Samsung globally rolls out Gear S2 Classic New Edition in Rose Gold and Platinum

Samsung announced a premium version of its Gear S2 smartwatch at CES 2016. Called Gear S2 Classic New Edition, the wearable uses high-end materials like gold and leather, making it a more attractive competitor to Apple Watch than its older brother. If you have been waiting for its arrival, Samsung has just announced the start of its global rollout.

Samsung says that Gear S2 Classic New Edition is available first in China, with the rollout to continue in markets across the globe "early this year". Here is what you should know about it.

Gear S2 Classic New Edition is offered in two versions, one with an 18k rose gold coating and an ivory leather band, and the other with a platinum finish and a black leather band (the leather, Samsung says, is genuine).

To further set it apart from the standard Gear S2, Samsung has equipped the new smartwatch with a suite of "stylish" watch faces. There are also new additions to the suite of apps compatible with the product family, like Bloomberg and CNN, and improvements to existing offerings "to enhance the convenience of the device".

Gear S2 Classic New Edition has NFC, allowing Samsung to enable Samsung Pay functionality on the smartwatch "early this year", starting with US. You can read about our hands-on experience with the new mobile payments service here.

Samsung does not say how much Gear S2 Classic New Edition will cost, but it is fair to assume that it will be much cheaper than Apple Watch Edition because the former is not made out of solid gold or platinum. However, the premium look and feel is likely to be unaffected by this. And, personally speaking, it looks much closer to an old-fashioned luxury timepiece than Apple Watch.