LG Watch Urbane Strikes Balance Between Fashion, Functionality

by Don Reisinger

The LG Watch Urbane takes its design cues from one of the more interesting Android Wear-based smartwatches on the market, Motorola’s Moto 360. In other words, the LG Watch Urbane has a round screen, rather than the standard rectangular screen found in many other smartwatches, like the Apple Watch. It’s a smart move on LG’s part to differentiate its product from the market leader.

LG has gone to great lengths to make the Watch Urbane look like a typical wrist watch. From its round screen to the display that looks like a Swiss watch to the attached wristband, one would be shocked, prior to further inspection, just how watch-like the smartwatch is. Other devices are tech gadgets that double as watches. The Watch Urbane is quite the opposite.

The Watch Urbane comes with a 22mm wristband, which is rather small compared to others, like Apple Watch that has bigger 42mm bands. However, LG makes the wristbands detachable, allowing customers to swap out a leather option for a snakeskin-like alternative. Such a move creates more diversity in style and design.

Speaking of the round screen, LG has decided to go with OLED technology. At a recent press conference, LG Display, a subsidiary of LG, said that it’s investing heavily in OLED technology and showed off a TV screen that’s less than 1mm thick. That kind of design flexibility makes it perfect for smartwatches since the screens are impossibly thin and require no backlighting. The result is an attractive 1.3-inch OLED in the Watch Urbane with accurate color display.

LG doesn’t focus a lot of attention on the Watch Urbane’s battery life. While the company says that it will last all day, it does note that it must be charged overnight. So those looking for something with the battery-life of the Pebble Time, which can run considerably longer on a single charge, might wish the Watch Urbane could hold up a bit longer on a single charge.

The Watch Urbane comes with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. What that means is the watch should be able to handle most applications available through the Google Play store. In addition, the on-board storage will allow for some data to be kept on the smartwatch, making it useful even when users are away from their smartphones. That’s an important component in determining what smartwatch to buy.

Internally, the Watch Urbane holds up quite well. The device has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, which is ample power for most smartwatches. In addition, it has a nine-axis sensor to track movement and supports Bluetooth 4.1.

Google recently announced the latest Android Wear operating system update, which enables always-on apps, a new app launcher, the ability to draw emojis and full support for WiFi connectivity. The Watch Urbane is one of only a handful of Android Wear devices that support the new update, making it attractive to those who want the latest features.

Although the Watch Urbane has been pitched as a fashion smartwatch, the device can also double as a fitness tracker. Watch LG is able to track the wearer’s movements and a range of health data. The device’s health-tracking capabilities can be extended by adding Android Wear health apps.

The LG Watch Urbane is available for $349 at several retail outlets, including Amazon and others. That price is comparable at the low end to other smartwatches on the market. The Apple Watch, for instance, starts at $349 for the Sport model but goes up to several thousand dollars for higher-end models. By setting a standard starting price of $349 for the Urbane, LG is offering a high-quality device at an affordable price.