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Home / News / LG’s G Watch R revealed with first fully circular Android Wear display

LG’s G Watch R revealed with first fully circular Android Wear display

Due out in Q4, the company’s G Watch successor offers a new look but similar specs

We got a pretty solid look at the rumoured LG G Watch R in the teaser video released a few days back, but now the Korean company has officially unveiled its second Android Wear smartwatch.

Announced less than two months after the launch of the original G Watch, the G Watch R features a circular design with a 1.3in plastic OLED display running at 320×320; unlike the Moto 360, it doesn’t have part of the screen concealed, offering full use of the display.

What’s inside hasn’t changed much from the G Watch, but considering the quick turnaround for a follow-up, that’s not so surprising. Most of the specs are identical: the 1.2Ghz Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB RAM and 4GB of storage, plus Bluetooth 4.0 and IP67 water and dust resistance.

LG G Watch R

The 410mAh battery here is a slight uptick from the 400mAh one in the previous model, but that’s likely not enough to make any noticeable difference. However, the G Watch R also adds a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor for heart rate monitoring, which could make it more appealing for the fitness-minded crowd.

While the internals are mostly the same, this is clearly a much different-looking watch. Beyond the unfettered circular display, it’s also very visually distinct from the Moto 360, offering more a traditional sport watch aesthetic as opposed to Motorola’s ultra-minimal approach. It features a black stainless steel frame and a 22mm leather strap, to boot.

We’ll surely find out more next week, as the G Watch R will be shown at LG’s booth at IFA, which kicks off on 5 September in Berlin. A fourth quarter debut is planned for the watch, but no pricing details are available just yet.

[Source: LG]

READ MORE: LG G Watch review

Profile image of Andrew Hayward Andrew Hayward Freelance Writer

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.

Areas of expertise

Video games, gadgets, apps, smart home