I got my hands on the new LG Urban 2nd Edition LTE watch this weekend. Played with it for two days. Here are my brief impressions/comparisons to my Gear S:
1. Watch operations and app support. No doubt, Android Wear is 10x better than Tizen. I didn't realize that I already have so many Android apps on my phone that has watch companion apps already. This makes watch/phone interaction much more interesting. For example, start a Google Map navigation, the watch will show a small map and your next waypoint and direction. Yes, it works with driving as well. I have a hard time get Here Maps working on my Gear S (it requires frequent reboot in order to load Here maps) and it only works with walking navigation. In short, working with various Google services is what I want Android for. Unfortunately, Google will never give permission for Samsung to use its services in Tizen environment. Gear S merely works as a notification extender with virtually no capability of sync between phone and watch. I can't remember how many times I have to dismiss the notifications on my Gear S for emails I already read on the phone. On the other hand, Gear S does have its own independent app/browser so that you can browser internet without the need of phone. Also Gear S supports keyboard imports on the watch while AW does not have any keyboard imports (I read there is a 3rd party app offer that). You can only use Google voice recognition to compose replies or use pre-canned replies.
2. Battery life and most importantly battery charging: No doubt, LG wins. It has a virtually twice the battery capacity as Gear S while using the same Qualcomm chipset. The charger is a small magnetic attachment that you will never need to worry about breaking. It is also effortless to attach or detach. Too early to report the battery life but so far, it is within my expectation.
3. Look and feel: the LG has cell antenna built into the strap. So, it is quite stiff and non-replaceable. It is quite a effort to get the watch on or off my wrist compared to Gear S. The watch itself is as big as Gear S. My wife commented that my Gear S is a manly watch while the new LG watch looks girly. So take that with a grain of salt
4. Cellular features: it is the first attempt by Google to integrate cellular functions into AW. It works in most cases but not as well thought out as Samsung. I'd give edges to Gear S. For example, when connected via BT to the phone, it needs to show up as a BT headset connection in order to receive or make calls on the watch. That means your phone can't connect to BT headphone or car at the same time or you will not be able to take or make phone calls from the watch. Gear S implemented this much better. You can allow phone to connect to BT headset or car at the same time and take calls from either device. Also, by default, cellular radio is on all the time (in auto mode) to receive calls or text to the watch number. There is no option to turn it off if you connected by BT to phone already. If you want to squeeze out a little bit more battery juice by turning off cell radio like Gear S does, you will have to manually turn on or off the cell radio. There is also no auto-forwarding features like the GSM version of the Gear S does. You have to manually turn on or off conditional forwarding yourself. But AT&T promised an update in early 2016 to support ring both phone and watch at the same time using a single phone number. So, this may not be a big issue by then.
My only reason to pick up this watch is to retire my Samsung Galaxy Alpha, one of the worst Samsung phone I ever bought (other than the GS3 that can no longer properly identify battery charging level after 1 year of use) because it can't get any signal at most places where all other phones showed a few bars. No more Samsung phone for me. My old Nexus 5 works much better than this Galaxy Alpha and comes with the latest Marshmallow. This three-year old phone feels much smoother on UI than the Galaxy Alpha although the hardware on Alpha is newer and faster. The dreaded TouchWiz rears its ugly head all the time.
1. Watch operations and app support. No doubt, Android Wear is 10x better than Tizen. I didn't realize that I already have so many Android apps on my phone that has watch companion apps already. This makes watch/phone interaction much more interesting. For example, start a Google Map navigation, the watch will show a small map and your next waypoint and direction. Yes, it works with driving as well. I have a hard time get Here Maps working on my Gear S (it requires frequent reboot in order to load Here maps) and it only works with walking navigation. In short, working with various Google services is what I want Android for. Unfortunately, Google will never give permission for Samsung to use its services in Tizen environment. Gear S merely works as a notification extender with virtually no capability of sync between phone and watch. I can't remember how many times I have to dismiss the notifications on my Gear S for emails I already read on the phone. On the other hand, Gear S does have its own independent app/browser so that you can browser internet without the need of phone. Also Gear S supports keyboard imports on the watch while AW does not have any keyboard imports (I read there is a 3rd party app offer that). You can only use Google voice recognition to compose replies or use pre-canned replies.
2. Battery life and most importantly battery charging: No doubt, LG wins. It has a virtually twice the battery capacity as Gear S while using the same Qualcomm chipset. The charger is a small magnetic attachment that you will never need to worry about breaking. It is also effortless to attach or detach. Too early to report the battery life but so far, it is within my expectation.
3. Look and feel: the LG has cell antenna built into the strap. So, it is quite stiff and non-replaceable. It is quite a effort to get the watch on or off my wrist compared to Gear S. The watch itself is as big as Gear S. My wife commented that my Gear S is a manly watch while the new LG watch looks girly. So take that with a grain of salt
4. Cellular features: it is the first attempt by Google to integrate cellular functions into AW. It works in most cases but not as well thought out as Samsung. I'd give edges to Gear S. For example, when connected via BT to the phone, it needs to show up as a BT headset connection in order to receive or make calls on the watch. That means your phone can't connect to BT headphone or car at the same time or you will not be able to take or make phone calls from the watch. Gear S implemented this much better. You can allow phone to connect to BT headset or car at the same time and take calls from either device. Also, by default, cellular radio is on all the time (in auto mode) to receive calls or text to the watch number. There is no option to turn it off if you connected by BT to phone already. If you want to squeeze out a little bit more battery juice by turning off cell radio like Gear S does, you will have to manually turn on or off the cell radio. There is also no auto-forwarding features like the GSM version of the Gear S does. You have to manually turn on or off conditional forwarding yourself. But AT&T promised an update in early 2016 to support ring both phone and watch at the same time using a single phone number. So, this may not be a big issue by then.
My only reason to pick up this watch is to retire my Samsung Galaxy Alpha, one of the worst Samsung phone I ever bought (other than the GS3 that can no longer properly identify battery charging level after 1 year of use) because it can't get any signal at most places where all other phones showed a few bars. No more Samsung phone for me. My old Nexus 5 works much better than this Galaxy Alpha and comes with the latest Marshmallow. This three-year old phone feels much smoother on UI than the Galaxy Alpha although the hardware on Alpha is newer and faster. The dreaded TouchWiz rears its ugly head all the time.