Android Wear 2.0 and the LG Watch Sport
After having 3 other watch wearables in the past few years, I decided to try the new LG Watch Sport with Google’s new Android Wear 2.0 operating system.
With my other watches, my favorite feature was simply the notifications. I love not having to get my phone out of my pocket to see who is calling or texting me. That feature alone will keep me looking for the perfect watch.
My new watch offers many new features that some of my past watches didn’t have.
- Make and receive phone calls, even without your phone (Sim card required).
- Send and receive message, even without your phone (Sim card required).
- NFC chip for use with Android Pay.
- Built in GPS for stand alone use.
- Crown and customization buttons make it very simple to get around.
- Google Assistant built in.
- Works with Android and iPhones.
While I do love the newly redesigned interface and operating system, there are some major downsides to this particular watch when it comes to hardware.
- It’s large. I love slim watches. This is definitely not a slim watch.
- While it works with a Sim card to make calls without needing your phone, it’s not really easy to change the Sim card. I can’t remove my Sim from my phone and put it easily in the watch before I go for a jog. I need a special tool to remove the back to do it. It would work best if it had it’s own Sim card (which you’d have to pay for). *Maybe a Google Fi Sim card could be handy here.
- The band is not changeable. They’ve put part of the antennas in the watch band. For this reason, you are stuck with the band it comes with. This also makes the band a little stiff and not as comfortable as it should be.
- The battery drains quick. Near dinner time, my battery is very low. It eventually goes into battery saver mode at 15% and turns off most features including the always on screen.
Basically, I love the features and the software but don’t like the implementation as a watch. I’m hoping that in the near future, technology will improve enough to get the same features in a smaller, more comfortable watch with a battery that lasts all day.