On Wednesday, Google launched its hotly-anticipated wearable operating system, Android Wear 2.0. While LG had the honor of bringing two smartwatches – LG Watch Sport and LG Watch Style – with the latest OS, there was one more wrist piece that launched parallely.
Verizon made a surprise announcement of a smartwatch that it developed independently. The Wear24 is basic in features, but the real highlight is without question the operating system that it comes with.
Verizon’s new smartwatch – the Wear24 (Verizon)
For starters, the Wear24 has a 13.5mm body, 1.39-inch AMOLED display and is powered by a 512MB RAM and 450mAh battery. It is also IP67-rated and can reportedly withstand up to 3.3 feet of water for close to 30 minutes.
Fully compatible with Verizon’s LTE network, the Wear24 will retail next month and will be priced at $300 (with two year contract).
When pitted against LG’s Watch Sport and Watch Style, the Wear24 might appear a dwarfed version, but it does pack a punch with the most necessary features expected from a smartwatch, thanks to Google’s new wearable operating system.
To enumerate, you can receive calls or texts directly from your wrist, you have interactive watch faces that can be customized and changed based on your location, and your watch will support NFC for Android Pay. For fitness freaks, you have the pre-installed fitness app Google Fit through which you can track distance, heart rate and calories burned.
On the design, you have a more classic and elegant look, nothing too contemporary or sporty. If the latter is what you need, then you will be delighted by the news that the LG Watch Sport will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow, February 10. With Verizon, you can get an LG smartwatch under $330 (with a two year contract).