After teasing for a few days, LG has officially announced their round faced smartwatch competitor – the LG G Watch R. The watch will be available to view at IFA, before becoming available in Q4 later this year.
The watch will feature a 1.3″ Plastic OLED (P-OLED) display, similar technology to that used in the G Flex, with a 320×320 resolution screen, which makes full use of the circular display. LG has used this fact to take subtle shots at the Motorola Moto 360.
The internals of the LG G Watch R are similar to the original LG G Watch, which LG notes was one of the first Android Wear devices to market. The Snapdragon 400 is again back to power the watch, with 512MB RAM included and 4GB of on-board storage. There is a slight bump in battery capacity going from 400mAh in the original G Watch to 410mAh in the G Watch R. There’s even a heart rate monitor (photoplethysmography – PPG) now. The watch again comes with IP67 dust and water resistance but at this stage only comes in Black, with no White and Gold option available at this stage.
Specs
- 1.2GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon 400
- 1.3-inch P-OLED Display (320 x 320)
- 4GB eMMC / 512MB RAM
- 410mAh
- Android Wear – compatible with smartphones running Android 4.3 and above
- 9-Axis (Gyro/ Accelerometer/ Compass), Barometer, PPG
- Black
- Dust and Water Resistant (IP67)
LG has improved the utilitarian design of the original G Watch, boasting the G Watch R has a refined aesthetic with ‘classic curves’, comparing it to more traditional watches. The watch has a stainless steel frame, but LG has not advised what the casing is made from. The watch comes with a higher quality calf-skin leather strap, which will again be interchangeable with other 22mm watch bands on the market.
We hope to see the G Watch R in Australia as soon as it’s available and we’ve asked LG Australia for comment on local availability.
Update:
Some more pictures
How does the G Watch R compare to the Moto 360 in your mind?
