Moto 360: Take the leap or go for Gear?

[SpookDroid]

Hi guys,

I'm really trying to decide whether I take the leap into Android Wear or not. I really like the Moto360 (even with the flat tire) but have been reading about the extremely short battery life and now I'm concerned. Has anyone compared it to the uglier Gear Live? How do they fare together?

I mean, I don't mind charging every night, but I would mind if for some reason (long flight to China, a night out with friends right after work, etc.) my day extends beyond midnight and my watch dies on me, and I also wouldn't want to compromise and not use it just because it won't make it through the day!

What do you think?

 

[dungoyle]

Speaking as both a Pebble owner and Moto 360 owner, I would recommend you go the Pebble route (plastic or steel; take your pick), or sit out smart watches for now, skip this generation of Android Wear devices, and wait for the Generation 2's to come out. Perhaps then, we'll see some decent battery life on a color screen and a better, more mature iteration of "Wear". Don't get me wrong; I love the look of my 360, and it has enough battery for my use pattern, but the Pebble will get you through almost a whole week before you need to charge it, and works with both Android and I-Phone.

 

[SpookDroid]

I don't mind charging it at night, really... And while getting this to connect to both my personal phone and my work iPhone would be nice, but really, I'd use it more for my personal one anyway... and I've tried the Pebble, and it just doesn't feel like a real watch to me. I need color. And I know Android Wear could even pass for beta right now, but I don't mind that much.

You say you own a 360... how is it getting you through the day? Do you use it just to tell the time or do you actually put it through some heavy use? Again, I don't mind if after 7AM by midnight it gets home with 1% left as long as it's still alive by then!

 

[dungoyle]

Mine gets me through the day easily, but I consider myself a mild user. Check the time, screen calls, and swipe away texts and other notifications as they come in. I also use it to launch Pandora before I get in the car so that Pandora shows as an available media source to my car radio via bluetooth when I start it. Nothing too intense. It get's me to 10pm with +20% remaining most days, and I take it off the charger between 6 & 6:30am. If you can live with that, in addition to the warts of "Wear" (which will improve with time), and want a good looking smartwatch, then bite the bullet and buy the 360. It's by far and away the best of breed aesthetically.

Get one at your local best buy. In 10 days (less), you'll know if the battery is going to cut the mustard for you. If not, return it and no harm, no foul.

 

[SpookDroid]

Have you showered with it? I actually just started thinking about that haha I usually shower with my watch because my morning singing can get carried away unless I keep it in check while looking at my watch... I don't expect to go swimming with this one, though, but showering would be nice.

 

[dungoyle]

Funny you should ask. I did the first day. I've now changed my habit to wait until after my shower to put on my watch in the morning. If you're a "shower at bed time" kinda guy, I recommend taking it off first. The water didn't damage it, but apparently, water drops activated the touch screen, so when I noticed what was happening, it was somewhere in the settings menu, and I'm pretty sure I hadn't touched it myself with a wash cloth or otherwise.

Edit: I doubt the water activated the touch screen. Probably, moving my arms around did that, and then most likely the water drops began to interact with the activated screen. Just guessing.

 

[SpookDroid]

Hmmm... Well, water droplets do seem to make my Note 3's touchscreen go haywire, but don't activate it. I wonder if the same holds true for the Gear Live... hmm...

Is there a way to keep the watch from waking up by tapping the screen? Like, with the button only?

 

[vsankarn]

I have had my Moto 360 for about 3 days now. Got it this past Saturday and I have been pretty happy with it especially the battery life. Then again, I am not a heavy user. I have ambient displayed turned off and use it mainly to look at notifications, control media that is playing, track heart rate in the gym and some navigation. I rarely used it to reply to messages or emails. So yeah, with this usage I have consistently had about 30% battery remaining after about 15-16 hours of usage. I have experienced very little lag and the watch has turned on pretty much whenever I have turned my wrist to check time and notifications. Overall no unpleasant surprises yet.

 

[Slow_S10]

Definitely get the Moto 360, not a Gear Live. I have had both and while the Gear Live is not a bad device it just can't compare to the Moto 360.

When the Moto 360 first went on sale I tried to buy one but we all know how ridiculously fast they sold out. Honestly I wasn't expecting them to be back in stock for at least a month so I decided to go ahead and pick up a Gear Live. At this point I have been wanting a Android Wear device since they were announced and I was just tired of waiting.

Like I said before the Gear Live is not a bad device it works well but it is just amazingly ugly and nerdy looking compared to the 360. And as far as battery life goes I have been getting close to the exact same battery life out of both of them the only difference is that I left the ambient screen mode turned on with the Gear Live and I usually leave it off on the 360. And that honestly is my only complaint with the 360, I just really wish it had a more efficient AMOLED screen like the Live. Other than that the 360 has been as good as, or better in every other way than the Live.

Oh and the bezels on the Live are the worst. Those kill it more than anything else.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[clevin]

If all you care is the looks, goto a store and look them up. Everybody has different idea of good or bad looking after all, maybe you love the amoled screen more on gear live, who knows.

