LG's Urbane Android Wear watch lands in the US for $349
Josh Lowensohn / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
LG first showed the round-displayed, metal-bodied Watch Urbane back in February, and it has since run a two-track launch: a webOS-based LTE variant that skips Android Wear entirely, which went on sale in South Korea in late March at $590, and this Android Wear model now arriving in the US at $349.
The $240 price gap between the two siblings frames the Urbane line as a tiered play — a premium standalone device in Korea versus a mainstream Wear watch stateside — and early reviews of the US unit flagged more-than-a-day battery life even with the screen always on, but also a missing ambient light sensor and a divisive design at the $349 price.
First-order effects
- US buyers now get LG's round, metal Android Wear option at $349, though reviewers' noted gaps — no ambient light sensor, a gaudy look — put pressure on that price against what the watch actually delivers.
Second-order effects
- The parallel $590 LTE Urbane in Korea forces LG to justify two operating systems under one brand name, risking confusion between a phone-tethered Wear watch and an independent webOS device aimed at very different buyers.
Third-order effects
- If the two-track pattern holds, smartwatch lines will stratify into cheaper tethered Wear models for volume and pricier standalone/LTE models as halo products — with review verdicts on sensors and design deciding which tier carries each brand.
The trend: Smartwatch makers are splitting flagship lines into affordable phone-tethered Android Wear models and premium standalone LTE variants, using price and OS choice to segment the market.