<p><em>LG's Watch Urbane smartwatch is as close to the real thing as possible<br><br><strong>By Mala Bhargava</strong></em><br><br>When LG’s third smartwatch was first showcased, it caused quite a bit of a stir. At the time, everyone was looking for a smartwatch that didn’t have that disturbing bar at the bottom of the screen like the Moto 360. And they were looking for something ultra fashionable and not unlike the watches we used to love. On both counts, LG delivered with the Watch Urbane.<br><br>It’s ironic that having abandoned ‘real’ watches, people now look for smartwatches that are as close to the real thing as possible. The Urbane does look like a regular watch, but an expensive one. Which it is. There’s a silver steely version and a rose gold one. Unfortunately, it was the rose gold I had the luck to receive. The silver looks pretty good from all the pictures I’ve seen, but the rose gold is garish and probably something only rich guys named Pinky will take to.<br><br>All around the round face of the watch, where the glass is recessed to protect it, there’s a lot of curved stylisation to give it a classic look. There’s even a winder type knob which acts as the power button.<br><br><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/LG-Watch_RS-lrg.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 177px; margin: 4px; float: right;">Extending the classic look is a genuine leather strap with proper stitching on the edges. It is strong looking and attractive. How one appreciates the way something looks is very subjective, so I’ll leave it at that. Essentially though it looks like a man’s watch and spills off my small wrist on both sides. It’s not as heavy as it looks, but you’ll not fail to notice its presence all day and I’d be worried about bumping into something with this Rs 30,000 worth of gadgetry.<br><br>You heard me right. Rs 30,000 is a lot of money for a device that still very much belongs in the nice-to-have category and not the must-have. But well, if Apple didn’t shy away from pricing its watch at sky-high levels, why should anyone else? Or at least, one can put forward that argument, theoretically. The only problem is LG doesn’t have swooning fans like Apple does and there’s also the little point that any other Android Wear watch can do what the Urbane does. And that would be the usual stuff — Google Now alerts, counting your steps, measuring your heart rate, letting you do some of what you’d do on the phone so that you don’t have to pull it out of your pocket, etc.<br><br>It’s running the latest Android Wear which is seeing many improvements, but is most often described as being “not quite there”.<br><br>You don’t need an LG phone, specifically, to use it and though you have a microphone, you don’t have a speaker on it. When you finish connecting it to your phone, the Wi-Fi and so on, you get to choose from many watch faces, some of which go well with the Urbane’s stately look. The screen is a 1.3-inch OLED and it’s bright and has enough contrasts and crispness to be quite easy to see. It also works very smoothly though when you swipe, your fingers bump into the outer rim, which is a bit awkward. You can draw emojii’s on it to send to friends — if that’s what you think a smartwatch should be doing.<br><br>The Urbane has a wireless charger, perhaps taking a cue from Motorola’s, and the charge lasts about two days. Interestingly, the watch is water resistant at a P67 rating, which means you can dip it in water for a bit — though I wouldn’t or it would be quick goodbye to Rs 30,000. <br><br>mala.bhargava@gmail.com<br><br>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 24-08-2015)</p>
