A new rumor claims that the Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch could soon receive a refresh in South Korea with cellular connectivity on board. This would make the Gear 2 a standalone smartphone rather than a companion accessory. It is said that local carrier SK Telecom will be the first to bring this modified variant of the Gear 2.

A source from the carrier has told The Korea Herald that this new iteration of the Gear 2 smartwatch will be exclusive to South Korea initially, but did not rule out a global launch. Samsung is yet to confirm the existence of this smartwatch at the moment, so we suggest you take this report with a grain of salt.

We’re not sure if this will be a practical option given that smartwatches are considered companion accessories and not smartphone replacements. So it could merely be an experimental project from Samsung to test the waters somewhat. With cellular data enabled, the battery life of this smartwatch could take a considerable beating as well, which is another negative.

The Samsung Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and the Gear Fit are expected to arrive in three weeks from now, so we can expect to learn more about this cellular data enabled Gear 2 subsequently.

• SourceThe Korea Herald
• ViaPhone Arena