Android Wear 2.0: Google s Pitch To Make A Better Smartwatch

class="cnetReview row" section=""> The watch on my wrist is big. Too big for my hand, maybe. But I'm more interested in what I can see when I lift my wrist. I peek at my step count, and then tap an album icon to hop into Google Music. I hop back out and scroll up quickly to peek at messages. More on Android Wear 2.0 Google says 'Android Wear is not a hobby' These are the watches that will update to Android Wear 2.0 Android Wear has gotten a lot more polished since I last used it.

And faster. But it's still not fully there yet. Google's delayed software update to its Android Wear watches has finally arrived, in the form of two new LG watches co-designed with Google. The upgrade is also coming to most (but not all) earlier Android Wear models over the next few weeks. LG Watch Style and LG Watch Sport are for different crowds -- one's slimmer and feature-limited, one's super-thick and android packed with everything from GPS and Android Pay to an LTE connection for phone calls.

The first Android Wear 2 watches: game cheats LG Watch Sport (left) and Style (right). Sarah Tew/CNET Read: LG Watch Style first impressions Read: LG Watch Sport first impressions But it's not the LG watches that are most interesting, it's the software inside. Android Wear 2 promises big changes to a troubled smartwatch platform that's been losing out to what Apple Watch brings to the table. Can Google's watches get better thanks to software? I've been wearing both watches for about a week, and the answer so far is definitely yes.

The biggest improvements you can look forward to: Android Pay comes to Android Wear watches with NFC. Android Wear apps run better when away from a phone, or even independently with an LTE phone-connected watch or ios via Wi-Fi. A lot more info can be packed onto watch faces, and it's easier to swap faces and customize them. Google Fit updates add more tracking modes and Mobile Games better workout interfaces. Google Assistant comes to Android Wear as a voice-activated upgrade to Google Now. Do these make Android Wear, finally, a must-have?

Not exactly. Or, not yet. But these software updates go a long way towards improving the whole Google watch experience. My testing was done via with beta software provided by Google in advance of release, so the experience could get better. Lots of ways to look at stats... including eight at once. Sarah Tew/CNET Watch-face improvements "Complications" are a watch industry term for little bits of info on your watch face, such as the date, your fitness progress or the weather.

Android Wear 2.0 is a lot better at accessing information quickly on the fly, thanks mostly to these added watch-face customizations. Apple's had this already via its Apple Watch complications, but Android Wear 2 now offers them too, and more so than Samsung's Gear S2 and S3. I studded one watch face with up to eight bits of info, all showing me quick-access info at a glance. Each bit of info can also act as an app shortcut, saving time. In general, Mobile Games it's great news. But the problem is, few third-party apps currently support complications on the beta-access early software I used prelaunch.

There's a shortcut for Google Music called "Now Playing" that jumps to music controls, and lots of fitness stats from Google Fit (steps, android calories, fitness goal status).