5:53 AM
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Samsung Galaxy Gear returns running at 1 in 3, says US retailer
First iterations of new gadgets are never perfect. But even so…
The Samsung Galaxy Gear has left early adopters unimpressed, it
seems, with return rates at a cripplingly high level at one of the US’s
largest gadget retailers. According to a hush-hush doc procured from Best Buy reps by Geek, Samsung’s heavily marketed smartphone accessory is being brought back by 30 per cent of buyers.
The document states: "The Galaxy Gear attachment rate within Best Buy is the highest among all channels; however the overall return rate is trending above 30 per cent,
The reason for the slew of unhappy customers isn’t yet clear. But it’s certainly something Best Buy is keen to discern and has asked Samsung to help it investigate.
Until we find out for sure, our money is on the fact that right now very few Galaxy kits support the Gear; just the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note 3. More importantly, this isn’t immediately apparent unless you closely follow news on tech blogs, so there's a good chance that punters are buying it without realising.
On the positive side, the range of supported kits is set to expand soon enough when Samsung rolls out Android 4.3 to the S3 and Note 2, both of which are expected to join the Galaxy Gear club soon.
Samsung is also set to add support for Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini, S4 Active, Mega 5.8, Mega 6.3, and S4 Zoom at the end of the month with a separate update.
Reviews of the Gear in the tech press were distinctly average, with many highlighting a lack of third-party apps and the fact that Gmail is not supported as key deficiencies.
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