A (165)

N

o other wearable has come close to the

hype and attention the Moto 360 has

received in the past few months.Although

the market has been duly saturated with new

smartwatches, the Moto 360 has certainly piqued

the interest of many potential users who have yet

to be persuaded on the need for a smartwatch. Out

of the box, the most obvious change between the

360 and early Android Wear watche,s like the LG G

Watch, is that it’s round. It looks like an actual

watch that people would choose to wear, and the

whole design has a distinct premium finish. There’s

a choice of straps to help keep it attached to your

wrist, with the leather variant we tested being

lightweight and sleek in design. The metallic watch

face is well constructed, with the screen slightly

raised, but the whole build is chunky and quite

obtrusive on the wrist.

A simple long press on the side button turns on

theMoto360,withthesmartwatchneedingthe

Android Wear app on your smartphone to

connect. The process is easy and pairing can be

completedinafewseconds.AndroidWearis

certainly a great addition to the Android ecosytem

andaddsplentyoffunctionalitytothe360.Users

can send texts, control apps and even use a

Wear-dedicated launcher, all from their wrist. It’s

quick at receiving notifications, and a decent

solution to quickly confirming or discarding phone

calls. The display is bright and colourful, and we

can cut it some slack for the odd bit of pixelation

due to its smaller size.

Where the Moto 360 starts to falter is really not

the fault of Motorola. Google’s intent on using

rectanglesthroughoutGoogleNowandmanyofits

other apps leads to words and pictures often being

cut off from the Moto 360’s circular screen. It’s a

bit too apparent in some areas, especially those

that the black panel along the bottom of the watch

face obscures.

With the Moto 360 capable of so much, it’s not

been best equipped in the battery department

either. The 320mAh offering has undergone a

coupleofupdatestoprolongitslife,butwithso

much power required for Android Wear, you’ll be

veryluckytomakeitthroughasingledayofuse.

ItstestamenttoMotorola’sstrongdesignethics

thatthe360isoneofonlyafewsmartwatches

people would consider wearing, even if it’s a little

chunky. Although Android Wear works a treat on

the smartwatch, its integration is far from perfect

andasubparbatterylifeonlylookstomakethings

worse. There’s plenty of room for improvement, but

this is a good start from Motorola.

Reviews

Mot

Adjustable

Users can choose betw

and leather-based ba

Moto 360. Some

reported sizing issu

metal bands, so keep t

before

Charge and go

When the time comes to give the 360

a charge, simply place it in the

accompanying dock to start the

Wear integration

From managing your music to

discarding phone calls, the Moto

360 is capable of so many things

Circular

From a design po

the circular face of

fantastic. Howeve

from text being

images not correctl

thanks to Google’s

rectangles in An

Does Motorola p

deserve space on your wrist?

A good attempt by Motorola,

but better integration

of Android Wear needs

to be addressed for this

smartwatch to be a winner

»Verdict

Value for money

You’re paying a little extra for the premium

build materials used here

Features

Ideal for managing apps and notifications,

but Android Wear is far from perfect

Design

A superbly built smartwatch, slightly let

down by the chunky watch face

Performance

The TI OMAP processor handles tasks

without any glaring issues

»Operating system...............An

»Processor...................................TI OMAP 3

»Memory.....................................512MB RAM, 4GB storage

»Dimensions..............................46 x 46 x 11.5mm

»Weight..........................................49g

»Display size...............................1.56-inch

»Display resolution...............320 x 290 pixels

»Connectivity.............................Bluetooth

»Expansion slot.......................N/A

technical spec

Price £199.99/$249 99

»^ More information http://www.mo

»^ Supplied by http://www.motorola

information

Moto 360

better th orse than

Moto 360

issue 046

LG G

Watch R

Sony

Smartwatch 2

issue 042

Battery life

The 320mAh

offering really isn’t

enough to cope with

the power-sapping

Android Wear