With the year coming to a close, we check out the best smartwatches that created a stir in 2014.
Here's a look at the Samsung Gear Live, Pebble Steel, Motorola Moto 360, and LG G Watch R in the smartphone rumble.
Samsung Gear Live
The Samsung Gear Live smartwatch touts a 1.63" Super AMOLED screen and sport a rectangular dial and a metal body. It has a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels and is the fifth smartwatch from the company. However, the display does not work too well in bright sunlight.
The smartwatch measures 37.9 x 56.4x 8.9 mm and weighs 59gms, making it heavier than the Pebble Steel and the Moto 360.
The Gear Live is both dust resistant and waterproof and is IP 67 certified. It also boasts a heart rate sensor, a gyroscope, compass and accelerometer. The voice recognition feature courtesy Google is quite good.
It also has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of on-board storage, as well as a 1.2GHz processor. The smartwatch has a 300 mAh battery which offers support for 1 day.
However, in practicality the smartwatch has a terrible battery life. Moreover, the snap-on charger is not very easy to attach.
Compatible only with Android 4.3 and upwards.
Price: $199. This is the cheapest smartwatch of the four.
Pebble Steel
The Pebble Steel smartwatch touts a 1.26-inch black and white e-paper display that is rectangular in shape. It has a resolution of 144 x 168 pixels. The smartwatch has LED backlight and optical hard coating that makes the screen scratch resistant.
Measuring 46 x 34 x 10.5 mm, the smartwatch has a leather band and the metal band is available seperately. At 56gms, it is heavier than the Moto 360 but lighter than the LG G Watch R.
The smartwatch is water resistant for up to 50 meters and has a 3D accelerometer, a light sensor and compass. The 410 mAh non-removable battery offers support for 7 days, making it by far the best of the lot when it comes to battery life.
It is compatible with both Android and iOS.
Price: Originally $249. At par with competing smartwatches.
Motorola Moto 360
Motorola's Moto 360 smartwatch touts a 1.56-inch backlit LCD touchscreen. It has a resolution of 320 x 290 pixels and a pixel density of 205 ppi.
Measuring 1.8 x 1.8 x 0.4 inches, the Moto 360 is reasonably compact and its leather strap, round dial and chamfered glass makes it more stylish looking than Samsung's Gear Live, Pebble Steel and the LG G Watch R
With the leather band model weighing just 49gms, the Moto 360 is quite lightweight and the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 makes its quite sturdy.
The voice-activated smartwatch is also waterproof for up to 3.3 inches (for 30 minutes maximum). It also boasts a pedometer and an optical heart rate monitor. It also has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of on-board storage. The smartwatch also has a battery level indicator. However, the 320 mAh li-ion battery (whereas a teardown revealed 300 mAh) is terrible and offers support for a day under heavy use. The charge drops considerably under use, which does not make it very convenient for regular use.
Compatible only with Android 4.3 and upwards.
Price: $249.99 (leather) and $299.99 (metal). Making it steeper than Samsung Gear Live and LG's G Watch R.
LG G Watch R
LG's G Watch R smartwatch touts a 1.3-inch P-OLED screen that is circular. It has a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels and a pixel density of 245 ppi, which is better than the Moto 360 but lower than that of Samsung Gear Live.
However, the screen often turns on accidentally and the options for casing colors are not there.
Measuring 46.4 x 53.6 x 9.7 mm, the smartwatch has a leather strap which is changeable. However, the strap has a cheap look and feel to it.
At 62gms, the LG G Watch R is heavier than the Moto 360 and Samsung Gear Live. Like the Samsung and Motorola smartwatches, it too has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of on-board storage. It packs a Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor that is clocked at 1.2GHz, just like the Samsung Gear Live.
The smartwatch is also waterproof (up to 1 meter for maximum 30 minutes) and dust resistant and boasts a barometer, 9-axis and an optical heart rate monitor. The 410 mAh non-removable battery offers support for 2 days.
Compatible only with Android 4.3 and upwards.
Price: $299.99, making it on the expensive side.
