Best Round Smart Watches – classic style with modern technology

Samuel J Tan Fitness, Sports & Leisure, Mobile Devices, Smartwatches 1

The days of blocky and geeky looking smart watches are over. The next generation smart watches are looking more and more like the conventional time pieces. Hidden under these unassuming round clock faces or shall I say digital clock faces are the stuff of the future.

Motorola gave us the first round smartwatch with Android Wear. Since then LG, Samsung, Pebble and Huawei have been launching their own circular smart and fashionable wearables. There is no denying that the future is round.

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Why Consider A Smart Watch

To those who doubt they need a smartwatch let alone a watch now that the smartphone has taken its place. Heck, the smartphone has also taken the place of the point and shoot camera, the voice memo recorder, the digital video camera, the wallet, the health and fitness monitor, the map & navigation, the voice activated personal digital assistant, the list goes on. Is the smartwatch still relevant?

With more and more people favouring big screen smartphones or phablets, these small screen devices may just be the answer to those finding it a pain to pull out the giant phone every time it buzzes. Here are 10 good reasons for getting a smartwatch based on the features of an Android Wear and other wearables.

Quick glance at everything from time to notifications to calls, alerts and messages without pulling out the phone
Follow fitness stats with built-in fitness monitor and coaching from apps
Download and listen to music without the phone
Get commuting information, directions and timely reminder and tick off to do list straight from the wrist
Use communication apps on the smartwatch: Gmail, WeChat, Viber, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts and more
Use fitness apps on the smartwatch: Strava Running and Cycling GPS, Sleep as Android, Google Play Music, Endomondo Running & Walking, RunKeeper, Google Fit
Use productivity apps on the smartwatch: Amazon Shopping, Google Maps, Evernote, Lyft, Google Translate, Google Keep (notes and lists)
More and more Android Wear apps are now available for perfecting that golf swing, learning a new language, planning your next trip, checking out the neighborhood and more. You can find a full list of Android Wear apps here.
Android Wear now works with iPhone and Android. It requires smartphones to be running at least Android 4.3 or iOS 8.2. However, supported features may vary.
A wide selection of smartwatches customisable with thousands of watch faces and bands including industry standard bands from watch retailers.

Top 5 Best Round Smart Watches

Here are five of our favourite round smartwatches. Square or rectangular watches may have the screen space, but round ones got the look.

Motorola Moto 360 2nd Gen – BIGGEST DISPLAY

The second generation Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch comes in two sizes, 42 or 46mm diameter. There is also a third variant, the Motorola Sports, a smaller and durable variant of the wearable for those with an active lifestyle.

Display: Mens 42mm and Womens: 1.37-inch (35mm), 263ppi (360 X 325) Mens 46mm: 1.56-inch (40mm), 233ppi (360 X 330) – BIGGEST DISPLAY
CPU: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 with 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU (APQ 8026), Adreno 305 with 450MHz GPU
Memory & Storage: 4GB internal storage + 512MB RAM
Battery Life: 300mAh 1.5 days with Ambient off, 1 day with Ambient on with wireless charging, dock included
Resistance: Dust and water resistant (IP67)
Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyroscope, Vibration/Haptics engine, Optical heart rate monitor (PPG), dual digital microphones.
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Dimensions & Weight: 46mm diameter by 11.4mm high, 42mm diameter by 11.4mm high (mens), 42mm diameter by 11.4mm high (womens)

Case and Band Sizes: Mens: 42mm case – Requires a 20mm band, Mens: 46mm case – Requires a 22mm band, Womens: 42mm case – Requires a 16mm band

Also – Motorola Sports, Motorola Moto 360 (1st Gen)

Samsung Gear S2

One biggest notable feature of the S2 is the outer bezel. Twist the bezel to scroll, zoom, skip track or change apps. There is also the touch screen, home and back buttons.

Display: 1.2-inch Full Circular sAMOLED 360 x 360 (302ppi)
CPU: Exynos 3250
Memory & Storage: 512MB RAM memory and 4GB eMMC storage
Battery Life: 250 mAh
Resistance: Dust and Water Resistant (IP68)
Sensors: Acc, Gyro, Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), Barometer, Ambient light
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1, WiFi, NFC
Dimensions & Weight: 39.9 x 43.6 x 11.4 mm, 42 grams (S2 Classic). 42.3 x 49.8 x 11.4 mm, 47 grams (S2)

Case and Strap Options: Gear S2: Dark Gray or Silver, Gear S2 Classic in Blue Black

LG Watch Urbane

Display: 1.3-inch P-OLED display, 320 x 320 pixels
CPU: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400, 1.2GHz Quad-Core
Memory & Storage: 512MB RAM memory and 4GB eMMC storage
Battery Life: 410mAh
Resistance: Dust and Water Resistant (IP67)
Sensors: 9-Axis (Gyro, Accelerometer, Compass), PPG (Hear rate monitor), Barometer
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1 LE
Dimensions & Weight: 45.5 x 52.2 x 10.9mm, 66.5 grams

Case Options: Silver or Gold

Strap Options: Stitched Leather, Standard 22mm

Also – LG G Watch R

Display: 1.3-inch Full Circle P-OLED
CPU: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400, 1.2GHz
Memory & Storage: 512MB RAM memory and 4GB eMMC storage
Battery Life: 410mAh
Resistance: Dust and Water Resistant (IP67)
Sensors: 9-Axis (Gyro, Accelerometer, Compass), PPG(Hear rate monitor), Barometer
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0
Dimensions & Weight: 46.4 x 53.6 x 9.7 mm (Bezel Ring included 11.1mm), 62 grams

Pebble Time Round – LIGHTEST & THINNEST

The lightest and slimmest smartwatch in our line-up, also the only one not based on Android Wear. After the success of Pebble Classic and Pebble Steel, Pebble has decided to launch the Pebble Time series with

Display: Always-on, color e-paper display with LED backlight, 2.5D gorilla glass display
CPU: NA
Memory & Storage:
Battery Life: 2 days, fully charged in 15 mins
Resistance: Splash resistant to IPX7 standard
Sensors:
Connectivity: Magnetic charging with cable that works in any USB port
Dimensions & Weight: 38.5mm x 38.5mm x 7.5mm with 14mm or 20mm wide, 28 grams or 32 grams – SUPER THIN

Strap Options: 14mm or 20mm

Case and Strap: 5 different styles as seen above

Huawei Watch

A first for Huawei after the successful Nexus 6P smartphone with Google. The Android Wear smartwatch is already receiving great feedback and reviews. On first look, there is no way one can be disappointed particular those whom are after the classic look and blink, see Huawei Watch Gold with golden bracelet strap.

Display: 42mm diameter 1.4-inch full circle AMOLED display, 400×400 screen resolution, 286 ppi, 10,000:1 high contrast ratio
CPU: NA
Memory & Storage: 512MB memory and 4GB ROM
Battery Life: 300mAh 1.5 days
Resistance: NA
Sensors: 6-Axis motion sensor (Gyroscope + Accelerometer), Heart Rate Sensor (PPG), Barometer, Vibration Motor
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1 BLE and WiFi
Dimensions & Weight: 42mm diameter, 11.3mm thick