LG G Watch R: a mini-review

LG G Watch R is not the newest model, but it means that its price is dropping and it is becoming more and more accessible. Is it worth buying it?

LG G Watch R is one of the few smartwatches with the classic style that resembles normal watches. The device can be likeable. It has a simple, metal watchcase in a classic black colour. The bezel surrounding the round display is cut downside, which gives the device a sport-like looks. The leather strap looks great – at the top it is black and a bit brighter on the inside. It is made from a real leather finished with a metal buckle.

The strap has a few holes that allow adjusting the proper size and is attached in a standard way. The strap does not have any electronics in it so we can easily replace it with another – it is even easier because the attachment has a standard size. The watchcase is not as slim as in elegant, mechanical watches, but for a smartwatch – I consider it as a compact one. Still, the size and looks of the watch are manly-like. On a small, feminine hand it would look rather grotesque.

On the right side of the watchcase we have a large, comfortable button. Pressing it will wake the display of the watch, and holding it a while longer will trigger the menu. Besides this button the watchcase does not have any other elements – besides the microphone’s hole located near the attachment of the strap. The microphone is used to control the watch using voice commands. The lower part of the housing is made of plastic, with a heart-rate meter in its centre. It is held with four screws so replacing the battery should not be too complicated.

At the bottom of the watch we can find five connectors used to communicate with the charger. It looks like a flat plate connected with a standard USB cable to the charger or a computer. The watch is held in place firmly thanks to magnets. The quality of the construction of the device is really good, just like the durability of the glass. But we cannot say the same thing about the watchcase. Its black varnish can be easily scratched on edges – which can be clearly seen in photos.

LG G Watch R has a 1.3-inch round display in the Polymer-OLED technology. It has a 320x320 pixels resolution which is more than enough; it offers a great contrast and a perfect black level. I must admit that the display is one of the greatest advantages of LG’s smartwatch. Its six-step brightness regulation is created in such a way to ensure readability in almost every condition, but just in case they added the possibility to enhance the brightness – the Sunlight mode.

In the stand-by mode the display can remain dimmed but we can switch it into the Always-On mode – information will be displayed all the time but in a simplified, power-saving version. We can turn the display on by tapping it, pressing the button or just by lifting our hand. I must admit that waking the watch using the movement works perfectly. The watch has a “movie” mode in which waking up the display is possible only by pressing the button. Unfortunately it is too easy to press it by accident, for example while resting our hands on a table…

I did not mention whether G Watch R is waterproof… Yes, it is, it fulfils the IP67 requirements. So we can go under a shower with it or jump to a shallow pool. I would not recommend diving with it.

LG G Watch R works under the system created for watches – that is Android Wear. The interface is simple – it is based mostly on gestures and voice commands. Navigating through menu is really easy. Swiping the finger from the bottom to the upper part will show us notifications. In order to see details for any of them and for example open them on the phone – we just need to swipe a finger to the left. We can set from the phone level which apps will show notifications on the watch. In order to discard the notification – we swipe it to the right.

The gesture of swiping from the upper to the lower part will move us to a shortened menu in which we can check the battery level, mute notifications, turn on the movie or daytime mode and go to the main menu of settings. There are not too many of them – the brightness, the Bluetooth connectivity, the airplane mode and so on… Swiping a finger to the right will bring us to the previous display.

If after waking up the display we will tap it again we will see apps’ menu. As a standard we will find in it a pedometer, a heart-rate meter, a tasks list, a time, a stopper and alarms. Other apps can be chosen from the Google store. In the watch we have a voice-controlled browser. We can send texts, set a remainder and do many other things.

Unfortunately, LG G Watch R is a rather simple device, so it will not work without a smartphone. The watch connects with the phone via Bluetooth. In order to activate G Watch R we must download the Android Wear app to our phone. After pairing devices we will gain a full access to manage the watch from the phone’s level.

Through the phone we download and install apps on the watch, LG G Watch R sends information about the heart-rate or from the pedometer to the Google Fit app on the phone… The smartwatch can use data coming from the GPS module in the phone; it allows to receive calls without touching the phone… From the level of the watch we can control some apps on the phone – like the music player.

The app prepared by Google is as simple as Android Wear. The only complicated thing is to make screenshots from the watch. Fortunately a regular user does not have to use this option too often. He or she will probably want to change the clock face more likely. And we have tons of them to choose from – from classic and simple, to complex, modern or stylish.

And if by any means we will not find any for ourselves – we can download one of many apps to create our own – which I did rather often ;) I will add that the preinstalled set had more subdued, classic propositions – and lovers of more modern ones must work a bit… There will be no shortage of memory – the watch has 4 GB of space. I must add that the LG watch is compatible with most of android phones – it works without any problems with, for example, Samsung Galaxy Note...

Thanks to a quad-core Snapdragon 400 1.2GHz CPU and 512MB of memory, the simple interface of LG G Watch R works perfectly. In comparison to other cheap smartphones, there are no lags and everything is smooth and data transfer between the watch and the phone is almost instant. You can really like this. The battery is pleasant as well. The LG watch works from morning till evening without any problems and charging the battery takes an hour and a half tops. I agree – there are better ones – but it is not bad either.

To sum up – the LG watch made a positive impression on me… but I would not buy it. I cannot force myself to read texts and use apps on a round display. After testing the most popular smartwatches on the market I have found my favourites and I will stick with my choice. If I had to choose and advanced smartwatch with wide capabilities I would choose Samsung Gear S.

We do not need to charge it every day either, it allows to fully use phone’s communication, it can work without a smartphone, and it has a large display that offers a fairly comfortable usage of the interface. Provided that we have a compatible phone from the same company of course :/ it is more expensive than LG’s product, but spending around 250 euros this few additional euros does not matter. If I had to choose a smartwatch considering its price – I would choose Goclever Chronos Eco. It offers basic functions, it does not have to be charged that often but, unfortunately, it looks rather “coarse”.

But if you cannot deal with the “gadget” looks of most intelligent watches and you are looking for a solid position with a classic looks and housing resembling a typical watch, which at the same time offers a wide communication with a phone – choose LG G Watch R. It looks as good as the watch from Motorola, and it beats it with a great display with a perfect contrast and a beautiful colours pallet. And what is more – a bit subjectively – it seems a bit faster in work and charging. And if its price will drop a bit lower than the current one (around 250 euros) it will become a great proposition for the lovers of a round face.