Late last night, both LG and Samsung decided to officially announce their brand new smartwatches ahead of IFA 2014. This kind of thing isn’t new, of course. Companies generally announce things before the conventions where they used to announce things all the time these days. And both companies probably have other things to show off during the event, anyway.
With each watch, we get to see the evolution of their wearable design cues. Samsung’s been in the wearables market a little bit longer than LG by now, thanks to their original Galaxy Gear devices, but when I look at LG’s new round device, I believe it’s LG that’s been listening to what some consumers actually want.
That isn’t to say that some consumers, maybe even many of them, don’t want a device like Samsung’s Gear S, which is a wearable that has its own cellular connectivity and runs Tizen, but I know I’m not one of them. And, more than that, while the Gear S looks interesting, I’m not all that enticed by it. I’m just not that big of a fan of a watch that essentially looks like a smaller version of a smartphone.
That’s why the Moto 360 stood out to me. Even if the features are exactly like that of the other Android Wear watches out there, and there are some issues in the first generation software, at least the Moto 360 catches my eye more than the launch products from LG and Samsung do.
But, LG has definitely turned things around as far as I’m concerned. The G Watch R caught my eye as soon as I saw it last night, and now the more I look at it, the more I want it. And then the features actually match the expected quality of the watch, along with its 22mm wristband (which is replaceable), and the 410mAh battery.
I’m ready to have a smartwatch wrapped around my wrist, I just haven’t been able to find anything worthwhile so far. There’s a chance that LG’s upcoming wearable could be the device to win me over, but the competition will be pretty high when it launches sometime in the fourth quarter of 2014. Not only will Motorola (probably) have their own Moto 360 out there in the wild, but reports of Apple’s own wearable coming in 2014 are now back in circulation. Without a price to attach to the G Watch R (the original G Watch still runs $229.00), that could be the only thing that keeps it out of my hands, or around my wrist.
Based on what you’ve seen and heard of LG’s G Watch R, are you looking forward to the wearable? Or are you still planning on going with Motorola’s Moto 360? Did Samsung win you over with their Gear S? Let me know!
