LG Unveils the G Watch Urbane
The image of the smartwatch is going from geeky to stylish with LG leading the way. Last year the brand released the sporty G Watch R, which was hailed as the best-looking Android wearable on the market. Now LG has upped its game by introducing the G Watch Urbane, dubbed an “all-metal luxury smartwatch” and sophisticated enough to please the most discriminating tastes.
The G Watch Urbane is the all-metal follow-up to the G Watch R and will be available in polished gold and silver finishes for a timepiece that looks more like a piece of fine jewelry than a small smartphone strapped to your wrist. The Urbane keeps the circular face but with a slimmer case and changeable 22mm leather strap. Like the G Watch R, the Urbane has a 1.3” 320×320 P-OLED plastic touchscreen display with 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor and 410 mAH battery. It runs Google’s Android Wear OS and packs the requisite heart rate monitor.
Since Android users and iOS devotees tend to be as passionate as fans of rival football teams, the G Watch Urbane isn’t likely to woo potential buyers away from the Apple Watch coming in a few weeks but it’s sure to tempt fashion-minded customers of both sexes who have shied away from the current batch of wearable devices because of the cheap plastic cases and 80s-Radio-Shack lack of style.
But will the Urbane be classy enough to convince fanciers of fine Swiss watches to take the smartwatch plunge? Some analysts are unimpressed. Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight,, gave his opinion to CNBC: “It is a more premium looking device but luxury is a word that should be used with care. This is still playing to the mass market so I wouldn’t call it luxury yet.”
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, gave this view: “It looks like it will be targeting the Apple watch but also the traditional wrist watch makers like Swatch.”
LG won’t be revealing the prices of the G Watch Urbane until the Mobile World Congress coming to Barcelona in March but looks like this don’t come cheap. With the G Watch R going for around $300, the Urbane is sure to carry a heavier price tag.
