LG’s new Watch W7 smartwatch runs Wear OS and has mechanical hands

It’s been a while since LG has thrown its hat into the Wear OS ring, but that changes today. Alongside the new V40 ThinQ flagship, LG announced the Watch W7 — a Wear OS smartwatch that offers something we don’t normally see in smartwatches: mechanical hands.

The LG Watch W7 is certainly a classy wearable — almost reminiscent of the of the Watch Urbane (or the horribly named Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE). It was built in partnership with Swiss watch company Soprod, and, as mentioned, has two mechanical hands. This means you’ll be able to use the watch in a watch-only mode if you don’t need to use the smart features. LG says it’ll last up to 100 days in watch-only mode.

You wouldn’t guess that it could last that long by only looking at the spec sheet though. It only comes with a  240mAh battery due to the fact that it has an actual gearbox packed inside. LG had to fit the battery around the gearbox, which doesn’t sound like an easy engineering feat.

However, if the smartwatch dies in smart mode, the mechanical hands will continue working for two to three days. Pretty cool!

Elsewhere, the Watch W7 has a 1.2-inch touchscreen display and a rotatable watch crown flanked by two physical buttons on the right side.

Related: Hands-on with the huge Wear OS redesign

The biggest letdown here is the outdated processor. It’s powered by the older Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, not the new Snapdragon Wear 3100. That likely won’t affect performance in any meaningful way, but it surely won’t help on the battery front. We’ll try not to judge it before we actually get it on our wrists, though.

Let’s end on a positive note. The new watch comes with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, as well as an altimeter and barometer. It’s also compatible with any standard 22mm watch straps. You can see the full list of LG Watch W7 specs below:

	LG Watch W7
Display	1.2-inch LCD 360 x 360 resolution 300ppi
SoC	Qualcomm APQ8009w (Snapdragon Wear 2100)
RAM	768MB LPDDR3
Storage	4GB
Battery	240mAh Lithium polymer
IP rating	Water and dust resistant, not specified
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.2 BLE Usb Type-C 2.0 (Pogo)
Sensors	Accelerometer Magnetic Gyro Pressure Compass Altimeter Barometer
Software	Wear OS
Dimensions and weight	44.5 x 13 x 45.5mm 79.4g
Colors	cloud silver

We don’t have details about pricing or availability at the moment, but we’re hoping it’ll be priced competitively. At least right now, the two watches that will give LG a run for its money are the Apple Watch Series 4 and the Skagen Falster 2.

Thoughts on the LG Watch W7? Are mechanical hands actually something you want in a smartwatch? Be sure to check out our other LG V40 coverage as well:

• LG V40 ThinQ review: Undeveloped innovation
• LG V40 ThinQ specs: It still has a headphone jack and 32-bit DAC
• LG V40 ThinQ: Where to buy, when, and for how much

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