LG Watch W7 may launch alongside the V40 this week

The Apple Watch 4 may be the most popular smartwatch option on the market today, but LG apparently thinks there is still room to compete. Notorious leaker Evan Blass tweeted a few days ago that LG would be launching a new hybrid smartwatch, dubbed the LG Watch W7, alongside the V40 later this week.

If this is the watch that was teased as the Timepiece back in April, then the Watch W7 will be LG’s first wearable to run Google’s revamped WearOS. In addition to some decent smartwatch specs (Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100, 768MB of DDR3 RAM, 4 GB eMMC storage, 1.2-inch 360x360 round display @ 300 PPI), the Watch W7 brings some unique analog features.

Specifically, the Watch W7 will have mechanical hands that run off a “highly precise quartz movement” and an analog watch face. When in its “Watch Mode,” most of the smart features are disabled, allowing the watch to supposedly run for 100 days between charges. That’s an interesting solution to perhaps the most common complaint of smartwatches: poor battery life. That said, there’s not much purpose in buying a smartwatch to use as an analog watch.

LG’s watches have seen a bit of success as far as Android Wear devices go, but that’s not saying much. The Apple Watch itself sold over three times as well as all devices running Google’s Wear OS combined last year. It’s unlikely the Watch W7 will succeed in the current market. Most wearables consumers that don’t opt for the Apple Watch prefer simpler fitness trackers from the likes of Fitbit and Xiaomi, leaving little room for another Android smartwatch with a near-useless gimmick.

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