No messy interface buttons. No superfluous features I’ll never use. I’ve only spent a scant few hours with Android ar, ’s new smartwatch OS, but much of what I’ve seen so far gives me hope for the entire smartwatch category.

would appear to have the most simple Android ar device in its G tch. It doesn’t have a circular display like the Moto 360 or a heart rate monitor like the Samsung Gear ve. But simplicity is the basic operating principle behind Android ar, my G tch test platform does a great job of staying out of the way while the OS does its thing.

It all comes down to voice control. en the watch is performing its basic watchly duties— the G tch always shows its clock display unless you set it otherwise—you see just a static screen. But the device’s microphone is always in a ready state, is quick to respond to “OK ” voice comms.

Need to do some quick math? “OK … what is 20 percent of 132.58?” The answer appears directly on a card on the watch.

Need to know a baseball score? “OK … who won the A’s game last night?” A card showing the score quickly appears on screen.

Need to reply to a text notification that appears on the watch? Hit a big, bold interface button, start speaking. Your reply will shoot back to whomever texted you. Voice recognition appears to perform more accurately than on my HTC One. I have pretty much joined the rest of the U.S. population under 55 who no longer makes voices calls, so quick, accurate phone-free texting is an epiphany. To this extent, voice texting on the G tch has been a win so far.

But there are two drawbacks.

First, just like on Glass, voice replies send automatically. You have to deliberately cancel a reply if you don’t like what speech recognition picked up. Second, your voice replies— in fact all your Android ar interactions—are far from inconspicuous. l your texting content, searches, everything else that really drives Android ar can be fodder for public scrutiny.

Maybe I’ll be the first to say it: If Android ar really takes off, “OK ” could become the techie douchebaggism that makes us all forget about Glassholes.

But let’s not dwell on negatives as there are other great features: The G tch includes a built-in step-tracking function, your daily step counts can be summoned with a quick voice comm.

And I am loving the note-taking function. If you have a rom thought throughout the day (an idea for a new screenplay) or just need to save some critical information (the number of your parking space) you can say “OK … take a note” then voice whatever you need to save. Your note will be sent as an email to your Gmail account. It’s a wonderful feature, though I’m interested in an option that sends Android ar notes to a note-taking app instead of email.

So those are some of the deliberate things you can do with “OK ” voice comms. Anyone who owns an Android phone should already be familiar with them (here’s an entire list of comms), but trust me, they really come alive when they’re accessible on your wrist.

Unfortunately, in the few short hours since activating Android ar on the G tch writing this article, I haven’t gotten a vivid impression of the other Android ar promise: Contextual alerts sent from other Android apps. For instance: The Now cards that appear on my phone aren’t miraculously appearing on the face of my G tch. I’ve received Twitter notifications— replying favoriting on the G tch is awesome—but I’m really looking forward to much more contextual information slipping in out of the Android ar interface.

Of course, The G watch isn’t even a shipping product yet. Nor have app developers had any chance to build software yet. Nor have I mastered all of Android ar’s interface settings. But the good news is that everything I’ve played with so far suggests a device an operating system that’s easy to use, packed with utility.

I love the fact that I don’t have to dig through app drawers. I love the focus on ready information, quick voice replies. Android ar keeps wearable tech simple, that’s what this so-often-confounding product category needs.