Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

By Jayesh Shinde | Updated Jul 22 2014
Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

First look of the LG G Watch, LG's first wearable smartwatch device, which runs on Android Wear. It comes with a dial-sized charging pod, which's attached to its base in this image.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

Flip the LG G Watch over and its underbelly reveals its charging point. The rubberized white straps are tightly fastened on either edge of the square dial of the smartwatch's face.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

The LG G Watch's rubberized strap isn't premium-looking at all – it's just old-fashioned rubber with a matte finish. Nothing home to write about here or go gaga about.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

More than its white strap, observe the LG G Watch's thickness. Officially, LG pegs it as 9.95 mm, which is just shy of 1 cm. On the hand, it didn't feel too bulky, or too thin compared to a regular digital watch, say, from Casio or any other brand.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

While the rubberised strap of the LG G Watch may look ordinary, it does a good job of fastening the smartwatch around your wrist comfortably. No complains whatsoever here.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

As for the smartwatch's dial, the LG G Watch sports a 1.65-inch IPS LCD touchscreen with 280x280 resolution. And there's no visible button or visual cue on where to press on the smartwatch face. Not very intuitive or smart design.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

Unfortunately, the LG G Watch wouldn't pair with a compatible device during our hands on at an LG demo booth, so we couldn't test it as a companion device. But here are glimpses of its interface, which is fairly simple to interpret.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

You can set an alarm using the LG G Watch – smartwatch or no, every self-respecting watch should be able to pull this simple task off.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

Clues on how to access hidden features of the LG G Watch lie inside its Settings option. For turning the watch face on or off, all you need to do is double tap. To access a feature, single tap. You can swipe left or right on its face, too.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

Inside the settings menu of the LG G Watch, you can choose to put it on Airplane Mode, Restart, Power off, among other things. 

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

The LG G Watch also comes with a built-in pedometer feature to track your footsteps. It can also let you set milestones, like walk 5 km or 10 km, etc.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

The LG G Watch's display was fluid and quick to respond during our time spent on the Android Wear smartwatch. Also, the upcoming Google OS for wearable devices looked really slick.

Preview: LG G Watch smartwatch with Android Wear

That's it for now as far as this brief look at LG G Watch goes. It's retailing at Rs.14,990, which feels a tad too steep, in the face of stiff competition from smartwatches from Sony and Samsung. Stay tuned for our in-depth review soon.