Phone Calls only with 3G?

[Trequartista]

Hello

I recently ordered an Apple Watch 4 cellular. Now I read that my carrier (German O2) only supports phone calls in 3G network, but not in LTE.
Is there any way to force the watch using 3G network and not LTE?

 

[ttforever]

I asked about this in our apple store (UK) and they told me it was 4G/LTE only and wouldn't drop down to 3g, 2g etc. Not sure if they are correct though

 

[Tea-Aholic]

The watch has LTE and UMTS which means it can make voice calls over 4G and 3G.

EDIT: I just read Apple's tech specs.

Yes, certain carriers only support LTE and not 3G like EE in the UK, however all three supported carriers in Germany support 3G.

 

[TimMinchin]

You can call apple online services.

 

[velocityg4]

I find it a bit odd that they wouldn't support LTE and 3G (UMTS). As far as I can tell O2 Germany supports LTE B20 (800DD) and UMTS B1 (2100). Both of which the Apple Watch supports. It must be an issue with the carrier itself. Perhaps they are keeping the Apple Watch off LTE to keep it open for data hungry smartphones, tablets and computers. I don't believe there is any way to force it.

 

[iGeek2014]

My German isn’t brilliant, despite my GCSE grade B (!) but I can’t even see any form of disclaimer on o2’s website that it’s 3G only.

 

[Tea-Aholic]

My German isn’t brilliant, despite my GCSE grade B (!) but I can’t even see any form of disclaimer on o2’s website that it’s 3G only.

Apple's own page lists the carrier support here:
https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/

Any carrier listed with a "3" in the footnote don't support UMTS.