With so many wearables in 2014 we decided to pick what in our opinion are the best four smartwatches to date and compare them. While becoming more and more mainstream every day smartwatches are beginning to gain popularity and increasing in quality with each new release. Another watch that could be added later is the Sony Smartwatch 3 although we do not have one to test so have left it out for now.
We decided to compare the Zenwatch by ASUS, Gear S by Samsung, Moto 360 by Motorola and the G Watch R by LG. This is only four of many smartwatches currently available although they seem to be the most popular right now. We aren’t going to get into fitness bands or devices like the Pebble. This is only comparing four full feature smartwatches.
Operating System Comparison
Three of the four smartwatches run Android Wear, Google’s material card style Google Now with voice based software. The Samsung Gear S is the one outcast running its own proprietary Tizen OS for wearable devices. Regardless of which of the two platforms you choose there are not nearly as many apps available as we’d like to see. This said Android Wear does have more to offer currently than Samsung’s Tizen OS.
Bluetooth and Network Connectivity Comparison
All four of these smartwatches pair to your mobile devices via Bluetooth although the Gear S also has 3G connectivity. This allows you to add a SIM and use the smartwatch without pairing it to a mobile device. The one thing you will have to note is the Gear S requires its own data plan.
Android Phone Compatibility Comparison
All four devices require Android 4.3 or newer although again Samsung has the outcast again since it only works on Galaxy devices or again standalone. If you aren’t using a Samsung device you will want to go with the Moto 360, G Watch R, or ZenWatch. Non of these watches work on the iPhone’s or Windows phones although assuming you here on Android Advice and reading this article your using an Android device.
Smartwatch Design and Build Comparison
All four watches are premium builds although there are differences in each of them. The ZenWatch, Moto 360 and G Watch R are all stainless steel in build with the Gear S being plastic. The ZenWatch is the heaviest of all four although not noticeably by any means. The Moto 360 and G Watch R both have round displays looking like a traditional watch and the ZenWatch and Gear S have curved rectangular displays. The Gear S has the largest display at two inches with the G Watch R having the smallest although you likely won’t notice much difference between the three Android Wear screen sizes as they are close. As far as physical buttons go they all have one. One last feature that is different between the watches builds is water resistance. The ZenWatch has little resistance to the elements while the other three can fall into water for a short time and survive.
Battery Life Comparison
The weakest of the three in terms of battery life is the Moto 360 with its 320mAh battery that may last a full day with light use. The Gear S and G Watch R have a 300mAh and 410mAh battery respectively although both last about 2 days on one charge. There was recently an update to the Moto 360 improving its battery life helping it make it through a full day but still making it the worst. As far as charging goes the Moto 30 does have wireless charging capabilities while the other three do not. The ZenWatch and G Watch R have magnetic charging cradles with the Gear S having a much cheaper feeling snap on charger.
Smartwatch Price Comparison
The ZenWatch comes in as the least expensive smartwatch priced at $200 with the Moto 360 coming in right behind it at $250. The Gear S and LG G Watch R both come in at $300 although again take note that the Gear S will require a data plan of its own to use.
Conclusion
I personally prefer the G Watch R after using all four watches for two reasons. First of all the watch easily lasts a full day and in most cases can go two days on a single charge. Reason two is the design seems to match my style and looks like a traditional watch. If I had to give a third reason it would be the fact that I switch phones almost monthly (nature of running a blog like this) and it works on them all. This said style will be a personal preference and of course the G Watch R is one of the more expensive smartwatches out there. Let us know in the comments if you have a favorite and why.