LG Watch Urbane teardown shows the battery is pretty easy to replace

iFixIt has done their tried and trusted teardown on the new LG Watch Urbane, the latest Android Wear smart watch from the South Korean company. As beautiful as the smart watch is on the outside, we’re always curious about the bits that you won’t often get to see in your day-to-day usage.

The teardown didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. LG still knows how to fit square circuitry into a circular chassis. Assembly is very clean and makes us confident the smart watch can stand the test of time.

One thing iFixit notes is that the battery is quite easy to replace if you find it’s on its last legs. This is thanks in part to a motherboard that is held in place with standard Philips-sized screws and a just a few connectors to deal with. Watch band replacement is also going to prove to be quite easy, though this is by design and should be possible even without fully dismantling the watch.

Unfortunately the display is where things get trickier, as LG has a multi-layered design that features a good deal of adhesive. While it’s possible to completely remove the display without breaking anything, it will require you to re-adhere the display and glass. That could become a messy job for someone who isn’t experienced, so the Watch Urbane was awarded a repairability score of 7/10 (10 is easiest to repair). Take a look at the full teardown notes at the source link if you’re curious.

[via iFixIt]

Our free Adult Swim VR headset finally arrived and it’s pretty great

It was at the beginning of this month that we told you about a special promotion Adult Swim put together to show off their new VR experience on Google Play. All you had to was fax in — yes, fax — a quick order form and they’d mail you their own VR Cardboard Viewer free of charge. Of course, this was a “while supplies last” kinda thing and it didn’t take long before supply was exhausted and the phone number was out of order. A few of our readers had their doubts that this was ever a real thing, pointing to a tweet Adult Swim made about “trolling” this or that.

In any case, our VR headset arrived and after quickly putting it together, found that it was actually quite nice. Velcro actually lines the top to keep the top flap in place and there’s a nifty magnetic sliding “button” (metal washer) that you can use to select items in Adult Swim’s Virtual Brainlord. This wasn’t our first VR rodeo, but to call Virtual Brainlord a trip would be an understatement. You’ll have to give it spin for yourself to see what we mean and if you haven’t yet, take a moment to sign up for Conan O’Brien’s free cardboard viewer (they’re giving one away too).

Anyone else manage to grab an Adult Swim viewer before they ran out?

Adult Swim Virtual Brainload (Playboard) | Adult Swim Virtual Brainload (Play Store)