Smartwatches haven’t caught on as smart bands have. That is expected to change however as Apple readies its Watch for a commercial launch soon. Android Wear smartwatches in particular, haven’t faired well with just 720,000 thousand out of a total of 4.6 million being shipped in 2014. That would sound like a harsh judgement for a platform that was only launched in mid 2014 and devices shipped throughout the second half of the year but it is what it is: if Wear had really caught on like the Pebble craze, we would’ve seen numbers swell. Not be deterred by that, LG is placing a huge bet on Android Wear this year with a new smartwatch, the G Watch Urbane. The Urbane becomes LG’s third smartwatch coming after the LG G Watch which was one of the three premier Android Wear smartwatches (alongside Samsung’s Gear Live and Motorola’s stylis and popularh Moto 360) and the G Watch R, the first circular smartwatch with a P-OLED display.
The G Watch Urbane is new in styling and design but spec-wise, it builds on what the G Watch R brought to the market late last year.
Whereas the G Watch R has a wider bezel with notations for a more sporty look, the G Watch Urbane ditches those for a plain look with narrower bezels and fine polish to make it more of a fashion accessory than just another device on your wrist. Also, it has an all-metal and with this LG is not going after just the sporty, it is after the urban/cosmopolitan (hence the name) user who has a strong sense of style. That sounds much like the same script Apple is reading from and is likely to follow with its Watch. To simplify things, think of the Urbane as the metal version of the Watch R as everything on the inside is basically the same.
Here are specifications of the device:
- Size: 45.5 x 52.2 x 10.9mm
- Display: 1.3-inch P-OLED Display (320 x 320, 245ppi)
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 clocked at 1.2 GHz
- Memory: Internal storage: 4GB / RAM: 512MB
- Battery: 410mAh
- Other: IP67 certified i.e. dust and water resistant
The G Watch Urbane will be available in gold and silver colours at a yet to be announced price. LG will give us more details of the watch at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in a week’s time.
