Officially Launched
Google & LG Launches Watch Sport & Watch Style Smartwatches with Android Wear 2.0
Finally, the day has arrived for the release of the Android Wear 2.0 OS. At the Google I/O 2016, the company announced to release the Android Wear 2.0 in the second half of 2016 but was later postponed to the first half of 2017. As expected, LG in collaboration with Google launched two smartwatches running on the all new Android Wear 2.0. The LG Watch Sport and Watch Style comes with a metallic dial sporting a circular P-OLED display. While the Watch Style comes only with a rotating power button, the Watch Sport additionally sports two buttons on either side of the power button. The Google Assistant will be available on both these smartwatches.
LG Watch Style – $249 (approx Rs. 16,700)
As the name suggests, the LG Watch Style is more focused to look stylish than offering powerful hardware. According to Google, the Watch Style is thin, light, beautiful to look at, and comfortable to wear. It will be available in Silver, Rose Gold, and Titanium color options. The user can swap the watch bands with any other 18mm band, and the company is also offering a leather and silicone bands within the package. There is no GPS, NFC, and heart rate sensor on this smartwatch. Even the LTE connectivity is also missing on the LG Watch Style. It comes with 1.2-inch display with 360 x 360 pixels resolution and offers a pixel density of 299 ppi.
It is powered by the Snapdragon Wear 2100 MSM98909W processor clocked at 1.1GHz. Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon Wear processors especially for the wearable products. It includes 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. The LG Watch Style is IP67 certified which makes it both water and dust resistant. It is backed by a 240mAh battery and supports wireless charging. Connectivity options are on this smartwatch are limited Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1. It measures 42.3 x 45.7 x 10.79 mm. The LG Watch Style is priced at $249 and will be available at Best Buy and Google Store starting from February 10th.
LG Watch Sport – Starts from $349 (approx Rs. 23,400)
Compared to LG Watch Style, the Watch Sport is bigger and powerful. It offers several options which are missing on the Watch Style. However, the only limitation is that the band is not user replaceable as the LTE connectivity relies on the Antennas that are inside the band. The LG Watch Sport is the Android Wear’s most powerful watch yet, says Google. It features GPS, a heart rate sensor, and NFC for Android Pay payments. It also supports cellular connectivity with AT&T and Verizon in the U.S. This comes only in Dark Blue or Titanium colors.
The LG Watch Sport features a slightly larger 1.38-inch display with the 480 x 480 pixels resolution and a pixel density of 348 ppi. It is powered by the same processor as on the LG Watch Style. While the 4GB of storage is same, the RAM on this smartwatch is bumped up to 768MB. It is also water and dust resistant but comes with IP68 certification. Connectivity options on the LG Watch Sport include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, and NFC for Android Pay. It measures 45.4 x 51.21 x 14.2 mm and weighs almost 90 grams. With the larger form factor, the Watch Sport also comes sports a bigger 430mAh battery.
It will be sold through Google Store, AT&T, and Verizon in the U.S. While the pricing of the LG Watch Sport depends on that particular carrier, Google Store will be selling it for $350. Both these smartwatches will be on sale starting from February 10th in the U.S and will be available in Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, UAE, and UK in the coming weeks.