Announced on March 18, 2014, the LG G Watch is one of the launch devices — along with the Samsung Gear Live — for the Android Wear platform, a new version of Android from Google targeted specifically at wearable devices. LG has said it developed the G Watch in "close collaboration with Google," much as it did with the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5.

Android Wear brings voice control, Google Now integration and several interesting wearable-focused features to the device. The software connects to Android-powered phones and allows notifications and apps to be controlled through the device on your wrist. As Android Wear is effectively a full version of Android, apps can also run directly on the watch itself.

Hardware-wise, the G Watch runs a Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. The display is a 1.65-inch IPS LCD at 280 x 280 resolution. The G Watch charges via a magnetic dock with a set of pins that match up on the watch — the dock itself is connected to power via Micro USB.

The LG G Watch launched on Google Play on June 25, 2015, and has since expanded availability to many carriers and most electronics retailers. It works with devices running Android 4.3 and higher in conjunction with the free Android Wear app in the Google Play Store.