Review: Updated: Android Wear

Introduction, installation and interface

Update March 2015: Looks like Android Wear is getting fancy.

Similar to the Apple Watch catering to those with fatter wallets, Google announced a partnership with Intel and Swiss watch company Tag Heuer to make an Android Wear smartwatch.

The watch will probably be in a case that echoes the classic Tag Heuer Monaco "square but not quite" shape pictured here, but we can't say for sure as there were no details of shape, price, features or differentiators of any kind, and the launch date is "By the end of the year."

Original review below ...

Google's Android Wear software wants to relocate smartphone notifications to your wrist by accessorizing your arm with one of its new smartwatches.

So far, the Samsung Gear Live and the LG G Watch have ushered in the wearable platform, while Motorola's stylish Moto 360 watch is soon to follow.

Both available smartwatches receive messages, turn-by-turn directions and various app alerts in a "glanceable" Google Now-style interface.

This makes the search engine giant's all-encompassing knowledge graph operating system an instant rival to the Pebble and the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo.

That's not enough. Google's smartly designed smartwatch ecosystem can't survive without competent hardware and apps. Without them, it's only interesting to early adopters right now.

Installation

Downloading the Android Wear app to your smartphone is the equivalent of winding up your watch for the first time.

This app bridges the data from your phone to your new smartwatch via Bluetooth 4.0 and, of course, begins downloading an inescapable firmware update. Your watch enjoyment is already five minutes late.

But without this low-energy connection, the smartwatch doesn't work properly. It won't even be able to tell the correct time if it's turned off and back on again. In that case, you'd be ten minutes late.

It's surprising to find out how many people expect smartwatches to act as a standalone device that can replace their phone entirely, but such technology just isn't in the SIM cards yet.

Android Wear's phone dependency is not necessarily a bad thing. You won't have a separate carrier bill and the phone acts as a Android Wear app repository whenever new apps launch.

It's much easier to install new apps using a phone than it would be to configure them on a tiny smartwatch. Once the Android Wear setup is successful there are 40 apps to choose from.

Interface

Moving through the Android Wear interface on a smartwatch isn't all that different than doing the same thing on a Google Now-equipped smartphone. The touchscreen is just smaller.

Swiping up and down through the card-based menu system reveals the time, weather, calendar and other pertinent app notifications ported over to the watch.

Sliding your finger to the left digs deeper into the miniaturized apps with five day forecasts, the ability to reply to a text with your voice and the overused "open on your phone" option.

Flicking the menu to the right hides the information card – the opposite motion you perform when you get a bad Tinder match. It'll appear again when it's relevant.

What's different about Google's approach is why notifications pop up. Traveling to a new city will automatically set you up with the weather there as well as back home.

Just as slick, Android Wear figures out which sports team you like based on your Google searches and provides real-time sports scores.

It does the same for directions to addresses you've recently looked up or appointments in your calendar. "It's 34 minutes to work with light traffic on the US 101-S."

Now you know you'll have to leave in 10 minutes to get there on time. It works really well, as long as you don't mind Google knowing this information too.

Voice recognition, watch faces and compatibility

Android Wear is built to operate hands-free, which means all smartwatches respond to the simple voice command "Okay, Google."

For this familiar phrase to work, users are required to illuminate the watch first. This prevents innocent strangers – or more likely no good pranksters – from hijacking your smartwatch.

Waking an Android Wear watch from its dimly lit always-on state requires either flicking your wrist like you're checking the time or tapping on the touchscreen.

Alternatively, the Samsung Gear Live and Moto 360 have a power button that accomplishes the same task. The LG G Watch is buttonless, which sounds futuristic but can be a pain.

"Okay, Google" is the easiest way to ask the watch to search, display your daily steps, take your heart rate, make a new reminder, navigate to a place or set a timer or alarm.

Sending texts or emails with your voice is also clutch when the voice recognition technology knows your contacts. It hasn't quite understood all of our friends' unique-sounding names yet.

That's okay because 9 times out of 10, "Okay, Google" returns the right results, which is better than okay compared to other "intelligent" software like Samsung's S Voice.

Watch faces

Android Wear's 21st century functionality meets classic wristwatch fashion thanks to watch faces that tell time in a variety of ways.

Samsung Gear Live, for example, touts 14 unique square-shaped watch faces, from the espresso-colored Dark Analog to the all-white Aviator design.

Most watch faces are rather simple, but a select few go above and beyond like the sunrise and sunset-based Incremental that changes minute-by-minute throughout the day.

The number of faces should increase soon. Google says developers will be able to build custom watch face with a easy-to-use watch face API later this year.

That's a relief because while there are many likeable designs on Android Wear, you can't set alternate colors or add the date if it's annoyingly absent on certain styles.

This means Pebble still has the better watch face inventory at the moment, even though its monochrome faces don't stand out as much.

Compatibility

There's a good chance that your smartphone is compatible with Android Wear. The platform is compatible with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Android 4.4 KitKat and the Android L beta.

Even the Samsung Gear Live strips its manufacturer of its selfish, Samsung-only strategy and makes the smartwatch work with more than its own devices.

Google's software doesn't go as far as opening itself up to iPhones, however. No iOS version, including iOS 8, works with Android Wear at the moment.

That's going to be a real shame for Apple fans when the enviable Moto 360 smartwatch launches and everyone is still waiting for a glimpse of the iWatch.

Apps

Android Wear has an impressive 4GB of internal storage, but there's no way that you can fill that space with apps. There are just 40 smartwatch apps right now.

