LG Watch Urbane

kdarling · May 17, 2015

Lloydbm41 said:
That said, metal bands (especially the Milanese Loop/chainmail style is extremely good looking.) There are a ton of them on Amazon for relatively cheap (standard 22mm connector) and in just about every color.

Heh. I've bought a lot of cheap watchbands from Hong Kong via eBay lately. Milanese and link, both in silver and black.

Also, besides getting a simply watch repair kit from Amazon to do bracelet links as we've all mentioned before, I also bought this cheap set of watch pins... it's worth it even if you only need the 22mm spares:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A34M4DY

As for leather bands, I've had great success using this guy in Brooklyn. He ships immediately, the bands are good quality, and even include pins!

http://stores.ebay.com/watchpro718/_i.html?_nkw=22mm&submit=Search&_sid=1216968060

(I've bought black/brown leather bands for my LG and Martians from him, with white/red stitching, etc.)

Rogifan · May 19, 2015

On MacBreak Weekly Leo Laporte said his wife won't let him wear the Urbane because it's too ugly.

He was wearing the SS Apple Watch with milanese loop. Is the Urbane really that ugly IRL? I could never wear it as it would be way too big for my wrist.

Lloydbm41 · May 19, 2015

kdarling said:
Heh. I've bought a lot of cheap watchbands from Hong Kong via eBay lately. Milanese and link, both in silver and black.

Also, besides getting a simply watch repair kit from Amazon to do bracelet links as we've all mentioned before, I also bought this cheap set of watch pins... it's worth it even if you only need the 22mm spares:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A34M4DY

As for leather bands, I've had great success using this guy in Brooklyn. He ships immediately, the bands are good quality, and even include pins!

http://stores.ebay.com/watchpro718/_i.html?_nkw=22mm&submit=Search&_sid=1216968060

(I've bought black/brown leather bands for my LG and Martians from him, with white/red stitching, etc.)

Gracias! Leather band page is saved for future purchases.

tbayrgs · May 19, 2015

Rogifan said:
On MacBreak Weekly Leo Laporte said his wife won't let him wear the Urbane because it's too ugly. He was wearing the SS Apple Watch with milanese loop. Is the Urbane really that ugly IRL? I could never wear it as it would be way too big for my wrist.

It's no bigger than some large regular watches--really just comes down to a matter of preference. I have a couple of Fossil watches that I used to wear that were at least as big as the Urbane and I have pretty small wrists.

I also heard Laporte voicing his displeasure with the Urbane's style but he also had the faux 'gold' and said that color isn't very nice, said it wasn't true gold color, was almost trying to mimic rose gold but was failing at that as well. And before anyone chimes in accusing Laporte of having an Apple bias--he's been using an Apple Watch as well and really hasn't been impressed with it at all. He'd actually been using a Moto 360 prior and has stated that was his favorite smart watch to date.

I find it the most attractive of the current crop of smart watches but it also 'feels big'. I've been wearing both it and the Apple Watch around the house (yup, wearing a watch on each arm

) and it's far more noticeable on the wrist, though I attribute it more to the watch band than the size and weight of the watch case itself--I'll try to explain. The stock leather band is very stiff so in order to have the watch case rest on the wrist, it has to be worn tighter else the stiffness of the band has it 'float' above the wrist. Consequently you're constantly aware of the watch on your wrist because it's just not that comfortable.

I'm still trying to get acclimated to Android Wear so I'll spend a few more days really diving into it before providing a more detailed review of my impressions. I'm liking it for the most part but there are some elements of Android Wear that are less than stellar. More time and usage will determine if I end up keeping it.

Rogifan · May 20, 2015

tbayrgs said:
It's no bigger than some large regular watches--really just comes down to a matter of preference. I have a couple of Fossil watches that I used to wear that were at least as big as the Urbane and I have pretty small wrists.

I also heard Laporte voicing his displeasure with the Urbane's style but he also had the faux 'gold' and said that color isn't very nice, said it wasn't true gold color, was almost trying to mimic rose gold but was failing at that as well. And before anyone chimes in accusing Laporte of having an Apple bias--he's been using an Apple Watch as well and really hasn't been impressed with it at all. He'd actually been using a Moto 360 prior and has stated that was his favorite smart watch to date.

I find it the most attractive of the current crop of smart watches but it also 'feels big'. I've been wearing both it and the Apple Watch around the house (yup, wearing a watch on each arm ) and it's far more noticeable on the wrist, though I attribute it more to the watch band than the size and weight of the watch case itself--I'll try to explain. The stock leather band is very stiff so in order to have the watch case rest on the wrist, it has to be worn tighter else the stiffness of the band has it 'float' above the wrist. Consequently you're constantly aware of the watch on your wrist because it's just not that comfortable.

