the really round smart health connected watch

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 The LG G Watch R comes just a few months after the manufacturer's first G Watch, which had struggled to convince us. Building on a much more attractive design and after some improvements to Android Wear, are we finally in the presence of a really successful smart health connected watch? Possible!

It looks like a watch! (/ Anchor)

The first livery of Android Wear watches looked more like not very beautiful mini smartphones mounted on a bracelet. Motorola has raised the bar significantly higher with its elegant Moto 360 with a "circular" screen and noble materials (metal, leather, glass).

The G Watch R makes the same bet: to offer a smart health connected watch that looks like a “real” watch, but rather than opting for Motorola's minimalism, LG plays it “beautiful watch for men”, Omega style. Is it successful? Opinions differ: in a few days, we heard everything, from "class" to "awful". Beyond these subjective considerations, we can at least say that it seems well suited to its geeky and masculine target, and that the metal case is very well finished, even if certain details are perplexing: did we really need to engrave the minutes on the strapping around the screen?

Like Motorola, LG opts for a leather strap, a laudable intention, but not entirely satisfactory. Besides the fact that the material poses sealing problems (while the G Watch R is IP67 certified), the leather is more rigid than that of the Moto 360 (which was manufactured by the company Horween) and a little too much to our taste, which makes closing the bracelet around the wrist a little painful. Fortunately, in all cases, interchangeability is essential!

The underside of the watch is made of matt plastic and houses a heart rate sensor and the contacts allowing it to be smart health connected to its charger. It is less classy, ​​but also significantly less bulky than the induction base of the Moto 360.

A really round screen and effective components (/ anchor)

The circular screen in the center of the G Watch R is an argument that LG was able to take advantage of during the presentation of the G Watch R: unlike that of the Moto 360, it is not planed on the lower part. This compromise, necessary to favor the finesse of the border, has earned the Motorola watch nicknames such as "Moto 270", and if the interface did not suffer too much in practice, there is still quite frankly ironically on certain facades where the figures are truncated, and where the second hand temporarily disappears from the surface.

LG gets around the problem, but must sacrifice on the size of the screen: while the case is not much larger than that of the Moto 360, it is surrounded by an imposing strapping. Exit the "almost borderless", but that leaves room for electronics.

The screen is certainly smaller, but its resolution is finer. On the technology side, LG opted for a P-OLED panel, which we had already seen on its G Flex. The main benefit is the same as for Samsung's Super AMOLED screens: blacks are perfectly black, and above all, consume nothing. And it is particularly useful in the “screen saver” mode which permanently displays the hands or the time on a dark background. The lighting is correct, but still poses a problem in direct sunlight, and we regret the absence of an ambient light sensor: as on the first G Watch. That said, on the Moto 360, it was not the most efficient.

The rest of the data sheet is just as relevant. LG opted for a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 processor. It may seem a lot for a small watch, but it guarantees a good fluidity of the system, where Motorola in particular encountered numerous jerks (more or less attenuated since). And this choice is compensated by a battery of 410 mAh which allows to ensure an autonomy above the average.

In use: the best under Android Wear? (/ Anchor)

Since the release of the first Android Wear watches, we have seen the Google system become more refined as new models arrive. Let's be clear: Wear is still quite limited in its uses which have not changed much: display of notifications from the phone and certain Google Now maps, remote GPS navigation on the screen, control of the multimedia player, and dictation / control voice.

A first major update, however, refined the system, correcting some faults. The multimedia controls are now brought together on a single screen and, yes, we can finally adjust the volume! Incidentally, the Google Play Music application can store a few songs on the internal space, and the G Watch R, like all Wear watches, has 4 GB.

The Wear interface does not move: it is simple provided you understand the principle, based on vertical and horizontal swipes of cards, a concept not necessarily easy to master at first. We appreciate in any case its fluidity on the G Watch R, and again the elegance of the circular display. LG has forced on the alternative facades: everyone should find their account even if some are frankly kitsch.

In all cases, they have a screen saver mode that leaves only the hands or the numbers visible: no need to turn your wrist to see the time. For those who absolutely want to save their battery, the accelerometer that activates the display is quite responsive.

The other crucial point is the voice control, and during our tests in fairly noisy environments, we found the microphone effective enough to say commands or dictate messages. In fact most of the time, the problem will come mainly from the window short enough to speak before the voice control module deactivates.

The fitness features are a little more gimmicky: the heart rate sensor does what it can, and at least seems quite stable, like that of the Moto 360. LG does not offer a dedicated app, unlike Motorola, but the Runkeeper and other Runtastic already have Wear compatible apps.

One point, moreover, on apps: we are still far from a platform full of essentials, but newcomers regularly appear. Microsoft recently ported OneNote, for example, which allows you to use voice control "New note" with the smartphone app, for users who prefer the solution made in Redmond to Evernote or Google Keep.

Autonomy: a good surprise (/ anchor)

The first LG G Watch was already distinguished by a significantly greater autonomy than what we had tested opposite. Meanwhile, Motorola has significantly improved the endurance of its Moto 360, but the G Watch R seems a cut above the rest. We stay very far of the autonomy of a classic watch, but it is easy to reach the day and a half, even the 2 days without recharging, while the Moto 360 remains more unpredictable. As for smartphones, we know that we must mourn the puncture-proof watches: 2 days, it may still seem too little, but it is starting to no longer be penalizing.

Our opinion (/ anchor)

The LG G Watch R provides further proof of the very fast pace of the evolution of smart health connected watches. In a few months, the Android Wear ecosystem went from sloppy models to products like the Watch R or the Moto 360 still far from perfect, but much more convincing.

The greatest effort made concerns energy consumption by adapting the screen / SoC / battery tandem. The choice of P-OLED for the screen is particularly wise and allows to consider a use without daily recharging: we are far from the autonomy of our dreams, but it becomes good.

The design of the watch may divide, but we must salute LG for daring this time to market something other than a large rectangle flanked by a rubber strap. There remains the interest of the product category in general which remains to be cleared. Failing to make it essential, the G Watch R is with the Moto 360 the most attractive smart health connected watch that we have seen so far, and is progressing on key points which we sometimes found unacceptable on previous models.

Moto 360 : find cheap offers on our price comparison!

LG G Watch R

+ Good finish

+ fluid and responsive interface

+ Readable screen … And really round!

+ Autonomy in clear progress

– Design: we love or we hate!

– No light sensor

– Too rigid leather strap

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