Life with the LG G Watch R – review

So far the worst aspect of this gadget is still the same hangup I had about it when I spent the month weighing it up against the Motorola Moto 360. The name is frankly appalling. Yes, I get that LG are now well embedded as the Android Wear watchmaker, but would someone please take a cattleprod to the marketing department?

In comparison with the Moto 360, the only other Android Wear device with a round screen, the LG G Watch R excels with its fully viewable face and far better battery life.

Currently a full days use leaves me with no less than 75% charge every night, although I adjusted the brightness down to around 60% and I let it turn the screen off when not in use. Can’t see the point of having it lit up when under my sleeve!

Anyways. The main point of the LG; it’s fun!

From sitting on a bus designing watch faces and seeing the LG G Watch R change on the fly, or playing one of few games already out on Android Wear.

As Android sees the current roll out of v5 “Lollipop”, more and more of the popular apps are supporting Android Wear.

For instance you’re not just getting a notification that you have a gmail, you can do more and more.

Customisation

As I have already mentioned, designing watch faces is one of the great things about the LG G Watch R.

If you have played Grand Theft Auto then you may be familiar with the Kronos brand of timepieces.

In GTA IV and V there are adverts for the Kronos Gigante and from these I was inspired to build my own Gigante-style watch face.

I think it has come out pretty well.

Apps

The app that stands out the most currently is tinycamMonitor which happily streams your webcam or a random selection of the thousands of public webcams straight to your wrist.

Dick Tracey’s watch has become real before Marty McFly’s hoverboard and self-fastening boots has hit the shelves.

Android Wear

The most impressive point is still Android Wear itself.

I may have one of the earliest versions of the OS on my arm, (v4.4W2 currently), but its doing so much transparently that the experience is a joy.

On a long bus journey on the 3rd day of use, my Bluetooth headphones ran out of charge so I swapped them out for an old pair of wired headphones and plugged them into my Samsung Note II. I choose a different album to listen to on the phone’s Google Play app. A few minutes later I noticed the LG had happily accepted the local version of Play wasn’t playing the music files on the watch but was now handling the content from the phone seamlessly.

Conclusion

Now that is the future. Tech that simply works.

Editor’s note

Firstly, a quick thank you to my friend Roy for writing up his impressions of living with the LG G Watch R.

It’s great to see fairly new technology actually work and, with my initial impressions of the G Watch R when I met it in real life whilst at IFA this year, this would be my choice of smartwatch if I decided to take the plunge.

Have any other GadgetyNews readers bought the LG G Watch R, or any of the new smartwatches? What are your thoughts? Have you designed your own watch face?

Let me know below or on the GN Facebook page.