The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product.

My husband is notoriously hard to shop for. To make things worse, he’s a Christmas baby, so that means I get to buy *double* the presents for him every December. Sigh. This year, though? I’ve got his present nailed.

The gift came about when my daughter decided he needed a new watch. My husband has always loved watches, but he’s admittedly pretty picky. Plus, he already had a fitbit flex he’s been wearing for a few years now, so I wasn’t sure if he would wear two watches. So, we tabled the idea for a bit and tried to think of something else.

But, then I noticed that his previous love he had for his fitbit flex had dimished over time, and I thought maybe we could upgrade it with something more watch-like and less of a fitness band. So, I started researching with the help of these little elves who wanted to get something “super duper special” for their Daddy-O.

I knew he needed something that did more than merely keep track of fitness, but I wanted it to still be able to be used to track steps and movement. Ideally, it would be something that he could use to keep up on texts, emails, and phone calls even when he was working and not able to stop to pull out his phone. Extra special bonus points if it had a little bit of style and had any extra special tricks it had mastered.

Well, not only did I find the perfect gift in the LG Watch W7, it’s actually so much better than I had hoped it would be. The description said it combined smart functions with the analog sensibility of real watch hands, and I was immediately sold. I can’t be the only one who thinks that smartwatches look a little goofy, right? A big black screen on your wrist isn’t really elegant, so I love that this design is much more like a traditional watch, especially with the integrated watch hands.

Looks like a regular watch, functions like a smartwatch

I hadn’t even though about one of his frustrations with his fitbit was that sometimes he just wanted to see the time – you know, a basic watch function – and his fitbit wouldn’t wake up quick enough or sometimes errored as he was checking the time. Imagine having a watch that sometimes you couldn’t turn on when you needed it. Frustrating, right? Since the LG Watch W7 has real, moving watch hands, you don’t need the screen to “wake up” so you can see the time at a glance.

It may be a small thing, but it makes a world of difference when you don’t need all the smart features and instead just need a normal old tell-the-time kind of watch. Because of the real, moving hands, that means he can actually turn off the auto-wake feature when he’s working with his hands a lot and doesn’t need the screen to turn on every time he moves his wrist. Not only does that save batteries, it also keeps notifications from bugging him in the middle of projects, while still allowing time to be visible whenever he needs it. Then, he can still touch the screen or hit a button to wake it to see apps, contacts, and more.

As much as I love that he can use the new LG Watch W7 around town, while working, and when he’s at functions that are cell-phone free, I really love the W7 for traveling. Since the watch hands will automatically correct to the time zone you’re in from your phone, you will always have the correct time without having to set your watch at each time zone you cross. As if I haven’t talked enough about the watch hands, I also love that the apps like the compass, timer, and stopwatch utilize the hands of the watch as well, which makes it more fun as well as intuitive.

All this being said, if you like to read on your watch or you were hoping for games, the watch hands would probably bug you. But for my husband checking emails and texts, and really needing a watch to function quickly, they were the solution we were looking for.

I’ve heard that the W7 battery is lacking and doesn’t last the two days it claims it does, but for us that’s not a problem since my husband will charge it every night on the included watch dock. I had hoped that the watch would charge via micro-USB, but so far the dock charging hasn’t been an issue while I’ve been testing it. Since the dock is proprietary, I do wish I could purchase another dock so we would have one in our travel bag, but hopefully that will be available soon. The LG Watch W7 also features a watch-only mode that lets the W7 last for 100 days between charges.

Features of the LG Watch W7

Compatible with most Apple and Android devices – Works with most phones running Android 4.4 or later (excluding Go edition), and iOS 9.3 or later. Supported features may vary across phones.

Touch-free navigation – Whether you’re carrying too many bags, holding your child, or working out with two hands, you can still scroll through your phone with a simple flick of the wrist.

New and improved – LG Watch W7 is equipped with a new version of Wear OS, featuring an updated Google Assistant with optimized AI assistance and new fitness features. It also has a bright and brilliant 1.2″ edge-to-edge display that allows for easy outdoor viewing.

Hybrid design – With mechanical hands powered by a gearbox to ensure precise movements for accurate time keeping and side keys that provide quick naivgation, this smartwatch looks just like a regular watch at first glance.

Step out with confidence – LG Watch W7 provides valuable Master Tools, such as a compass, stopwatch, timer, calibration, barometer, and altimeter to ensure you get the most out of the great outdoors and help track your progress.

Eyes on the road – Optimize your watch’s performance when driving to ensure that you are getting the information you need through haptic feedback while keeping your eyes on the road.

Effortless style – Without any tools, effortlessly switch your watch band to match the occasion with the astonishing simplicity of the quick release on the included band. You can also choose from a selection of aesthetically and functionally unique watch faces, each taking advantage of the mechanical hands.

You can buy the LG Watch W7 just in time for holiday gifting, or you can pick one up for yourself just in time for resolution season. Find your watch at Best Buy.