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LG's new Watch W7 smartwatch runs Wear OS and has mechanical hands

LG has a new Wear OS watch that actually looks pretty great... if you don't care about the latest hardware.
By
October 3, 2018
lg watch w7 smartwatch

It’s been a while since LG has thrown its hat into the Wear OS ring, but that changes today. Alongside the new V40 ThinQ flagship, LG announced the Watch W7 — a Wear OS smartwatch that offers something we don’t normally see in smartwatches: mechanical hands.

Design & Performance

The LG Watch W7 is certainly a classy wearable — almost reminiscent of the of the Watch Urbane (or the horribly named Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE). It was built in partnership with Swiss watch company Soprod, and, as mentioned, has two mechanical hands. This means you’ll be able to use the watch in a watch-only mode if you don’t need to use the smart features. LG says it’ll last up to 100 days in watch-only mode.

You wouldn’t guess that it could last that long by only looking at the spec sheet though. It only comes with a  240mAh battery due to the fact that it has an actual gearbox packed inside. LG had to fit the battery around the gearbox, which doesn’t sound like an easy engineering feat.

However, if the smartwatch dies in smart mode, the mechanical hands will continue working for two to three days. Pretty cool!

lg watch w7 smartwatch commercial poster

Elsewhere, the Watch W7 has a 1.2-inch touchscreen display and a rotatable watch crown flanked by two physical buttons on the right side.

Related: Hands-on with the huge Wear OS redesign

The biggest letdown here is the outdated processor. It’s powered by the older Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, not the new Snapdragon Wear 3100. That likely won’t affect performance in any meaningful way, but it surely won’t help on the battery front. We’ll try not to judge it before we actually get it on our wrists, though.

Specs

Let’s end on a positive note. The new watch comes with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, as well as an altimeter and barometer. It’s also compatible with any standard 22mm watch straps. You can see the full list of LG Watch W7 specs below:

LG Watch W7
Display
1.2-inch LCD
360 x 360 resolution
300ppi
SoC
Qualcomm APQ8009w (Snapdragon Wear 2100)
RAM
768MB
LPDDR3
Storage
4GB
Battery
240mAh
Lithium polymer
IP rating
Water and dust resistant, not specified
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.2 BLE
Usb Type-C 2.0 (Pogo)
Sensors
Accelerometer
Magnetic
Gyro
Pressure
Compass
Altimeter
Barometer
Software
Wear OS
Dimensions and weight
44.5 x 13 x 45.5mm
79.4g
Colors
cloud silver

At least right now, the two watches that will give LG a run for its money are the Apple Watch Series 4 and the SKAGEN Falster 2.

You’ll be able to pick up LG’s new smartwatch from Best Buy for $449 on October 14.

Thoughts on the LG Watch W7? Are mechanical hands actually something you want in a smartwatch? Be sure to check out our other LG V40 coverage as well: