Battery replacement?

[wrmoore47]

My Moto 360 ver. 2 has started to have serious battery problems. After charging, it shows 100% battery, then over 2-3 hours that drops to 98% where it stays until the watch shuts off after a total of about 10-12 hours. Before this started, I got steady battery % decrease down to 20%-30% after 14-15 hours. The watch will recharge and show 100% again, but then shuts down after 10-12 hours, while still showing 98% charge.

I have tried a reset to factory settings, but that didn't change anything.

So, I conclude that the watch battery is about to die totally. Its about 2 years old, so about what I expected.

Now I have to decide whether to send the watch back to the factory for a new battery (I assume they will send me a refurb. watch) for $75, or buy something else. I'm looking at the Mobvoi TicWatch E for $159. I can order it from Amazon and have 30 days to return it if I don't like it. The TicWatch doesn't look as nice as the Moto 360 to me, but its not bad. Screen is OLED and has slightly better resolution than the 360.

Anybody else made this choice recently? If you went with the refurb. route, how long did it take to get the replacement watch? If you went with something else, how does that compare (especially if you chose the TicWatch).

I assume that there won't be another revision of the Moto 360, but if someone knows differently, let me know.

Thanks!

Randy

 

[Rukbat]

I haven't made the choice - but ...

Running the battery down to 20%-30% regularly shortens its life a lot. The ideal range is 80%-40% - never charge it above 80% and never let it drop below 40%. Yes, that gives you a lot less charge-to-charge time, but it can extend the battery life by years. (My V-551 battery - from 2004 - is still good.) If you want a battery that you can deep discharge, you need a gel cell, but one to power a watch would be the size of a phone and weigh about twice as much. Lithium is light, and batteries using it can be made very small - those are about its only good points. Long time between charges isn't. You're just lucky that it lasted 2 years.

 

[kramer5150]

I'm in the same boat... My watch will still make it a full day and well into the night, so I still have "some" time to decide.

 

[wrmoore47]

I decided to go both ways, at least temporarily. I bought a TicWatch E from Amazon which has a 30 day return policy, and I sent my Moto 360 back to Motorola (Lenova) to exchange for a refurb unit. I am amazed at both!

The TicWatch ($150) is GREAT! It seems a bit snappier in performance than my 360(2nd Gen.) (both running the latest Wear OS), and the display is excellent. Its feather light, though is a couple mm larger in diameter and is a bit thicker though I haven't noticed this in wearing it. It came with a nice silicone band, but the replaceable band is the same size as for the 360 and I have a couple that I can use. I had some screen protectors left from my 360 and they fit just fine. Only time will tell if the TicWatch will last as long as the 360.

The exchange of the 360 for a refurb unit went great. I filled out the forms on the Motorola website on Monday afternoon. Immediately got the FedEx shipping label, boxed up the watch with its original, used watchband, and took it to a FedEx dropbox about 2 miles from my house. I got an email from Motorola on Tuesday afternoon saying they had received the watch. When I got up Wednesday morning, I had another email saying the refurb watch had been overnighted to me, and I received it mid-afternoon Wednesday. Wow! That's quick!! Cost me $75 plus something (I forget) for shipping. The refurb watch came with a brand new black leather band. The watch is black too, which is the color of my original. And the watch looks absolutely brand new. Apparently has a band new case and screen. I charged it up just make sure it worked ok (I was instructed to keep my charger, which works fine).

So now which watch to keep? I've been using the TicWatch for a week and really like it. The refurb 360 seems like it is totally brand new. But I like to try new stuff, so I'm going with the TicWatch E and putting the 360 on eBay. YMMV.

On the post above about battery maintenance, I can't buy it. A key factor in the life of a lithium battery is the number of charges it can take. By restricting the battery charge as significantly as that guy says, you would end up charging the battery about twice as often, thereby reducing battery life not to mention the inconvenience of that. I can't explain why he has gotten such long life out of the battery he mentions, except to say that he has been very lucky.

 

[cohoman]

I decided to go both ways, at least temporarily. I bought a TicWatch E from Amazon which has a 30 day return policy, and I sent my Moto 360 back to Motorola (Lenova) to exchange for a refurb unit. I am amazed at both!

