So the latest Wear OS update has really breathed life into my LG Watch Sport (I'm still not a fan of the hardware itself, more on that later).
The watch is much more responsive overall and I like the improved navigation and notifications, I've not tested the Assistant yet but I've heard that's more responsive. I paid for some food at Yo Sushi! earlier and found Google Pay fired up almost instantly.
My gripes with this particular watch is now/still:
- The digital crown can still be pushed in when doing push ups for example, if wearing on your left wrist (which you will, if you're right handed)
- The size - I can't get a shirt cuff over it
I would much rather have a rotating bezel and I'm not sure why Samsung are the only ones using these for interaction? Is this patented to Samsung alone? I could have swore there was an article saying there was code within Android that adds native support for rotating bezels. Hmmm.
My gripes with Wear OS are now:
- Google Fit - Tracking a run or any workout is to me, a basic requirement. I should be able start a run or workout after selecting another work out or target to compete against, with audio feedback to make me aware of how I'm doing. That comparison could be against my own PB, the last workout I did, a friend's workout or a defined target such as pace. I'm pretty sure Apple has this in their software?
I'm more confident about the platform now as I think this new version, along with the new Qualcomm chip could really improve things as long as there are nice looking watching housing it all. I was disappointed with the Qualcomm announcement at first because it was more about battery life than speed, but again, the new software has really improved the speed of my 2100 based watch.
The upcoming
Hauwei GT Watch looks nice to my eye, but still need to understand the differences between the sport and non-sport model. Do you know what would be a great idea?
Why don't manufacturers make a nice watch with a charging port built into the side of the device, where the connection could be water sealed? That way if you wanted to do sports, they could supply an additional 500mAh battery that sits within an forearm band with a short wire that connects to the watch whilst you're wearing it.