At the very beginning of this week, some very interesting news landed fresh from the ranks of LG. This was the official announcement of their next generation round smartwatch, which was coming under the guise of the ‘LG Watch Urbane’. This was, in short, being touted as the an elevated follow-up to the popular LG G Watch R smartwatch. While the latter adopts more of a sporty look, Urbane looks to bring the wearer a more sophisticated and cosmopolitan look. This seems to be largely due to it all-metal and more of a watch-esque look, compared to the more smartwatch look of the other smart watches.
Well, the announcement came a few days ago, although details of availability and pricing were not provided. However, the announcement did state that Urbane would be making an appearance (in some capacity) at MWC, which kicks off in a couple of weeks. Well, the latest news is that Urbane seems to have found its way online and is now available to pre-order. UK retailer MobileFun are now listing the LG Watch Urbane as in pre-order status, although no firm details on shipping are listing. Of course, the big question everyone will want to know is how much is the smartwatch going to be? Well, MobileFun are listing Urbane with a $442.99 price tag. That may sound like a very specific price, but it seems to be a direct currency conversion from the retailers native GBP, which lists the device at a whopping £290. Interestingly, if you visit the MobileFun’s USA site, Urbane is priced at $368.99. Although, the difference is quite big between the two listings, it is worth remembering the US price does not include tax while the UK price does. That said, devices tend to be higher priced in the UK anyway and as such it would be expected to come in cheaper on the US site when available.
Whether or not this is the actual price of Urbane remains to be seen. MobileFun could just be opening pre-orders early to gauge demand. As such, this (at the moment) does not confirm the price of the unit. However, it does at least confirm the suspicion that Urbane will be priced at the higher-end of the Android Wear market and does at least suggest we are looking at a price nearer the $400 marker. What do you think? Would you be happy paying $400 for Urbane? Let us know