The LG Watch Urbane is the latest subject of iFixit's Teardown feature, which disassembles devices to provide users with a look inside the devices and to rate how easy it is for users to do self-repairs.
iFixit first studies the external appearance of the smartwatch, affirming that if not taking into account the screen of the device, the LG Watch Urbane can certainly be mistaken as a traditional watch. However, looking at the back of the device shows that it is not one, with the heart rate sensor and charging dock located there.
iFixit begins by removing the leather watch band of the smartwatch, using angled tweezers to remove the spring bars holding the band to the device. Prying open the LG Watch Urbane requires heating to dissolve the adhesive, which gives the smartwatch its IP67 water resistant rating.
Once the adhesive is loose, the back case can be separated cleanly as there are no cables attached to it. The motherboard can also be removed by simply disconnecting a few cable connectors and removing some standard-sized watch screws.
One side of the motherboard houses the LG Watch Urbane's 512MB DRAM device, which houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip underneath, along with two more modules, a microphone and the device's vibration motor. Located on the other side of the motherboard are a few more components, including the device's touch controller and audio codec.
The battery of the LG Watch was the next to be removed, and the iFixit team reveals the ease of taking it out. The team was able to remove it "faster than a mariachi player running through his scales." This could mean that replacing the battery could be done easily, as all the other components up to this point of the teardown were not difficult to remove.
The plastic midframe is then removed by taking out a pair of screws and loosening some adhesive. iFixit notes that smaller devices have resorted to using more adhesives than screws, which increased the difficulty of doing repairs. However, iFixit said that it seems LG has found a good balance between "pry-ability" and good construction strength in its usage of adhesives.
The P-OLED display of the LG Watch Urbane can then be peeled out upon removing several layers, including the digitizer. The display glass can also be separated from the case using a curved blade. However, what this means is that replacing a cracked LG Watch Urbane display is a troublesome chore due to having to remove all layers of the display and then replacing all those layers, including the adhesives.
The LG Watch Urbane received a relatively high reparability score of 7 out of 10 points, compared to the 5 points that the Apple Watch Sport received in its own teardown. However, the screen of the Apple Watch Sport is easier to replace as it is the first component that was removed in the teardown. Also, upon getting the display out, the battery is also easy to replace as it is held only by a mild adhesive.
