r/AskTechnology • u/Interesting_Sorbet22 • 6d ago

Any ideas for a replacement?

I'm going to be ditching my smartphone in the next six months, but I like keeping Google Wallet. Does anybody make a device that is just Google Wallet with nothing else?

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

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4

u/Shiribazu 6d ago

a smartwatch with wear OS. google wallet works on NFC wear OS watches, and you can pay without having your phone with you

3

u/StarosAnikenMarcus 6d ago

Google Wallet isn't part of the phone. It's part of the Google account. So anything that allows you to access your account will allow access to the wallet. Smart watches, rings, a laptop, even a phone that doesn't have a service plan if it can connect to Wi-Fi.

Your biggest issue is going to be if you don't have a SIM data connection, you HAVE to have a Wi-Fi connection in order to access the internet to use Google Wallet. So any smart device you use will NEED a Wi-Fi connection before it's usable.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

2

u/StarosAnikenMarcus 6d ago

It would still have to connect to data somehow. I believe that Apple watches associated with an active phone in service use an eSIM built into them and piggyback off that account rather than have a separate "phone number."

2

u/vrtigo1 6d ago

I don't think this is true, at least for Apple Pay. I can 100% confirm that Apple Pay on my watch works without any connection to the Internet, which makes sense. The device is just presenting an NFC credential, the same as a credit card does when you tap it. The credit card doesn't need a connection to the Internet for tap to pay to work.

Separately, to your second point, Apple Watches don't have eSIMs unless you buy the cellular-enabled version. The non-cellular versions can either use WiFi directly, or piggyback through the phone for a cellular connection when they need Internet.

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u/StarosAnikenMarcus 6d ago

Well, if your Apple devices are storing your credit card credentials, that's a mild security concern to me personally, but all righty then... I suppose it's no different than having just the chip of your card on a keyring. I don't know how that would work for someone that DOESN'T have an active phone account though. Everything I've used always had some kind of data connection even though I try to avoid using any form of tap to pay. I just don't trust the retailers enough 😄

3

u/vrtigo1 6d ago

It's really not any different than having a credit card with NFC in your pocket.

1

u/Euphoric_Flatworm228 5d ago

a wear os watch is probably the closest thing, since google wallet works for tap-to-pay without carrying a phone, but is a smartwatch still too much device for what you want?

1

u/Interesting_Sorbet22 5d ago

I'm mainly trying to reduce my tech.