Android Wear: LG G Watch Put To The Test [Video]

Product testers Will and Norm test the new LG G Watch in this YouTube video full of information. The product reviewers discuss Google’s Android Wear platform and more. The duo showed that the LG G Watch “is basically Google Now on your wrist.” The LG G Watch is powered by Android Wear and can be used with any smart phone that uses Android 4.3 or above. Because the LG G Watch is powered by Android Wear, the user can easily request information like weather forecasts, flight times, or send a text with a simple voice command the way users have grown accustomed to doing on their mobile devices.

A Gizmodo writer also reviewed the LG G Watch and wrote:

“By way of software, the LG G-Watch runs Android Wear, which is basically a cut-down version of Google Now meant for your wrist. Notifications on your phone are neatly boxed-up and fired off to your wrist in the form of app-specific cards, which means that just about any developer can build Android Wear Cards for their apps. Google has also baked its excellent Voice Search software right into the Wear software, meaning that all you need to say is ‘OK Google’ to start ordering your phone to do stuff or to find out things from the ubiquitous search engine. If you need more info than the watch can display, you’re prompted to ‘Open On Phone’, which beams you straight to the screen you want on your respective Android device.”

LG says the G Watch will fit with any standard 22 mm watch strap. This allows the user to co-ordinate the watch with various clothing styles and outfits. In the video, one tester claims you can’t swap out the band. Users can choose from the following two color options: Black Titan or White Gold. Unlike many devices, the LG G Watch never sleeps. The G Watch features a display that is always on. LG’s G Watch features a 400 mAh battery that will keep the watch fully functional all day long on one full charge. LG also says that the LG G Watch is water resistant and dust resistant.

A ZD Net review sounded less enthusiastic about the LG G Watch:

“The LG G Watch, because it has an LCD IPS display, often gets washed out by ambient light. It also dims the display when it thinks you’re not looking at it, and uses onboard sensors to guestimate when you’ve moved your arm around to look at the display, at which point the display brightens.”

All the Google Wear devices, like the LG G Watch, are meant to be paired with an Android mobile device. It is not meant to be a stand alone device. This main downside of the LG G Watch is explained in the video, “Without pairing to an Android phone, and connecting it to the Android Wear program, there’s nothing really you can do… It’s a watch.”

[Photo via LG G Watch website]