LG G Watch R review: A full circle

Introduction

Smartwatches have been around for a long time now, ever so reluctantly trying to infuse the tech spirit into one of the oldest accessories in the history of the world - the time piece. But a wrist watch is meant for more than telling the time - it's also a fashion statement. And as cool as the square smartwatches may be, they can only get you so far. With that in mind, Android Wear has inspired the introduction of the first wave of round smartwatches - the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R.

LG G Watch R official photos

Unlike Motorola, LG has managed to make the display on its round smartwatch perfectly round, without the "flat tire" visual effect.

And even though there is no mechanism inside, just like a classic watch, what's on the inside matters. The G Watch R makes use of an interesting combination of parts. If they sound familiar to you, that's no coincidence. Check out what we mean below.

Key features

• 1.3" Full Circle P-OLED display, 320 x 320 pixels, 246ppi, 33mm screen diameter
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8226), quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage (3 GB user available)
• 410mAh Li-Ion battery, rated at 2 days of usage
• 46.4 x 53.6 x 9.7 mm, 62 grams, genuine leather strap, changeable
• Stainless steel casing, IP-67 certified, water-resistant for 30 minutes up to depth of 1 meter
• Android Wear with Google Now integration
• Heart rate sensor, gyro, accelerometer, compass, barometer
• Bluetooth 4.0 LE
• Vibration

Main disadvantages

• Leather band is a bit on the cheap side
• The screen is too easy to accidentally turn on
• Android Wear needs more polish, and more functionality
• No choice for casing colors

The LG G Watch R surely looks the part thanks to that stainless steel casing and the 1.3" circular P-OLED display. On top of that, the G Watch R is IP-67 certified and would laugh at the face of water and dust.

LG G Watch R in action

As you can see from the quick glimpse at the key features, the G Watch R has the innards of a mid-range smartphone. It doesn't have an earpiece though, like its main rival from the Samsung camp does, but it sports a microphone through which you ask Google Now for directions, music and whatever tickles your fancy.

Let's head over to the hardware overview of the smartwatch to inspect its prospects for becoming a timeless classic.