LG G Watch R

Although it has a round face, the LG G Watch R departs from the design norm of using most of the watch face as an analogue display and leaving the rest for smart functions.

Available only in all-black, the Watch R has a round 1.3-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels. It looks like a regular watch, accentuated with a metallic bezel. On the right is a home button that looks like a watch crown. Press this to go back to the clock face. At the back is a heart-rate sensor.

The only Android Wear watch in this round-up, the Watch R is a good-looking watch, but perhaps not as eye-catching as the Moto 360 which also has a round touchscreen display.

The Watch R includes 24 watch faces from LG and Android Wear. To change the watch face, simply tap and hold on the current one and pick from the others.

Notifications, such as Facebook comments, Straits Times news updates and e-mail messages, appear as small "cards" at the bottom of the display.

While the readability of the display is generally good, there are a couple of foibles. First, the round screen can obscure text that is close to its edge. Second, under bright sunlight, you might not be able to see the time clearly in dim-screen mode.

It has a microphone for voice commands. However, you cannot use it to make or receive calls. You can ask the Watch R to set a reminder, take a note or ask how many steps you have taken. Just say "OK, Google" first before giving the command.

The pedometer and heart-rate sensor worked well. They registered results almost similar to my personal Moto 360 and the review sample Samsung Galaxy Gear S.

With the watch constantly connected to the smartphone and with all notifications enabled, battery life was about two days - an average figure for smartwatches that have a display for text and applications.