LG’s latest smartwatch is the company’s nicest looking model yet. It’s also the most expensive. The LG G Watch Urbane is now available for $349.

That’s $50 more than the launch price for the company’s last smartwatch with a round face and Google Android Wear software: the G Watch R, which you can now buy for just $249.

So why spend $100 more for the LG G Watch Urbane?

urbane

The G Watch Urbane is positioned as more of a luxury watch. It has the same guts as its predecessor (512MB of RA, 4GB of storage, a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, and a 1.3 inch, 320 x 320 pixel plastic OLED display).

But the Urbane features stainless steel construction and it comes in silver or gold colors. It comes with a replaceable stitched leather wrist band. It has a Corning Gorilla Glass scratch-resistant screen.

Like the G Watch R, the Urbane has an IP67 water resistance rating (which means it’s dust resistant and can sit in up to 3 feet of water). But unlike LG’s earlier smartwatches, the new model supports WiFi as well as Bluetooth. That means you can receive notifications over WiFi even when the watch isn’t near you smartphone.

 

So there’s at least one feature the Urbane has that its cheaper sibling does not. But $100 seems like a lot of money if all you want is an Android Wear watch that supports WiFi. In fact, you could pick up a Moto 360 for just $180 if you just want a WiFi-capable watch.

The primary reason to choose the G Watch Urbane over competitors would be its design. LG hardly seems to be the only company banking on the idea that people will spend extra money on smartwatches because of their design: Apple charges $349 for its cheapest Apple Watch, but the most expensive models cost as much as $17,000.

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12 replies on “LG G Watch Urbane smartwatch now available for $349”

  1. You know nothing fuckin author. All android wear smartwatches will get their wifi chips activated after the update

    1. Apparently you know nothing as well. LG didn’t include the antennae to actually use the WiFi chip on the snapdragon 400. So the 5.1 update does nothing for the G Watch or G Watch R

      1. I got WiFi on my watch R. Just got the wifi update today so I don’t know what you’re talking about

        1. Again, it has the WiFi chip but not the antenna. So you can’t connect to your phone when it isn’t tethered via Bluetooth. That’s what I’m talking about….

    2. Hey now, we are a pretty tight community on this site and we are strong supporter’s of Brad’s work. If you don’t like the articles, please move along. We have no use for childish name calling “know nothing fuckin author” or wild exaggerations “know nothing”. Especially from people who are, themselves, wildly misinformed. Next time, please just keep it to yourself.

  2. Man, you can have a Gold Apple watch or 94 Moto 360 and have some money left for a dinner, a movie and the ride home…

  3. Does this have a “flat tire” display or have we finally moved past that embarrassment?

    1. I don’t think so. It just might be the first round watch without a flat tire! I checked out the photos and couldn’t find anything that resembles one.

    1. It doesn’t seem so, it has a watch Dailer via lg call and u can initiate a call throw Google voice commands but they get pushed to the phone no matter what. Support may be coming in the future for Android wear devices as it is rumoured. But, it would need to have the hardware, which, unless Google is keeping it a secret like it did with the WiFi chip in android wear, doesn’t exist. Wait for Google I. O. for an announcement.

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