Google introduces Android Wear designer watch faces for that fashionista look

Ted Baker, Mango and Nicole Miller bring a little style to Google's smartwatch party
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If you've been with Android Wear from the very beginning, then you'll know there's not always been a great selection of watch faces to choose from.

But things are changing. The Android Wear 1.3 update released earlier this year brought more customisable watch faces and with the arrival of the Fossil Q Founder and the Tag Heuer Connected, traditional watch makers have been having their say on the software as well as the sleek hardware.

If you've read our Connected review, you'll know we were big fans of the Swiss watchmaker's approach to watch faces.

Essential reading: Best Android Wear watch faces

Google has decided to embrace the more stylish direction Android Wear has taken in 2015 by introducing a selection of designer watch faces, which are now free to download from the Play Store.

The list of designers on board are Ted Baker, Melissa Joy Manning, Vivienne Tam, Nicole Miller, Y-3, Mango, Zoe Jordan, Harajuku Kawaii! and Asics.

Google introduces Android Wear designer watch faces for that fashionista look

For any Sony SmartWatch 3 owners out there concerned that these new faces are built just for the likes of the Moto 360, Huawei Watch and the LG Watch Urbane, they're optimised for rectangular displays as well.

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We booted up Sony's Android Wear watch to try some out. The Ted Baker face (image above) feels like it's better suited to a 360 or Huawei Watch and comes with a male and female style options. With a brighter strap, the colourful Harajuku Kawaii! face is quite a nice fit and is certainly one of the better options.

We'll be spending some more time trying out the other designer faces with the rest of the Android Wear smartwatch family to see which ones are best suited for round or rectangular watch designs.

If you want to download the new Android Wear designer watch faces, they're available now on the Google Play Store. iPhone owners will have to wait a few more days before the faces are up for grabs via the iOS Android Wear app.

Google introduces Android Wear designer watch faces for that fashionista look


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Michael Sawh

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Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.

He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.

Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech. 

Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.


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