The LG Watch Sport was announced back in February, and, as is the case with LTE cellular models, the smartwatch that represents collaboration between LG and Google was destined to make its way to carriers. The Watch Sport is already at AT&T and was headed to Verizon, but unfortunately, that is no longer the case.
Verizon has started issuing cancellation emails to customers and granting them $100 refunds because, in words that can't be kept secret, the Verizon version of the LG Watch Sport has been cancelled by Big Red. Yep, it's unfortunate, but Verizon customers expecting to add a Watch Sport to their LTE data plans will no longer have that dream within reach.
"Within the past few days, those who had pre-ordered the LG Watch Sport from Verizon received cancellation emails. That seemed odd, obviously, since the watch has been available for months, so we reached out to both Verizon and LG to see what was going on. We have yet to hear back from LG, but Verizon flat out told us that the LG Watch Sport has been cancelled,"
Tech site Droid-Life said in response to the cancellation.
The LG Watch Sport was the more ruggedized of LG and Google's two Android Wear 2.0-equipped smartwatches, but it does have a flaw of its own: the Watch Sport has the antenna bands of the device within the wristband and prevents users from swapping wristbands and customizing the device to fit their personal attire and style. The Watch Style allows for interchangeable wristbands, but it is the more inexpensive of the two and seems more fit for smaller wrists than large ones.
There are a few theories behind why the Verizon LG Watch Sport will never be, such as 1) Verizon's decision to promote its own Android Wear-powered Wear24 smartwatch ahead of LG's, but ultimately, it appears as though demand is the issue here (not defective build quality, as was the case with LG's Watch Urbane LTE 2015 model). The LG Watch Sport didn't have demand to match Verizon's desire to support the smartwatch, and, when compared to Samsung's Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic, it isn't selling nearly as well as that of its Korean counterparts. Verizon has decided that its Wear24 smartwatch is a better investment, though it's interesting to see that Big Red has delayed the launch of the Gear S3 Classic LTE on its network until next month (in order to sell its own Wear24 smartwatch that went on sale on May 11th).
The LG Watch Sport is still available through other carriers in the US such as AT&T, but Verizon customers are out of the circle this time.
What say you, Verizon customers? Shocked, disappointed, frustrated?