Well-known players like IFTTT bring automation recipes, while an Evernote extension is penciled in here even though it's absent from the Play Store's official Android Wear section.

Some developers got out there ahead of others. A Lyft car can be called upon with your voice, but Uber, like some of its wayward drivers, is nowhere to be found on Android Wear.

We gave Level Money a try at tracking all of our financial transactions just because Mint doesn't do the same via smartwatches yet. Android Wear is an open playing field for startups.

Not all of the notification cards require an Android Wear app. Notifications for third-party email apps, fitness trackers like Jawbone Up24, package delivery status and security cameras like Dropcam still show up.

There are no Facebook and Twitter apps, but comments made at you do show up. Basically, you're still alerted of anything that appears in your phone's notification tray.

Not surprisingly, the most clutch Android Wear apps are made by Google, including if you're asking the watch to navigate to a place, send a text message or transcribe a simple email.

Google Maps on a smartwatch is convenient, as the watch handles turn-by-turn directions and the map and navigation automatically appear on your phone.

Gone are the days when you had to clumsily reach for a dash-mounted device and awkwardly input an address. "Okay, Google, take me home" is so much simpler, especially when Google knows where you live.

This first run of apps apps isn't perfect. You still can't cancel out of directions with your voice – we've said everything from "Okay, Google, stop directions," to "Stop navigating," to "Go away."

This is a persistent problem that Google's otherwise stellar maps program faces, from phones to Google Glass. Obviously, it doesn't want you to exit until you get to your destination.

It's also fairly frustrating when diving deeper into apps and notifications with a swipe to the left results in a "Open on your phone" option and nothing else. That's not very helpful.

Smartwatch comparison

You have a 50/50 chance of picking the best Android Wear smartwatch available right now because there are exactly two you can buy.

The Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch launched on July 7 and both run Google's software exactly the same way. For better or worse, there's no TouchWiz or Sense overlay allowed.

That means the differences between these two square-shaped Android Wear watches come down to the subtle hardware choices. Neither design, unfortunately, is exceptional.

Samsung's watch is superior, perhaps with experience making the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and the formerly Android-based Galaxy Gear.

The Gear Live boasts a sharper 1.63-inch Super AMOLED with a 320 x 320 resolution and a heart rate monitor. It weighs in at just 2.1 oz (59g).

The LG G Watch has a still crisp 1.65-inch LCD IPS screen with a 280 x 280, but it drops the heart rate monitor and, for some reason, still weighs in at 2.2oz (64g).

The one thing LG's watch has going for it is its slightly larger battery life. It has given us a day and a half of use with a 400mAh capacity vs Samsung's solid day with a 300mAh battery.

Battery life is actually the biggest letdown of these first-generation Android Wear watches. It's difficult to want to wear on a daily basis knowing you'll have to charge every single night.

Worse, the proprietary Pogo chargers are easily losable. Both watches are waterproof up to 1 meter for 30 minutes, so standard micro USB wasn't made part of the component list.

There's hardly an easy answer when it comes to price. The LG Watch is more expensive than the Samsung in the US at $230, but cheaper in the UK at £160.

Samsung Gear Live costs a more attractive $200, but gouches the conversion in the UK at £170. Both watches are AU$250 in Australia.

In a direct comparison, Samsung's smartwatch is slightly more comfortable despite having a difficult-to-snap-together two-prong clasp. It reminds us of the Fitbit Flex clasp.

It contours to the wrist more than the boxy LG G Watch. However, that 50/50 shot at picking the best Android Wear watch may result in a loss either way, if the Moto 360 lives up to its hype.

Verdict

Android Wear isn't a smartphone on the wrist by any stretch, but it does carry over the most important information you read everyday on your mobile device.

Being able to see notifications while not being tied to your phone that's in the charger or left in the car overnight means you won't be leaping to the phone every other minute.

That would be enough to consider its first smartwatches if it weren't for the shortcomings of the Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch.

We liked

Google's promising wearable operating system serves as a component second screen for glanceable notifications and a few apps that provide further interaction within the smartwatch.

It's most wirst-worthy feature is freeing you from the habit of digging into your pocket every time that increasingly large smartphone vibrates.

Knowing which texts messages and emails demand your immediate attention and which can be dismissed with a simple swipe to the right is a reason to consider wearing a smartwatch.

Android Wear is likely to become the dominate software for Google-powered smartphones and it's only going to get better as it faces off with Apple's rumored iWatch later this year.

We disliked

As likeable as Android Wear is in this early stage, the smartwatch hardware and apps aren't here to back up all of its potential benefits.

The Google Play Store is home to a few choice apps, but where there's Lyft there's no Uber and where there's Level Money, there's no Mint.

Battery life is its biggest weakness, though. Running Android Wear is no small chore for these these watches with fairly sophisticated specs.

There's also the realization that these current square-shaped displays can't hold a candle to the design that Motorola has laid out for its Moto 360 smartwatch.

Final verdict

Android Wear is in its infancy with a limited number of apps and watches that are meant for early adopters who have both patience and a nearby power outlet at all times.

The software generally works, with a straightforward Google Now interface that involves lots of touchscreen and voice recognition input.

It feels futuristic on the hand and more practical than Google Glass. But that's no reason for everyone to run out and buy the first-generation Android Wear smartwatches.

Android Wear software powers convenience gadgets, but not without a couple of inconvenience flaws.

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