Checking Out the Motorola Moto 360: A Smartwatch That Actually Looks Like a Watch
Following months of anticipation, Motorola has officially taken the wraps off of its Moto 360 smartwatch. It is easily one of the most elegant-looking smartwatches yet.
Powered by Google’s Android Wear operating system and sporting a handful of custom features, the Moto 360 might even be one of the first great smartwatches.
You’ll want to wear it
The first thing you notice about the watch is that it’s not a hideous bulky rectangle, like the Samsung Gear S or the Pebble Steel. In fact, from its watchlike stainless steel frame to the supple leather of its strap, it is one gorgeous gadget.
(Darren Weaver/Yahoo Tech)
It wasn’t easy for Motorola to create this watch, either, as the company had to manufacture every component to fit the 360’s rounded shape. One company representative compared it to literally trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
(Darren Weaver/Yahoo Tech)
Beyond making for a more attractive device, Motorola representatives said the Moto 360’s rounded frame helps it wrap around wearers’ wrists more comfortably than rectangular smartwatches. And you know what? It’s true. The 360 fit snuggly and didn’t dig into my wrist like other watches.
The goods
Motorola has also made charging the Moto 360 easier than its Android Wear competitors. Instead of strapping the 360 to a charging cradle, you simply place the watch on its wireless charger. It’s a small difference, but it helps add to the 360’s overall allure.
(Darren Weaver/Yahoo Tech)
Fitness features for the Moto 360 include a built-in pedometer and a heart-rate monitor. The 360’s heart-rate app not only measures your current heart rate, but also puts it into one of three ranges: inactive, active, and vigorous.
The watch then saves that information and combines it to measure your weekly heart activity. Motorola says heart experts recommend getting 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day five times a week. The 360’s app will let you see how much exercise you’ve gotten and how much more you need to reach that goal.
(Daniel Howley/Yahoo Tech)
Like its Android Wear compatriots, the Moto 360 offers voice controls, so you can check sports scores, the weather, reply to messages, and search the Web for basic facts by simply saying, “OK, Google,” followed by your question.
Motorola engineers told me they worked particularly hard on the Moto 360’s voice recognition technology and believe the watch is the best in its class when it comes to understanding what you say.
Android Wear
There’s a lot to like about the Moto 360, but it’s still got some flaws, though those are mostly related to its Android Wear operating system. For example, the fact that you can’t check your notifications after dismissing them is annoying.
(Darren Weaver/Yahoo Tech)
There’s also the sheer number of swipes it requires to navigate the OS, which becomes tedious. There are also still a relatively small number of apps available for Android Wear, which limits functionality somewhat, though that should change with time.
Similarly, as Yahoo Tech’s own David Pogue pointed out, there’s no way to edit messages before sending them, and you can’t mute notifications from specific users. You silence either everyone or no one.
On the flip side, my colleague Daniel Bean is a big fan of Android Wear and sees plenty of potential in the operating system. So be sure to check out his perspective on things.
(Darren Weaver/Yahoo Tech)
The Moto 360 is not the only Android watch that looks like a watch, though. LG just announced a similarly sleek circular watch called the LG G Watch R, and Samsung recently unveiled its Gear S watch, which doesn’t need to be tethered to a smartphone all the time.
Oh, and then there’s Apple’s rumored iWatch, which will reportedly debut Sept. 9.
The Moto 360 is available through Motorola.com, Bestbuy.com, and the Google Play store for $249. Stay tuned for a full review.
Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley or on Google+ here.
