LG Watch Timepiece, a hybrid smartwatch, is coming with all details apparently confirmed

Not pictured above is LG’s rumoured new Watch Timepiece, a hybrid smartwatch which has – apparently – had all its details confirmed overnight by Android Headlines. Cutting through the waffle, it seems there’s actually not a lot of detail confirming it’ll be anything beyond a Wear OS device with a physical timepiece integrated .. but still, it’s an interesting development as LG hasn’t done much in the wearable space since last year, and even then, those watches didn’t come to Australia.

This wouldn’t be the first hybrid smartwatch we’ve seen; MyKronoz, for example, does a combined digital display with physical hands. However, coming from a more established brand like LG might deliver us a better overall experience.

Featuring IP68 water resistance, the LG Watch Timepiece will feature a quartz movement with physical watch hands. This will ensure the watch can last longer than the digital component (which likely will last a day or two without charge), giving wearers a watch that doesn’t necessarily need to be charged every couple of days just to tell the time. However, of course, once that main battery is flat, there’s no smart features on offer, just a typical watch that’ll last (we’re told) about four to five days beyond the digital component.

Underneath the physical watch hands, the LG Watch Timepiece will feature a 1.2-inch, 360p display with an effective density of 300ppi. Being Wear OS, it can (and will) be able to display its own watchfaces, meaning that the physical hands might become a bit superfluous; we understand that the physical hands will be able to do other things when a digital watchface is displayed, e.g. acting as a compass, barometer, altimeter, timer or more.

The LG Watch Timepiece will feature the same kinds of internals we’ve come to expect from Wear OS – which have stagnated a bit, with no new system-on-chip support – including a Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 768 MB of RAM and 4GB built-in storage. This configuration hasn’t changed much since 2016, which will no doubt disappoint some wanting some invigoration in this space.

There are no cellular capabilities expected here, just the standard fare of Bluetooth and WiFi. A surprise inclusion is a USB C port for charging which will be a welcome change if true.

While a nine-axis motion sensor will be part of the package, NFC and GPS aren’t expected to be supported. This means no Google Pay support, and almost certainly means I’ve lost interest in this watch before it’s even announced.

We’re anticipating LG will announce the new Watch Timepiece soon – perhaps as soon as next week – in two variants; the standard LG Watch Timepiece discussed above, and the Watch Timepiece Plus which features two bands in the box and an extra charger.