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Review of LG G Watch R, Moto 360's main rival



For many users of watches, the round case is a kind of classic, a kind of archetype. But the first generation of smart watches is almost universally produced in rectangular cases, due to technological features. Until recently, only one model of round smartwatches, Moto 360, was presented on the market. As they say, there wasn’t much to choose from. But the other day another very interesting round model was introduced, the LG G Watch R.

New watches are running Android Wear. However, there is no more or less imputed compatibility between this OS and a regular Android, applications for the “big” version need to be adapted to work correctly on smart watches. Therefore, due to the novelty, Android Wear cannot boast of a special variety of available software, at the moment only about 1000 items. And for the most part it is all sorts of themes for the dials.

The second weakest place for Android Wear is dependence on the smartphone. The main functionality provided by this OS is the notification of certain events. And without a smartphone is almost indispensable. Therefore, it remains only to hope that Google will reconsider its approach and make significant changes to this “wearable” OS.
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The highlight of the LG G Watch R is primarily in design. But there are a number of other benefits. By the way, Moto 360 is not officially delivered to Russia, unlike the hero of this review.

Specifications


Design, ergonomics

The first model in the now LG G lineup looked very inconspicuous, if not sad. The impression did not improve even a very low price. LG G Watch R is a good work on the bugs: stainless steel case instead of plastic, leather strap instead of rubber, sport watch design. Also appeared mechanical button that performs some control functions.





Despite the roundness of the dial, the watches from LG and Motorola will still be interesting for different categories of consumers. The Moto 360 has a business design that fits well with a suit and tie, and the LG style rather brings to mind pilots watches, with their characteristic graded bezels . At the same time, only the model in black is available.



The strap has a standard 22 mm mount, so theoretically you can change it yourself. But you have to sweat, because the mount is recessed into the body.





The above-mentioned button can be rotated, but this does not affect anything, it only works when pressed. With it, the display is turned on, and when held, the settings open. An optical heart rate sensor (photoplethysmography sensor) is located on the watch cover. In these images, we compared the appearance of both LG G models:





Stuffing, time, screen

The watches comply with the IP67 dust and moisture protection standard, that is, they can lie without harm at a depth of up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.





The “heart” of the watch is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor operating at 1.2 GHz. The battery capacity is 410 mA * h (for Moto 360 - 300-320 mA * h). LG G Watch R showed a very decent working time: with a constantly on screen, they lasted two days, and with an automatic shutdown of the screen - almost three. Also, the battery lasted for 3 hours and 26 minutes of continuous play, which is one of the best results among hours on Android Wear. Full charge takes 1 hour and 40 minutes; wireless charging is not provided.



A round plastic OLED-matrix is ​​used in the screen of the watch. With a diameter of 1.3 inches and a resolution of 320x320 low pixel image is provided. Thanks to the use of OLED, it is comfortable to use the clock in bright light.



RAM is 512 MB, which is enough for work. Communication with the smartphone is supported via Bluetooth 4.0 LE at a distance of up to 20-30 meters indoors. In this case, you can use any applications to search for smartphones, a large number of them have already been written.

Unfortunately, traditionally for Android Wear, the vast majority of actions can only be performed via a smartphone. For example, on the clock you can not answer an incoming call, just reject or accept it, but at the same time you have to talk on the smartphone.



For service tasks, the watch is equipped with 4 GB memory, but it is not available to the user. Also there is no expansion slot.

Android Wear, software

Android Wear version 4.4W.2 is installed on our clock sample. It has support for GPS (useless in this case) and the ability to play music from your watch on your smartphone, transmitting information via Bluetooth.



The clock has 24 digital dials preset, you can also download dials from the Internet or create them yourself.

Given the concept of Android Wear, LG G Watch R perform, in addition to displaying time, basically the function of the notifier. They can see who is calling you, if you take a smartphone for some reason inconvenient or not possible. You can dictate a text message, set an alarm, turn on the timer, etc. But something more complicated anyway will have to do through a smartphone. Even the map on the clock is not displayed, only the arrows indicating the direction. Unfortunately, it’s also impossible to access the Internet directly from the clock, for this you need to use your smartphone as a modem. In general, the satellite device is in its pure form.



Our opinion

Compared with the LG G Watch, this model boasts the best ergonomics, design, performance, functionality and duration of work. Moreover, it is difficult to say what is more important in this case - the appearance or capacity of the battery. The target audience is men, the design is not unisex at all. You also need to remember that the clock works exclusively with Android-based smartphones. In general, this is one of the most interesting to date watches running Android Wear.

Pros:

Minuses:

The recommended retail price in the US is $ 299, and official sales in Russia will begin in mid-November.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/362549/

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