So I picked up the new version just released and have been tinkering g with it for about 12 hours. Here are my initial thoughts.
Looks. The watch is large on the wrist and thick, but beautiful. I have smaller wrists and it doesn't look bad. I am concerned that it might not fit under the cuff of a dress shirt.
Hardware. The watch is well made and the casing is metal. The watch is only IP67 vs the Gear S2 3g, which is IP68, so don't go jumping into the water with this. The screen is very good, but there is no auto brightness which will be annoying. The buttons cannot be reassigned as of right now so you're stuck with contacts, home, and LG health (top to bottom respectively).
Software. This is android 6.0.1. If you bought this it's for the ability to wear the watch as a standalone and leave your phone at home. So far, this watch proves closer to being able to do that than the Gear S2 3g. Here's why.. first off, the Android wear "ok google" is way better than s voice on the Gear S2. You can ask just about any question and it will give you an answer, albeit an abbreviated one if you ask technical questions. However to leave your phone at home you basically want to be able to get/make calls, texts, emails, and also ask for hours, numbers and directions of businesses. The Urbane appears to do all of this just fine with one caveat - it doesn't always connect to the server. On about one of every three attempts of asking Google to do something, you'll just see the spinning Google circle and it will then say retrying and ultimately say cannot connect or disconnected. Again this only happens on standalone cellular mode and intermittently.
GPS. I wanted to comment on this because of how important this is. It works by golly. The watch GPS on the Gear S2 is terrible, but it appears to be working on the Urbane so long as you are outdoors. Remember GPS is powered by satellites, so being outdoors really helps with your position being detected. So in standalone mode, you'll want to be outside, but it will locate you if you are.
Phone calls. The watch works well for making and taking calls. The built in speaker is plenty loud enough and the other person can hear me ok. Keep in mind you need to be in a fairly quiet location to have an enjoyable experience here.
Battery life. I'm still testing this out but so far so good when you keep in mind these are watches and have small batteries. Having said this, the Urbane has a 570 mAh battery vs the Gear S2 with only 300mAh. The Urbane and android wear consume more battery however. Specs say you'll get 24 hours (on Bluetooth connected), but don't plan on that with standalone cellular. I'm testing that today and so far I'm on part for maybe reaching 8 hours with light to moderate use. Meh, still not great but about the same as the Gear s2.
Early verdict. If google and LG can fix the intermittent issues with the "ok google" not connecting to the server in standalone mode then this watch would get a solid recommend from me. The goal is to leave the phone at home and feel confident that your Urbane can make/take calls, texts, emails, lookup businesses, movie times, find directions, navigate and answer basic questions. With the few hiccups of this not connecting despite showing solid network reception has me giving this watch a lukewarm reception. I'll have to play a bit more before I decide whether to keep or return it.
I'm happy to answer questions. Good luck!
Posted via the Android Central App
Looks. The watch is large on the wrist and thick, but beautiful. I have smaller wrists and it doesn't look bad. I am concerned that it might not fit under the cuff of a dress shirt.
Hardware. The watch is well made and the casing is metal. The watch is only IP67 vs the Gear S2 3g, which is IP68, so don't go jumping into the water with this. The screen is very good, but there is no auto brightness which will be annoying. The buttons cannot be reassigned as of right now so you're stuck with contacts, home, and LG health (top to bottom respectively).
Software. This is android 6.0.1. If you bought this it's for the ability to wear the watch as a standalone and leave your phone at home. So far, this watch proves closer to being able to do that than the Gear S2 3g. Here's why.. first off, the Android wear "ok google" is way better than s voice on the Gear S2. You can ask just about any question and it will give you an answer, albeit an abbreviated one if you ask technical questions. However to leave your phone at home you basically want to be able to get/make calls, texts, emails, and also ask for hours, numbers and directions of businesses. The Urbane appears to do all of this just fine with one caveat - it doesn't always connect to the server. On about one of every three attempts of asking Google to do something, you'll just see the spinning Google circle and it will then say retrying and ultimately say cannot connect or disconnected. Again this only happens on standalone cellular mode and intermittently.
GPS. I wanted to comment on this because of how important this is. It works by golly. The watch GPS on the Gear S2 is terrible, but it appears to be working on the Urbane so long as you are outdoors. Remember GPS is powered by satellites, so being outdoors really helps with your position being detected. So in standalone mode, you'll want to be outside, but it will locate you if you are.
Phone calls. The watch works well for making and taking calls. The built in speaker is plenty loud enough and the other person can hear me ok. Keep in mind you need to be in a fairly quiet location to have an enjoyable experience here.
Battery life. I'm still testing this out but so far so good when you keep in mind these are watches and have small batteries. Having said this, the Urbane has a 570 mAh battery vs the Gear S2 with only 300mAh. The Urbane and android wear consume more battery however. Specs say you'll get 24 hours (on Bluetooth connected), but don't plan on that with standalone cellular. I'm testing that today and so far I'm on part for maybe reaching 8 hours with light to moderate use. Meh, still not great but about the same as the Gear s2.
Early verdict. If google and LG can fix the intermittent issues with the "ok google" not connecting to the server in standalone mode then this watch would get a solid recommend from me. The goal is to leave the phone at home and feel confident that your Urbane can make/take calls, texts, emails, lookup businesses, movie times, find directions, navigate and answer basic questions. With the few hiccups of this not connecting despite showing solid network reception has me giving this watch a lukewarm reception. I'll have to play a bit more before I decide whether to keep or return it.
I'm happy to answer questions. Good luck!
Posted via the Android Central App
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