Mumbai: While LG's G Watch, the first Android Wear smartwatch, has been available to purchase (through Google Play Store) for Indian users for about a month now, it was early this week only when LG officially announced the launch of the smartwatch in India, alongside the LG G3 India launch. The watch, however, is priced at a whopping Rs 14,999, but the company, as part of its initial offer, is offering a discount of Rs 5,000 on the watch if it is bought with the LG G3. I strapped it on at during the LG G3 launch event and here's what it felt like.
At the LG's demo zone in the LG G3 launch event it was a facepalm moment for the South Korean tech giant. Of all the LG G Watch units kept only one appeared to be working fine. The others would just refuse to pair with the G3 phones. Finally, I managed to get my hands on a working unit from elsewhere. Here's the impression LG's first Android Wear device left on me:
1. Design: I believe a wrist watch is a reflection of someone's personality, and therefore the looks are important and there can be no compromise on this. But the LG G Watch's design is a let-down. Look-wise, it appeared to me a replica of smartwatches from Samsung and Sony, with a few pounds shed off. The watch was light in weight and comfortable to wear, but its design doesn't have in what it takes to entice a potential user. The Moto 360, another Android Wear smartwatch, appears to have a much better design.
2. Utility: Quite like other watches from the tech titans, the LG G Watch is also an extension of your smartphone that gives you control of some of your apps on your phone. To set up the watch, you need to install the Android Wear app on your phone, which is then paired with the watch via Bluetooth. The entire setup process takes long, which, however, is a one-time affair. Even though, the unit I tested was already in use for a couple of days, the experience was not favourable. The device showed erratic behaviour in understanding what I wanted it to do. While it instantly initiated a Google Maps navigation on my phone every time I instructed it, but it couldn't set up an alarm even once. Even the LG representative who was assisting me there was also puzzled. He tried every possible trick he could that it set up an alarm, but in vain. The watch also seemed to be disinterested in waking up to the "OK Google" command. Out of 10 times I said "OK Google", it responded only once.
The good thing about the watch is that it has a clean interface and simple gestures - like swipe down on the homescreen to mute notifications on your watch from one or multiple apps, change the timeface.
3. Value for money: Considering its looks, utility and erratic performance, I don't find the LG G Watch to be a value for money. At Rs 15,000 or even Rs 10,000 (its cost if bought with the LG G3), the price appears to be high for what is essentially an accessory.
Note that this is based on the little time I spent with the smartwatch and extensive use might show it in a different light and therefore this isn't our final verdict.
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