Motorola Moto 360 vs LG G Watch R – Circular smartwatch showdown

Wearable devices have certainly become very popular as of later, but they’re still nowhere near as popular as smartphones or tablets. However, smartwatches might change all that as lately we’ve seen almost all the tech giants trying their hand at developing a few of their own. One of the biggest complaints coming from consumers is related to the design of these devices, which is usually pretty bland and uninteresting. Luckily, several manufacturers have stopped trying to reinvent the wheel and went back to the drawing board in an attempt to create something new. The Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R are two examples of smartwatches born as a result of this approach. What’s so special about them? Well, they’re both circular, which is a pretty common design choice among regular watches, but not so much among the electronic variety.

But naturally, one will always be more appealing than the other, therefore I figured that a comparison between the Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R might be useful in order to find which one of them is the better device. Both of them will be officially announced in the coming days at the IFA Trade Show, but we don’t have to wait until then to make a relevant comparison as we already know most of the important details. Before we kick things off I do need to mention that the two are more or less equally matched so this will be a completely fair fight. With that in mind, let’s begin this little Moto 360 vs LG G Watch R showdown.

The Moto 360 was announced earlier this year and Motorola has teased us on more than one occasion with their upcoming smartwatch. Their marketing tactics worked like a charm as the watch is now arguably the most highly anticipated Android Wear device of the year. The LG G Watch R on the other hand was only announced a short while ago and it looks like LG is launching it specifically to compete with the Moto 360. In its teaser video, the LG G Watch R is presented as “filling the gap” and featuring a completely circular design, which forms “a perfect circle”. This is undoubtedly a small jab at the Moto 360 seeing as how the smartwatch has a small cutout at the bottom of its display so it’s not completely round.

In terms of resolution, the LG G Watch R’s display comes in an 320 x 320 megapixels while the Moto 360 can only account for 320 x 290 because of its “gap”. However, Motorola more than makes up for this by equipping its device with a 1.5-inch LCD screen that also features Gorilla Glass 3 protection. By comparison, the LG G Watch R features a 1.3-inch plastic OLED display, which is less resistant than that of its competitor. Both watches have stainless steel cases, leather straps and both are waterproof, although only the LG G Watch R features actual IP67 certification. Overall, there aren’t a whole lot of differences when it comes to the design as both devices were developed to look similar to traditional watches so it will mostly boil down to preference here. Some people will find the Moto 360 to be more aesthetically pleasing while others will like the LG G Watch R instead. You can’t really argue with taste so let’s move on.

On the hardware side, we’re not completely sure about what to expect from the Moto 360 as not all the specs have been leaked yet. However, we do know that the smartwatch will have 512 MB of RAM, a Texas Instruments processor and a Li-io battery pack with Charging dock. Connectivity is done via Bluetooth 4.0 and Wireless N while features include pedometer, heart-rate monitor, vibration alert and voice activation. The LG G Watch also comes with 512 MB of RAM alongside a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz, 4GB storage memory and 410 mAh battery. We’re not seeing much in terms of connectivity options, but features are definitely plentiful and include heart-rate monitor, PPG sensor, Smart notifications, health apps, fitness apps and more.

Finally, the prices for these two devices are expected to differ quite a bit, but we still need to wait for confirmation from their respective manufacturers to find out if this is true. In any case, a recent leak from Best Buy claims that the Moto 360 will be priced at around $250, which seems pretty reasonable for a smartwatch. The LG G Watch R however is quite a bit more expensive, perhaps even too expensive some might say. LG Germany revealed that the wearable will go on sale for 299 EUR, which is the equivalent of almost $400. If I’m not mistaken, this will be the most expensive Android Wear smartwatch yet so I’m not sure if I can recommend it over the Moto 360 under these circumstances.

Sure, LG’s smartwatch arguably looks more elegant and could easily be mistaken for an actual analog watch. The LG G Watch R also features an actual circular display and seems to come with better specs and more features, but we still need to wait for Motorola to unveil their device in order to be sure. The bottom line is that the LG G Watch R is definitely worth purchasing, but keep in mind that with $400 you can also buy a pretty good smartphone so the price is well above what a smartwatch usually costs. The Moto 360 might not actually be round like Motorola initially said, but it does have the bigger screen and better protection for it while also offering a fair amount of features. I assume it will also not be far behind the LG G Watch R in terms of performance and it runs on Android Wear as well so there’s no difference in regards to the OS.

All in all, I admit that I find the LG G Watch R more appealing overall, but since the Moto 360 is $150 cheaper this is quite a difficult decision. What do guys think about these two smartwatches? Can the LG G Watch R justify the high price tag or is the Moto 360 a safer bet?