Samsung has already rolled out Samsung Pay for its Gear S3 Classic and S3 Frontier and, ideally, the proprietary mobile payment should now work on all Android handsets that are paired to these devices. That blanket statement, however, is not entirely true to the consternation of Google Pixel owners because they seem to have been excluded to the mix.
Samsung Pay
It is important to remember that Samsung Pay is essentially an exclusive Samsung product. It is not only designed to challenge Apple Pay and Android Pay in the mobile payment market but it is also a value-added service that aims to make Samsung handsets more attractive to consumers.
This explains why it is only available to Samsung products. While the South Korean company announced that Samsung will now be available on other Android devices, it is only possible if those are paired with the Gear S3.
When one does think about it, Samsung is not actually pushing Samsung Pay to other Android devices since it merely gives users the option to manage their Samsung Pay accounts through the Samsung Gear app.
Samsung Pay In Non-Samsung Devices
It is not yet clear how Samsung Pay works on the Gear S3 range. It has been outfitted with NFC technology but Samsung Pay appears to be only working on the device when it is paired with a Samsung phone and, now, with other Android devices. iOS support is also reportedly looming in the horizon.
Simply put, if you own both an Android phone and a Gear S3 you can pay for your purchases in stores accepting Samsung Pay via your smartwatch. This is made possible by way of an update to the Gear Manager app in non-Samsung Android phones. Users will need to install all updates by clicking the Samsung Pay option that should now be available within Gear Manager.
This is now the part where Pixel owners began to notice that they have been left out in the cold.
Google Pixel Exclusion
Pixel users are now complaining that they cannot install the Samsung Pay updates and a number of them have inundated Samsung's Twitter account with the issue.
Unfortunately, Samsung admitted that Pixel is, indeed, not currently supported. This means that those Pixel owners who also own the S3 smartwatch will not be able to use the wearable to pay using Samsung's mobile payment system.
@cyberslash69 Hi there, #SamsungPay on the Gear S3 is not available with Pixel devices. (1/2)
— Samsung Pay (@SamsungPay) November 25, 2016
The tech company has released a list of supported handsets and these include LG G5, DROID Turbo, Moto Maxx, Nexus 6, LG G4, Nexus 6P and HTC 10, among others. When asked whether Pixel will eventually get supported, Samsung could only manage to say that they are working on it.
Samsung Gear S3 Pricing, Specs
If your Android phone is part of the supported list and you are interested to use Samsung Pay, the Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier retails for $350. You can now purchase the smartwatches in several retail outlets such as Amazon as well as various U.S. carriers.