According to ars review, Moto 360 battery life is 56% of that of gear live.

I personally would sit this out, I have too many things to charge everyday already, don't need another cord to charge a thing that's more like an accessory than a must have.

@T-Mobile GN3

 

[SpookDroid]

If all you care is the looks, goto a store and look them up. Everybody has different idea of good or bad looking after all, maybe you love the amoled screen more on gear live, who knows.

I would if the thing were available anywhere! But it's out of stock for shipping and AFAIK it's nowhere to be found in stores. I was just about to go to BestBuy yesterday and check the Gear Live out in person but I got a call and had to turn back literally at the door

 

[SpookDroid]

Definitely get the Moto 360, not a Gear Live. I have had both and while the Gear Live is not a bad device it just can't compare to the Moto 360.

When the Moto 360 first went on sale I tried to buy one but we all know how ridiculously fast they sold out. Honestly I wasn't expecting them to be back in stock for at least a month so I decided to go ahead and pick up a Gear Live. At this point I have been wanting a Android Wear device since they were announced and I was just tired of waiting.

Like I said before the Gear Live is not a bad device it works well but it is just amazingly ugly and nerdy looking compared to the 360. And as far as battery life goes I have been getting close to the exact same battery life out of both of them the only difference is that I left the ambient screen mode turned on with the Gear Live and I usually leave it off on the 360. And that honestly is my only complaint with the 360, I just really wish it had a more efficient AMOLED screen like the Live. Other than that the 360 has been as good as, or better in every other way than the Live.

Oh and the bezels on the Live are the worst. Those kill it more than anything else.

Posted via the Android Central App

So, since you own both (lucky you!), would you mind answering a few questions even if it's YOUR personal preference?
1) The Screen. AMOLED VS LCD apart, how noticeable is the pixel density difference between the two?
2) Would you say you're using the device heavily and does it get you through the day? (Since you say you're getting about the same battery out of both).
3) Have you showered with both? I hear the Moto360's screen acts up with water droplets, further depleting the battery and making it unusable 'underwater' (won't take it for a swim, I just like to know the time while I shower or I'll sing the morning away and be late for work hehe).
4) Responsiveness. Is the claimed 360 lag noticeable or is it just like the usual 'TouchWiz has terrilbe 1microsecond lag! Burn them down!'?

Thanks a bunch guys! You're really helping a lot

 

[Slow_S10]

So, since you own both (lucky you!), would you mind answering a few questions even if it's YOUR personal preference?
1) The Screen. AMOLED VS LCD apart, how noticeable is the pixel density difference between the two?
2) Would you say you're using the device heavily and does it get you through the day? (Since you say you're getting about the same battery out of both).
3) Have you showered with both? I hear the Moto360's screen acts up with water droplets, further depleting the battery and making it unusable 'underwater' (won't take it for a swim, I just like to know the time while I shower or I'll sing the morning away and be late for work hehe).
4) Responsiveness. Is the claimed 360 lag noticeable or is it just like the usual 'TouchWiz has terrilbe 1microsecond lag! Burn them down!'?

Thanks a bunch guys! You're really helping a lot

Just to be clear I'm not that awesome. I returned the Gear Live to Best Buy because I actually found a 360 on Craigslist. And amazingly enough I was even able to buy it for less than retail. God bless you, you ignorant iPhone user.

But to answer your questions: The pixel density is definitely much lower on the 360 but honestly unless you are looking at it super close, under normal usage it's not really noticeable or distracting. Honestly the resolution basically being the same if anything I prefer having the larger display over a smaller denser one.

I'm definitely not a power user I guess I am a fairly low to average user. For me its mainly just a watch. But I do get lots of notifications from various applications all day, I use it to play and pause music and send the occasional hangout message and that sort of thing. With both devices on average I tended to have around 30 to 40% battery left when I put it on the charger at the end of the day. Which for me is putting it on around 6am and putting it back on the charger around 11pm.

I haven't tried either in the shower yet because my watch is usually the last thing that I put on before heading out the door. But I haven't noticed any weirdness with either one while washing my hands or doing the dishes and things like that.

And I haven't noticed any appreciable lag at all with either watch. They both work well and respond to taps swipes and voice inputs without issue.

But there are a couple of other things that I forgot to mention about the Gear Live that bugged me. The charger just sucks. It is a pain in the rear to use and I always felt like I was on the verge of breaking it. Plus if you lose or break that dumb little proprietary charging cradle a replacement is like $30. Where as the 360 works great with the other two Qi chargers that I already had. Also the watch band bugged me. Which to be fair the band itself is not bad if you don't mind rubber, and it was fairly comfortable to wear. But that clasp was just awful. In the the week and a half that I had the Gear Live I knocked it off of my wrist twice. Luckily I caught it both times but that was beyond annoying. I know you can replace the strap on the Live but because of the way it is designed it just doesn't look good with replacement bands.

Also worth noting I have not installed any third party apps or watch faces on either of them and they were paired with my Nexus 5. I only mention that because there seems to be a bit of discussion on whether certain installed apps and watch faces, or what kind of phone you have can effect their battery life.

Posted via the Android Central App