LG G Watch R Coming This Month

If you’ve been considering the purchase of a smartwatch but are holding out for one that looks like a real timepiece rather than one of those black plastic Casio things we all had in the 80s, LG may have just what you’re looking for. The round-faced smartwatch is about to launch in Korea and should be hitting our shores very soon.

LG introduced the G Watch R back at the start of September but so far has not revealed any pertinent information about the company’s second Android Wear device. Now, thanks to ETNews, we know that the smartwatch will go on sale in Korea on October 16. According to ZDNet Korea, some retailers will offer pre-orders starting October 7.

Here in the U.S.A., we’ll have to wait a little longer to get our hands on the LG G Watch R but this is one smartwatch that just might be worth the wait. There’s a lot to like about this device, starting with the look. The LG G Watch R avoids the boxy appearance of most smartwatches and instead has a round 1.3-inch plastic P-OLED touchscreen surrounded by a metal body and attached to a calfskin leather strap. This makes the G Watch R look more like a traditional watch than one of the other wearable devices on the market now. The circular face does more than look cool, since the display comes with 360×360 pixel resolution that uses 100 percent of the watch’s face.

On the inside, the Android Wear watch packs a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 512MB of RAM plus a 410mAh battery. LG claims that the G Watch R can run for up to 30 minutes in one meter of water. The watch also has several sensors including an accelerometer, barometer, compass and nine-axis gyroscope.

So how much can you expect to pay for this smart-looking smartwatch when it finally hits stores? The tab in Korea will be about 352,000 won, which translates to approximately $330 USD. That makes the G Watch R cost about $20 less than the entry-level Apple Watch due out next year, so the price should be considered pretty competitive.

It will be interesting to see how well the LG G Watch R fares against rivals that sport the same square, plastic design we’ve been seeing on the current crop of smartwatches. A wearable device that doesn’t look like a wearable device should appeal to style-conscious customers who expect all of their accessories to reflect their superior taste. Maybe those makers of luxury timepieces that have plans to infiltrate the smartwatch market will be stealing a few ideas.