colours, will soon support iOS

Samsung has unveiled two new colours for its Gear S2 at its press conference at CES 2016 and also revealed that the smartwatch will gain official support for iOS devices later this year.

The Gear S2 will launch in gold and platinum options later this year with the 18-karat rose gold variant featuring an ivory leather band while the other option has a platinum case with a black leather band. There’s no word on pricing but it’s quite likely that both will cost more than the standard Gear S2’s $299 price point but it’s also likely to be much cheaper than the $12,000 plus Apple Watch.

Samsung’s press conference also saw Samsung Electronics America Vice President of Product Marketing Alanna Cotton reveal that the company will bring official support for iOS devices later in the year. The smartwatch may run on the company’s own Tizen operating system but it currently supports any Android smartphone running Android 4.4 KitKat or later – it’s the first Gear smartwatch to support non-Samsung Android devices – and adding iOS support could offer up an alternative to the Apple Watch for iPhone users.

Alongside these announcements, Samsung also revealed that the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic will finally receive support for Samsung Pay later in the year. Both devices were meant to offer the service at launch before it was delayed to the end of 2015 and when it does finally launch, it will mean you can make contactless payments directly from your smartwatch.

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Would you buy either of the new Gear S2 smartwatches? Let us know your views in the comments below and stay tuned for our hands on with the new options later today.