Moto 360 -My Review - Beta Love

[Neibl]

Seeing as many people are sharing their opinions and there are only so many people who got their hands on a watch I thought I'd share my opinion/review of the Moto 360 after a few days with the watch.

Design:
If I had to use one word, I'd say stunning. This watch really does look as good as it looks in all the photos you have seen, I'm a CPA so I have to be able to easily wear a watch with formal business clothing without people asking "what is that on your wrist?", and I can confidently say this watch is that. I owned a pebble steel and although that looked and functioned well (Moto 360 works better/more consistent/convenient), but the Moto 360 is a smartwatch that people do not actually realize is a smartwatch. Instead it merely looks like a large faced trendy watch that blends in to your outfit as merely a fashion accessory. It's also very comfy and lightweight, I prefer it over my Tag Heur and my Tissot in terms of comfort when using my laptop at work etc. A+ here for Motorola.

Hardware:
This is where Motorola both excel and failed. The screen is great, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, You can see it outside, inside, in sun, whatever, the ambient light sensor adjusts the screen brightness seamlessly and I rarely notice any of this, it just works. The processor on the other hand is another story, I can tell they choose an older processor, things are slightly slower than I would expect and the battery drain is noticeable (See battery section before judgement), but none of this makes the watch less awesome to use. I'm never upset or out of battery.B+.

Battery:
Okay there is really two sides to talking about the battery life and first off let me say, I literally never worry about not getting through a single day no matter how much I use the watch. You have to keep ambient mode off (a form of screen always on, not to be confused with the ambient light sensor), which doesn't bother me at all as the watch looks good regardless on/off and i'm never at a loss to get the screen on either. Today for example i took the watch off the charger at 5:45am used the watch somewhat heavily today (many group text messages going on) showed it off to some coworkers and am now at home at 8:33pm with 28% battery trying to suck more out to see how long it will go. I'd guess based on the past few days this watch would continue close to midnight on this charge.

The other side of the battery is, although it lasts all day, I can't help but feel with a newer processor it could have lasted 1.5 to 2 days on a single charge. That being said the battery is so small and Qi wireless charging is so easy that it's so easy and quick to get more juice in this thing. A 320 mah battery chargers 30-50% in like 20-30 minutes. Expect to get anywhere between 15-24 hours between charges depending on how you use the watch. B+.

Overall:
Overall this watch is slowly making my life easier, android wear is in a beta stage it is obvious, but it is also obvious how close this is to being the next big thing. Android Wear is no joke, it takes a day to understand how to use it and how using it will fit your lifestyle, but the voice controls and sending texts are super easy. The mic seems to hear what I say 8 times out of 10 pretty perfect and once you get the timing down it's just a pleasure. I was at a party this weekend with the watch with a loud DJ playing and I was having drinks with friends while at the same time speaking texts and Facebook messages into the watch while my phone sat on a table across the room. Even with the loud music and many conversations going on it had no trouble hearing me. One suggestion though, USE Hangouts, it has so much more ability in Android Wear as of now. Also, using the watch lowers the amount of time I use my phone a lot and as such my LG G3 battery life has increased by about 30% or so. I usually carry a battery around for my phone, but now I don't really need it.

Overall Score: B+ (88/100) Sometimes a Beta isn't so Beta, it's just a big step in the right direction. The watch is not something you stare at all day like your phone, it's a tool you use when you need it, unlike the toy like way we use our phones now a days.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and i'll gladly answer or upload some photos/videos. Hope someone finds this helpful.

 

[Machoua Yang]

Nice job on review!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Aglet]

Good review, and gave me some info I did not know.

 

[Flibberdejibit#WN]

Thanks Neibl. Nicest writeup I've seen so far. I was going to post a review of my own, but would have said much the same as what you have here. Since you've covered so much, I thought I would throw in some additional personal observations to anyone who reads this (very well written) review. Apologies if you consider this a threadjack...let me know if you'd like me to delete.

Watchfaces:
The watch comes with several faces installed and I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but different faces actually have slightly different functions. Some are limited...including just the watch face with small notification "peek cards" (the ones you've seen pictures of). One has world clock functions and small peek cards. A personal favorite has a standard watch face, but has a "calendar ring" around the outside of the watchface that shows appointment blocks you have scheduled throughout the day, plus a 10-min countdown on the ring as your meeting/appointment approaches where the "minute tick marks" turn yellow instead of white/black. This one also includes date and shows the small peek cards...this is the one I use and I absolutely LOVE it. Another option is a more contemporary version with large peek cards, and another is a digital-type face with a notification icon and small peek cards. It will be interesting to see what options come available in the coming weeks/months.

Navigation:
This actually works surprisingly well. The watch interfaces with Google Maps and displays upcoming turns on the watchface. It doesn't show the map itself as you would see using Navigation, which is good...would absolutely destroy the battery otherwise. What it will do is vibrate once, turn on and display distance to your next turn, with a graphic showing which direction to turn. The watch will then turn back off to conserve battery, and as you approach your turn, the watch will vibrate TWICE, turn on, and show distance to your turn. The double vibrate is a nice touch to let you know your turn is coming right up. Works great.

Bluetooth pairing:
The watch plays very well with my in-car bluetooth, or should I say my phone manages the connection well (LG G Flex). When I'm not using my in-car bluetooth for a call, my phone stays connected to the 360, but I can still control my music playback through the watch. As soon as I try to make a call, my phone will disconnect from the 360 and connect the phone to the car's speaker for the call. When this happens, the watchface will say "Disconnected". Once I finish the call, the watch reconnects to phone within a couple of seconds.

Music Control:
This seems to work just fine with every music player I've attempted to use on my phone, with my default being PowerAmp. The watchface displays album cover artwork and gives the ability to pause/play, skip to next track, or reverse to previous track. The only issue I have noted is that I get occasional "hiccups" in playback where the music will stop for a half-second and then resume. Not sure if this is a PowerAmp issue or not, but I've seen another reviewer make the same comment.

Voice Control:
Works VERY well. Sending text messages is quick and easy and voice recognition is excellent. I have yet to have it not exactly capture what I've said. Telling the device to "Set a reminder" will prompt it to ask you "For What?" and then "What Time"? Works great for remembering little tasks.

Notifications:
I was initially concerned that the 360 might not provide meeting reminders for meetings/appointments that were not on my Google Calendar, such as anything associated with my Exchange/Outlook account at work. That is NOT the case...I get notifications for everything Outlook-related including email and appointments. Had this not worked, it would have been a deal-breaker for me.

I also second Neibl's comments on battery life. I can easily get through my day with plenty of charge, even with what I would consider some pretty heavy use. I had a Galaxy Gear back earlier this year and really liked it, but it drew a lot of attention...it was unorthodoxed in it's appearance and tended to get people's eyes drawn to it. This is MUCH more subtle and folks really don't notice it...it's like any other nice, run-of-the-mill timepiece. Android Wear still isn't fully baked and still has a long way to go, but with a few days of use under my belt, I am very happy with my purchase.

 

[MannyZ28]

I agree with everything said above, both if you did an excellent job sharing your opinions.

I too like the voice control for quick texts, and I really love it for the music. I subscribe to Google play music and I can literally just tell it to play music and it will use the go lucky radio function basing it's selection of music I recently listened too. I can tell it to play a song title and it will find it and play or I can give it just the artist name or name the actual album in which case it will play said album.

I am surprised how well all this works and can't wait for the proper api to come out to make adding watch faces easier for developers and whatever other tweaks and functions Google has planned for Android wear.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Neibl]

Not a thread jack, share away.

Thanks everyone, glad this helped people.