I'm still trying to get acclimated to Android Wear so I'll spend a few more days really diving into it before providing a more detailed review of my impressions. I'm liking it for the most part but there are some elements of Android Wear that are less than stellar. More time and usage will determine if I end up keeping it.

Yeah that's why I asked because I know Laporte isn't someone in the tank for Apple. I personally think the Urbane would look better if it had a bit more curvature to it so it didn't stick out so much on the wrist. Also I think anything other than a faux analog watch face sticks out like a sore thumb. It's why I'm kind of glad Apple went rounded rec and put their "traditional" watch focus on the bands instead.

JaySoul · May 20, 2015

Rogifan said:
On MacBreak Weekly Leo Laporte said his wife won't let him wear the Urbane because it's too ugly. He was wearing the SS Apple Watch with milanese loop. Is the Urbane really that ugly IRL? I could never wear it as it would be way too big for my wrist.

It's not that ugly at all BUT it isn't super refined.

It's easy to forget that smartwatches are really in their infancy, it will take a couple of years for them to hit their stride in every respect.

kdarling · May 20, 2015

Rogifan said:
Also I think anything other than a faux analog watch face sticks out like a sore thumb.

I agree that the Urbane design might look better with traditional faces than some other watches, but that doesn't mean it looks bad with others.

After all, that's part of smartwatch appeal at times. Using something like an animated Mickey face, that sticks out. Or an astronomy face, or anything that's not traditional analog.

OTOH, the Moto 360 has a very style-agnostic display frame, capable of looking good with anything from traditional to radically modern watchfaces.

It's why I'm kind of glad Apple went rounded rec and put their "traditional" watch focus on the bands instead.

Ha

My friend...

If / when Apple brings out a round watch option, I'd bet that 90% of people will switch over to that style... just like they do with real watches, and just like apparently happened with Android Wear at the end of last year.

Round looks more like jewelry, and less like a miniature iPhone on the wrist.

deckard666 · May 21, 2015

Not a great review and it does look big
http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/133951-lg-watch-urbane-review-all-that-glitters-is-not-rose-gold

Fanaticalism · May 21, 2015

deckard666 said:
Not a great review and it does look big
http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/133951-lg-watch-urbane-review-all-that-glitters-is-not-rose-gold

Jesus, that has to be the worst site I've ever visited. The ads were so bad I couldn't scroll down to read the article because it kept hopping all over the place to reload a new ad every 5 seconds.

Rogifan · Aug 31, 2015

LG just announced a 23-karat gold plated version for $1200.

One thing I am curious about...if someone isn't wearing a watch on their wrist one could presume they don't really care about traditional watches from a design/fashion standpoint because if they did they'd be wearing one. So I'm curious why some of these Android OEMs are going so hard in that direction? Are they trying to court people that do wear watches? Are they thinking the only way someone will put this on their wrist is if it looks exactly like a traditional watch? And if someone is currently wearing a higher-end traditional watch would they swap it out for something like this?

vikingjunior · Aug 31, 2015

My LG G watch R looks the best no one ever realizes it's a smartwatch and the black gives it a slimmer look. Ive had both the apple watch and gear 2 and they don't hold a candle.

mrex · Sep 2, 2015

Rogifan said:
LG just announced a 23-karat gold plated version for $1200.

One thing I am curious about...if someone isn't wearing a watch on their wrist one could presume they don't really care about traditional watches from a design/fashion standpoint because if they did they'd be wearing one. So I'm curious why some of these Android OEMs are going so hard in that direction? Are they trying to court people that do wear watches? Are they thinking the only way someone will put this on their wrist is if it looks exactly like a traditional watch? And if someone is currently wearing a higher-end traditional watch would they swap it out for something like this?

i think most dont wear watches anymore because they can check the time from their phones too. it doesnt mean that the watch isnt stylish or they dont like the design, they just feel that they dont need a watch anymore.

i personaly would buy a watch with a circular watchface. i have a smartwatch with rectangular face now.

kdarling · Sep 2, 2015

vikingjunior said:
My LG G watch R looks the best no one ever realizes it's a smartwatch and the black gives it a slimmer look. I've had both the apple watch and gear 2 and they don't hold a candle.

I was in New York City a lot the last two weeks during my wife's surgery, and was often asked in the elevators what kind of watch my polished LG R was. "Hey, is that the new Apple Watch? That's nice looking!" and so forth.

More surprisingly to me, none of the two dozen doctors and nurses we interacted with had smartwatches, except for two bloodwork techs... and they each had Samsung models.

Apparently smartwatches still have a way to go to be recognized and bought by many people.

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LG Watch Urbane

kdarling

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Rogifan

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Lloydbm41

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Fanaticalism

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