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Finally. After months of tortuous waiting all has been revealed about the Moto 360, and later today you can buy one. Was the wait worth it? Back when the Moto 360 was first announced that was an easy answer. But now there is some stiffer competition in the smartwatch market, and even Apple is about to enter the game. Let’s take a look at how the 360 stacks up against the original Android Wear devices, and also some of the newer devices to enter the market.
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Display
In terms of sheer display size the Moto 360 is middle of the pack. Since it has very minimal bezel it still has a smaller overall size. The 360 and Gear Live have practically the same screen resolution, but the little chin cuts off some pixels on the 360. Some people are very “anti-chin,” but without it there would be more bezel around the display. Just look at all the bezel on the G Watch and Gear Live. What would you rather have?
Processor & Battery
The LG G Watch and Gear Live all have the exact same processor. Motorola has gone back to their pals at Texas Instruments with the OMAP 3. They did not mention clock speed, but we would bet that it runs just as good, if not better, as the other devices. There aren’t many processor intensive activities for these watches to do. Performance should not be an issue with any of these devices.
The battery is slightly bigger than the Gear Live, but smaller than the G Watch. Users of the 300mAh Gear Live have reported mediocre battery life, but Motorola claims the 360 will last through the day. Unfortunately it looks like early reviews are reporting around 12 hours of battery life. Not a full day. If you’re using the 360 as much as your phone it’s not going to last very long, but you’re also probably not using it correctly either. Luckily Motorola has a very nice charging cradle.
Design
These devices all have very similar specs, but one thing is drastically different: design. This is likely what has you so interested in the 360 to begin with. It’s not the only round smartwatch on the block anymore, but it still has much less bezel than all the others. This is what makes the 360 look so much like a real watch. If the elegant and minimal design of the 360 is your cup of tea there is no reason not to go with it.
So, which smartwatch reigns supreme? Are you still planning on getting the Moto 360 now that we know everything? Check out our second chart below with some of the more recent Android Wear devices.
I would think the OMAP processor would have cost less for Moto which then would have brought the price down a bit. I’m not complaining at all, but the fact that they’re using an older processor makes me think that.
Also, the other watches, other than the LG G Watch R, look pitiful to me in comparison. I love the roundness of both those watches.
Any word on the accuracy of the heart rate monitors of the watches that support them.
Can you confirm that the Moto 360 definitely supports the Qi standard and is not proprietary? I have not been able to find any official confirmation of this anywhere.
*Edit* Picked one up at Best Buy, and I can confirm that it will charge off of my generic Qi charger :)
If it is a Qi charger then I think I’ll actually stick with leather band instead of the metal one so I can lay it down flat on any charger.
How is the battery life for real? 12 or 24 hours?
Hard to say yet as I haven’t even had it a full day, but I’m afraid so far it is looking closer to the 12 hour end than to 24…
Dang – I was so sure I wanted the Moto360, but now, I’m not sure sure… this is the first gen device, one day battery life stated by manufacturer (real life battery life may be lower), no GPS chip (for future features that Androidwear 2.0 is supposed to bring), and that small part of the screen at the bottom with missing pixels (yes, very small)… I’m not sure anymore! Also, when I travel, I would now have to carry a dock (in addition to microUSB cable) *Sigh*
I think I’ll wait for some reviews about the battery life, and then decide. Dayum
Whaaaa? Why does a smartwatch need a GPS chip. It can pair with your phone, using the phones battery for menial tasks.
If you want an entire smartphone on a watch, just say so.
At the very minimum, when you go for a jog or a hike or a bike ride and want to record your track, you don’t have to carry your phone with you. Just the smartwatch.
Google recently announced that Androidwear will be getting GPS support, so I’m pretty sure some of the newer devices will have a low power GPS chip on it. (Sony’s new smartwatch does have GPS already)
(nope – don’t need the entire smartphone on a watch – just some functions that I need, given Google indicates those will be supported shortly)
Yeah, I’m in about the same boat. Battery life could be the deal breaker for me if it really doesn’t last a full day…
Interestingly the Sony Smartwatch 3 seems to get no love, but to me it sounds like it is a generation ahead of all the others due to built in GPS, NFC, and microUSB port, plus transflective screen and two day battery live (claimed). Though I do understand it’s aesthetics are not for everyone.
That is so true – I like the features that Sony’s watch is supposed to have (microUSB/GPS)- but the LG’s circular design without cutoff, along with Moto’s higher rez screen (compared to LG), and Motos watch-face-screens.
Need a combination of all these smartwatches with a 2 day battery life :)
I realize it’s going to be a different beast but Sony does have a decent leg up on most of these companies since this will be their 4th time around with a smartwatch. My SW2 gets me a few days on a charge. So I’m really disappointed to hear that some of these newer ones (360, I’m looking at you!) can’t last the day.
Cant stand the 360, looks like a cheap 90s Swatch. Nothing smart or premium about it. The flat bezel at the bottom ruins the idea of the display. The old CPU is a joke and the battery life, if true, is dire.
The 360 has to be the most over-hyped, and most disappointing device of the year.
Don’t you mean a +$200 Braun.
Are you going to post about it looking like a 90s Swatch in every fricking article?
Yeah probably.
SMH
The more you reply the more I do.
So basically you have no actual response but have to get the last word in, so you’ll play the internet equivalent of “I’m not touching you”.
You don’t like the 360, others do. Posting the same BS in every article about it is no different than those who would buy it no matter what. Maybe next time mention it has, in your opinion, a dated design. But just stop being a broken record, unless that’s all you’re capable of.
