Smartwatches

LG makes its round-faced Android Wear smartwatch official

LG spilled some more details on its round-faced smartwatch, the G Watch R
LG spilled some more details on its round-faced smartwatch, the G Watch R

Samsung wasn't the only Korean manufacturer to pull back the curtain on a smartwatch today. Remember that round-faced watch that LG teased earlier this week? Well, it's official – and it does indeed run Android Wear. Meet the LG G Watch R.

The G Watch R stands next to the Moto 360 as the first smartwatches that employ round displays to look a bit less like tech products, and a bit more like jewelry. The G Watch R's circular display measures 1.3 inches, and uses Plastic OLED technology. That's the same screen tech we saw on LG's curved G Flex phablet.

Like the original G Watch, the round model runs Android Wear, Google's new platform for smartwatches. In that first G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live, we found the Android Wear software to be the most advanced wearable platform to date – but also advised waiting for some snazzier-looking devices. With the G Watch R and the Moto 360, we might have just that.

Other specs are right in line with what we saw in the square-faced G Watch, including a Snapdragon 400 processor, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. The new model gets a slightly higher battery capacity (410 mAh) and sticks with IP67 water resistance.

LG hasn't announced any pricing info yet, but we know that the G Watch R will launch sometime in Q4 – meaning no earlier than October.

Source: LG

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
2 comments
The Skud
Ultimately doomed to fill up a drawer with the rest of these gadgets! Will be supplanted fairly soon by wearable computers, better than Google Glass, fully-fledged and functional (not gimmicky), as headbands or whatever. Remember the implanted device in Predator (I think)? Appears on the surface of the forearm with a tap, does everything, probably powered by the body heat. Will have Blutooth communication to implanted lens for eyeball displays.
Synchro
I think I'm largely with The Skud on this. In its favour, this is the first Smartwatch I've seen that doesn't look like a drink can that's been run over.