LG G Watch R reviews

Since all the Android Wear smartwatches run the same software, design is an extremely important area when making a buying decision. The advantage of the G Watch R, if you can afford it, is that it's the most normal looking smartwatch around. Whether you personally like the look or not is a personal matter and a watch is a fashion item so this could immediately put you off buying it.

We like the look of the G Watch R and despite appearances, it's actually thinner than the Moto 360 at 11.4 mm compared to 11.9 mm. It doesn't sound like much but a fair bit of that measurement is simply the bezel around the edge which is pointy.

The watch is also pretty light at 61 g which is less that it looks and like rivals it is IP67 rated so is completely protected from dust and water resistant for up to 30 minutes at a maximum depth of one metre.


Build quality is good with a stainless steel body – we can only find the black model although there was a silver one on show at IFA 2014 which is where we first saw the device. Included is a leather strap and you can switch it for any standard 22mm alternative if you want which is good. It's plain black and although LG had various on display in Berlin we can't find them for sale anywhere.

The main disadvantage to the design is that it's quite large, like others, meaning that females are likely to find it huge. LG only has one image of a woman wearing the G Watch R on its site and we know why. The firm along with others, are probably kicking themselves after Apple announced two different sizes of the Apple Watch.

LG G WATCH HANDS-ON REVIEW: HARDWARE AND SPECS

We're seeing almost identical specs across all the Android Wear smartwatches with a few little differences here and there. The core hardware is a familiar Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. We've had no problems with performance on any Android Wear smartwatches.

A battery size of 410 mAh is pretty typical and there's the usual array of sensors including a gyro, compass, accelerometer. An additional feature which you don't always find is the heart rate monitor which sits on the back and a barometer for altitude. Unfortunately the heart rate monitor tends to take a good while to record a measurement and often fails.
See also: Samsung Gear S hands-on review.

Unlike the Moto 360, it will only take a reading when you ask it to which helps with battery life. While the Motorola only lasted us a day, the LG has made its way through 3-4 days on average although this will drop to a couple if you have the screen set to always on and you use it a lot.

Matching the original G Watch, this smartwatch charges via a magnetic dock. It works fine but we'd rather have the wireless charging of the Moto 360 which also shows the time and progress while docked.

The 1.3in screen might sound small but looks great in circular form and easy to use with Android Wear. The display itself is P-OLED and has a resolution of 320 x 320. In regular watch mode, you'd be forgiven for thinking the moving hands were real.

Important in the fight with the Moto 360, the G Watch R doesn't have the bottom part of the screen cut off or the slightly annoying moiré effect around the edge since there's no bevelled edge to the glass. LG points out, and quite rightly so, that it's 'full circle'.

LG G WATCH HANDS-ON REVIEW: SOFTWARE

If you've got this far in the review, you'll know that the G Watch R comes with Android Wear. You can use Google's wearable OS with any Android device running version 4.3 or later by connecting it over Bluetooth. You'll get essentially the same experience as other smartwatches with Android Wear – the main difference is the circular screen rather than square.

More: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/review/smart-watches/lg-g-watch-r-review-3543856/