See , this is why I do it. You are SO butthurt that I don’t love it that you just HAVE to try to put me in my place. You’ve replied to lots of my comments, and havee made no valid argument as to why i shouldn’t state my opinion. At least i give reasons why i dislike it, which is more than most people do.
This is a repeat of the N5. I didn’t like it, others throw their toys out of their pram. Funny that we dont get the same response to those who dislike a Samsung. There is an obvious bias here.
I have no problem with you stating your opinion, or even that you don’t like it. It’s that it’s the same thing every time, exactly the same as before. It would be no different than if I went into every G Watch article saying it looks like an 80s calculator watch? I have said that one or tow times, but not every time I comment on it.
And if you look at my comments, I’ve actually said to state your opinion, but only asked for you to not repeat the same thing every time. Reading comprehension isn’t just for school kids.
How many ways are there to say the same thing? Why change when the point is made clearly as it is?
The problem is people dont really own their opinions. Rather than just say, ‘yes it does look like a 90s Swatch (which it undeniably does), but I like it’, they just shout me down or deny it, trying to make out that its high class or ultra modern. I mean please..
You know what? The G watch does look like a 80s Casio calculator watch, but you know something else? I like it.
I can have no answer to subjective opinions, but try to make it objective and I will answer back.
Like I said awhile back, simply say in your opinion it has a dated design, a cheesy design, a pretentious design, etc. All those could apply to a Swatch today. Switch it up a bit, many times there are different ways to say the same thing. For instance, I’m hungry, I’m starving, I’m peckish, I could eat, time to strap on the feed bag.
For months I did, but ‘Swatch’ finally got people to notice..
So why not switch it up to that every so often? You can always bring the Swatch back.
Ill give it a go, I doubt it will make any difference, its unpopular not to adore the Moto 360, its the new Nexus and immune to even completely valid criticism, although its not got quite so bad yet. Nexus adoration has reached Apple iSheep levels.
That’s actually the reason I left Samsung, I couldn’t bring up any issues I had with my S3 without being called a troll or traitor on the forums. Doesn’t help fix my issues when they deny the problem.
Ive never had that problem with any of my phones on XDA, not sure about other forums. They were even receptive to my N5 issues, largely because they shared them. However websites like this one? Bunch of Nexus fanboys.
The only of the major android OEMS I haven’t had was LG, mostly because IMHO they sucked before the G2. However I went with Motorola because of the features introduced in last year’s X/Droid line, fast updates, build quality, and best cell radios in the business. But they all have their issues, Motorola’s, and the Nexus as well, was always the camera, and MotoBlur was horrible. HTC’s radios and battery life were bad, Samsung’s GPS and overheating issues, and since I haven’t had LG I can’t really speak to them, but my friends Ally sucked out loud. And at one time or another, all of the manufacturer skins became so bloated that they ended up doing an extensive retooling of them. Anymore I’d rather start fresh and setup my phone how I want it, not how someone thinks I want it.
I dont actually have a problem with Motorolas policy, ive recommended the G and the E to people before, however its hard to see this as anything but a spec chasing update.
And like I said at the start of this discussion, considering that many considered the original X to have been a year behind when it launched, specs wise this update is comparable to a 2 year update.
To be honest my reaction is a bit over the top, but its a good counterpoint to the over the top excitement about what is just a spec bump on a phone that doesnt interest me much..
12h battery life is a joke. Only this kills it. Who is going to charge the watch in the middle of the day?
I think that I did a good choice buying the gear live, more than 24h (can go to 36h) of battery life every day since I buy it 2 months ago and I really like the build quality and the metal/glass/rubber combo. It’s really well built, the oled screen is much better and it does not have the problems that plagued the LG watch. Seems that I’m the only one that likes it…
When one makes a wristwatch that the body has a Pico projector built in that can be projected on a nearby surface I might get excited. Taking the watch off and being able to pose the wristwatch so that the on board Pico projector can be projected on a surface with a projected virtual keyboard projected to the rear, to a side a virtual mouse is projected and the whole thing can be used as a computer touch sense interactive interface, phone, text, apps. Now we got a winner, this junk is just another fad that will fade as soon as it starts.
The newer releases are what I’m looking at, and since Moto didn’t release metal immediately then they now have to compete with the rest. You had a chance to take my money Moto!
Ugh, the more I look at the 360, the more toyish and cheap it looks. I liked it when it first came out, but with others coming out later, the 360 already looks badly dated.
The best looking smart watches at this point are probably the Gear Fit and the LG G Watch R. Those actually look sexy.
What kills the 360 for me is the thickness of it. Gives it the look of a toy watch. Same with the thin bezel. It doesn’t look like any watch I’ve ever owned or would be interested in buying. Now the LG R watch is a different story. THAT’S a watch!
What kills the 360 for me is the 12h battery life…
My gear live last 36 hours with a smaller battery and even that is mediocre for me coming from a pebble that runs for 5 days without a charge. Seems that amoled is a much better fit than LCD or the TI omap CPU is worse than the snapdragon in terms of power efficiency. In 2 months with the gear live I never had a dead watch before coming home, of course I charge it every night.
Anyway, I will not buy a device that needs to be charged in the middle of the day. Those sad days are over for me.
I would be very wary of the metal charging contacts. I had a caller ID watch once with contacts like that on the back and they corroded from my sweat.
Wait for the Gear S..