The TicWatch ($150) is GREAT! It seems a bit snappier in performance than my 360(2nd Gen.) (both running the latest Wear OS), and the display is excellent. Its feather light, though is a couple mm larger in diameter and is a bit thicker though I haven't noticed this in wearing it. It came with a nice silicone band, but the replaceable band is the same size as for the 360 and I have a couple that I can use. I had some screen protectors left from my 360 and they fit just fine. Only time will tell if the TicWatch will last as long as the 360.

The exchange of the 360 for a refurb unit went great. I filled out the forms on the Motorola website on Monday afternoon. Immediately got the FedEx shipping label, boxed up the watch with its original, used watchband, and took it to a FedEx dropbox about 2 miles from my house. I got an email from Motorola on Tuesday afternoon saying they had received the watch. When I got up Wednesday morning, I had another email saying the refurb watch had been overnighted to me, and I received it mid-afternoon Wednesday. Wow! That's quick!! Cost me $75 plus something (I forget) for shipping. The refurb watch came with a brand new black leather band. The watch is black too, which is the color of my original. And the watch looks absolutely brand new. Apparently has a band new case and screen. I charged it up just make sure it worked ok (I was instructed to keep my charger, which works fine).

So now which watch to keep? I've been using the TicWatch for a week and really like it. The refurb 360 seems like it is totally brand new. But I like to try new stuff, so I'm going with the TicWatch E and putting the 360 on eBay. YMMV.

On the post above about battery maintenance, I can't buy it. A key factor in the life of a lithium battery is the number of charges it can take. By restricting the battery charge as significantly as that guy says, you would end up charging the battery about twice as often, thereby reducing battery life not to mention the inconvenience of that. I can't explain why he has gotten such long life out of the battery he mentions, except to say that he has been very lucky.

I'm in the exact same boat. My Moto 360 2nd gen is showing inaccurate battery percentage levels, but still lasts me more than 24 hours.

So, how do you like your TicWatch E? Are you still wearing it? Anything you don't like about it?

My Moto 360 is the smaller diameter version which I like since I have a smaller wrist. I'm not so keen on the digger displays that are thicker than my 360 too, which eliminates a lot of other Android Wear watches.

 

[wrmoore47]

I'm in the exact same boat. My Moto 360 2nd gen is showing inaccurate battery percentage levels, but still lasts me more than 24 hours.

So, how do you like your TicWatch E? Are you still wearing it? Anything you don't like about it?

My Moto 360 is the smaller diameter version which I like since I have a smaller wrist. I'm not so keen on the digger displays that are thicker than my 360 too, which eliminates a lot of other Android Wear watches.

I couldn’t be happier with my TicWatch E! It’s been almost 2 months now, and it’s working and looking great! At the end of my usual day, I have about 55% battery left. I suggest you do what I did and buy from Amazon where you have 30 days to try the watch. It is a couple mm larger in diameter than the smaller 360, and about that much thicker, but that’s not bothering me at all. I guess there’s one thing I miss and that’s the ambient light sensor and the ability to automatically adjust brightness to the ambient light. But it’s not a bad trade-off for the price.

Good luck, and report your decision, please!

 

[cohoman]

I couldn’t be happier with my TicWatch E! It’s been almost 2 months now, and it’s working and looking great! At the end of my usual day, I have about 55% battery left. I suggest you do what I did and buy from Amazon where you have 30 days to try the watch. It is a couple mm larger in diameter than the smaller 360, and about that much thicker, but that’s not bothering me at all. I guess there’s one thing I miss and that’s the ambient light sensor and the ability to automatically adjust brightness to the ambient light. But it’s not a bad trade-off for the price.

Good luck, and report your decision, please!

It's good to hear your TicWatch is working great for you. I did some research and discovered the TicWatch body is made of plastic, which is bit of a turn off for me coming from a metal body Moto 360. I'm so use to the heft of a metal watch- not sure a plastic watch would feel right.

 

[Receding Hair Line]

Back in May my 2 year old moto 360 was replaced under extended warranty because my battery was doing what you all describe. I've learned from my mistakes with the original watch and no longer leave it on the charger over night.

If you are out of warranty and need to replace the battery you can get them on Amazon for around $30 for the OEM Motorola battery. There are several YouTube videos on how to break the glue on the back to perform this replacement. This is my favorite watch ever and when I have to replace it I will probably get a cheap Chinese knockoff with a replaceable battery.