Well, as promised here is my review of my week with the new LG Android Wear watch.
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| First contact |
Google tries to unravel the bustling market of smart watches with their Android Wear platform, announced a few months ago and presented late June during their big show that is Google IO. At launch they presented two watches, one of LG and another of Samsung. For my part I had the chance to test the LG model. Besides the price difference of 50$ cheaper for the Samsung, the two watches offer much the same experience. Technically the two watches are substantially identical, using an ARM processor, equivalent to what was offered on a smartphone two years ago like the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 4S. Besides the processor, the two watches have a the touch screens of the same size and have a gyro, accelerometer, compass and water resistance IP67, the Samsung model additionally offers a heart monitor.
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| Charging station |
Enough technical details and here is my one-week trip with the LG Android Wear Watch. I must thanks a coworker disappointed with this product for the chance to live this experience. So he introduced me to this object as he was, that is to say with only the hardware and no guide! So I am left with the watch, charger and cradle. Ok no problem, I am a computer engineer with years of experience behind my glasses ;) I should have no trouble with this product without button with just a touch screen and voice commands. First challenge, connect it to my Nexus 5 ... after 10 minutes of searching the menus the only remaining option was to try the full reset! What followed was quite simple with a nice little tutorial for the Bluetooth link and downloading a Google apps on the store. I am now in relation to this beautiful thing. My first impression, it is comfortable, the screen is nice and responsive to my fingers.
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| Outside |
During this week I worked, traveled to Bizard Island Park, at Saint-Hubert and do a nice rollerskating ride with my 3 year old nephew to the parc de la cite. At the office the watch is quite handy to see all my emails, texto or calls and easily sort those with a glance. In terms of driving, it is easy enough to say "OK Google, drive me home" to transform the watch into a GPS. Voice commands works most of the time and can be used to send email, SMS, start alarms or even start the music on my phone. Although I loved my experience there are certain points that are less good. First the price of 250$ makes this limited gadget, a bit expensive. Then the LCD screen is almost invisible outside. In addition, the only way to recharge, but also to start the watch, is the charging station, so that if like me you forget it at your office and the watch is dead, then it will remains closed overnight : (
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| Alternate watch face |
In short I enjoyed my experience, but not enough to buy me one ... yet ;) I enjoyed the "Geek coolness " and the looks it brings. I also enjoyed the different faces, easy to wash bracelet and the waterproof feature. In addition, it made me discover more "Go Google" voice commands and I really found this helpful to respond to SMS from my sister, to see if everything was okay when I was in the parc de la cite watching my nephew :) The GPS navigation is much less invasive when driving and handy when you get lost because of works on the road around the Bizard island. I also surprised myself trying to beat my daily number of steps with the built-in pedometer. In short a nice gadget for those who loves the latest technology toy.
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