Moto 360 vs LG G Watch vs Samsung Gear Live - an early look

Our anxiety for this year's Google I/O being all about obscure developer stuff quickly dissipated when the company launched Android Wear. Currently, there are three exciting Wear OS gadgets - the Moto 360, the LG G Watch, and the Samsung Gear Live. Mostly same on the inside, but very different on the outside, these high-tech timekeepers have a lot going on besides sheer novelty. Now feels like the right time to have an early, but well-informed look at how the three wearables compete with each other.

Design

Different as they are, the Android Wear watches share some common traits. All three are designed as water and dust-proof, metallic, and accepting of standard 22mm watch straps. The likenesses end here, however.



The Moto 360 looks very distinct from LG and Samsung's square watches with its 'classic' round form. This is the fashionable, outgoing one in the Android Wear pack - the one that provokes a “nice watch!” reaction, instead of a “hey, what's that thing on your wrist?”



In opposite, LG 's G Watch wears its Nexus colors with pride. It's plain, unassuming, and with its own geeky appeal. Visually, it's not a stunner like the Moto 360, but the G Watch is sturdy, thanks to its PVD-coated stainless steel construction. It's available in black and white with gold accents.



Finally, the Samsung Gear Live is the best-looking Gear smart-watch to date. Its lines and curves are smoother, and the faceplate no longer has those aggressive metallic screws. This one is sold in black and red.



Weight is an important factor unless you don't care about wrist cramps. It comes down to 63 grams (2.2 Oz) for the G Watch and 59 grams (2 Oz) for the Gear Live. Both are reasonably compact at 1.5 x 1.8 x 0.4 inches (37.9 x 46.5 x 9.95 mm) for the G Watch and 1.5 x 2.2 x 0.35 inches (37.9 x 56.4 x 8.9 mm) for the Gear Live. Unfortunately, we don't know how the Moto 360 sizes up to its rivals.