Moto 360 Not Perfect but still the best yet.

Even with a few defects up front, three watches later I love the Moto 360!

There is no doubt I loved the Moto 360 from the day I got it.  It was my third Android Wear, but always my first choice, and I felt it was the best of the original three; However after the frustration of a couple of initial hiccups would I still feel the same way?

  When I first got the Moto 360 I went for the Horween Leather band.  I must say it was quite comfortable.  As time went on I began to notice the much talked about cracks on the back plastic plate were developing on mine.  I quickly brought it back, and as luck may have it Best Buy had the metal band version in stock.  They were kind enough to exchange it without the additional cost.  I'm not sure if they were supposed to; however the girl told me she wanted to take care of me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Motorola had installed a plastic spacer on the metal band version to get the band away from the plastic back.  With the black spacer there is no way for the band to put stress on the back causing it to crack.  Upon getting it home I found that the metal band was a few links short to fit on my wrist.  I attempted to install a few extra links myself, but found I was stopped dead in my tracks when I could not remove the original pins.
At this point of frustration I decided to bring in an expert, so I drove back to town and saw the local jeweler.  After a fair charge of only $10.00 and a couple hours of their time my new watch fit perfect.  

Full of excitement I went home and began installing all of the custom watch faces I love.  When I rebooted the watch my heart once again sunk as I noticed it.  I noticed that I had a burnt out pixel dead center of the screen Noooo!  Once again I packed up the watch and headed back to Best Buy.  I was greeted warmly by the staff, and they quickly offered to help.  In no time at all they got out the last Stainless model they had, swapped my newly sized band onto it so I did not have to make another trip to the jeweler, and they once again sent me on my way as a happy customer.

I fired up my third one and quickly inspected the screen.  After finding my new display was perfect the smile was back on my face.  So after a few frustrating hiccups, I am still very happy with my Moto 360.  If you decide to purchase one, I strongly recommend going with the steel band to start.  It is very comfortable, and with the different mounting points you will not have to worry about the plastic back cracking.  Overall even with a few initial problems I still give the Moto 360 a big thumbs up.  I look forward to a writting a follow up on my experience as the Andoid Wear operating system evolves.  Rumor has it a Moto 360 2.0 is in the works already!  

Moto 360 Steel Band

If there is a problem fix it, pretend there was not a problem, then tell them the fix is an upgrade!  Brilliant! 

When I bought the Moto 360 it was my third Android Wear device, but not my third choice.  My first choice was the Moto 360;  however it was not the first one ready for release to the public.  The first three announced were the LG G Watch, the Samsung Gear Live, and the Moto 360.  The only problem, the Moto 360 was the one everyone wanted but was the last one released.  So I like many got the first one I could get my hands on (the LG G Watch), and I was probably one of the first to return it because it was ugly.  Then I tried the Gear live and felt like a member of the cast of Star Trek.  

Every product has it's problems, the LG G Watch problem was looks, it was UGLY.  Let's call a spade a spade, it's ugly.  The G watch was a blocky square box on your wrist fastened with an ugly rubber strap.  There was one button that was located out of reach on the back and could only be pushed with the tip of a pen.  It's form factor was not conducive to fitting comfortably on your wrist with a long sleeve dress shirt.  The only great thing about it's looks is that it looks great with the night rider watch face that can be downloaded from the Play Store.  In the world of cars there is a term when discussing ugly cars, and that is "there is an ass for every seat".  I don't quite know what the translation would be for a watch, but I think you can get the point.  The good news was LG saw the flaw and to their credit went quickly back to the drawing board to fix it.  In one of the quickest turn around of bad design LG developed the G Watch R.  To their credit they made a watch that turned heads, and at least brought the looks into the 90's.  With it's massive G shock like bezel it actually looks good.

On the other end of the spectrum is a watch that has come from a company that has already developed it's own OS for the smart watch world.  Now they are seeing the opportunity of being part of the next big thing "Android Wear".  Unfortunately they have not gone to the next big thing with the looks of their first android wearable.  Again to give credit where it is due, they have refined the look of their previous square face, but with its brushed metal body, and rubbery band it looks like it should be worn on the wrist of someone piloting the Star Trek Enterprise.  I will say it was actually comfortable on my wrist, and would allow me to wear it with a long sleeve dress shirt at work.  Then there is the clip on charger that was a rush to production after thought.  Yikes!

At the release of Android Wear Sundar Pichai was wearing the most anticipated of the three announced Android Wear devices.  Motorola was the only company to come to market with a watch that actually looked like a respectable timepiece.  With a Stainless steel case, a band made of real leather, and a face that looked like it had hands floating just like a real watch.  Three things that have hurt the impression of the watch were the old Texas Instruments processor, the lowest resolution display of the bunch, and the plastic back that is fragile and cracks when any amount of stress is put on the band.  While people criticize the processor, the performance is very comparable to the competition.  The Display may be the lowest PPI of the bunch; however it is beautiful in the way that it appears the faces float up to the top of the watch face.  As for the back of the watch cracking, well there is no excuse it's a problem.  People have sanded the edge of the plastic back to eliminate the pressure applied at the corners,  while others have bought ugly plastic inserts to extend beyond the plastic back to help the poor design.

Motorola then came up with the best fix of all, they decided to turn lemons into lemonade.  Motorola made a flush fitting plastic insert that connects a beautiful color matching metal band to the beautiful body of the Moto 360.  The metal band is wider than the original leather band, giving the Moto 360 a very refined, and classy appearance.  Now probably the only watch that would actually look good with a suit to date (soon to be challenged by the Asus Zen watch) the Moto looks like a winner.  It also allows the person wearing it to feel comfortable breaking a sweat wearing it, and not feeling like they are going to ruin the leather.  After all it was one of the few to have a heart rate monitor, leading you to believe maybe you should wear it when going for a run.  On top of fixing the problem Motorola made it's customers feel the fix was an upgrade that was worth an extra $50.00 on the retail shelf.  To be honest I feel like I got an upgrade when I swapped out my cracked leather band model, and purchased the Model with the steel band.  Overall I would say the Moto 360 is still the best looking Smart Watch to date. onthemovetech.com  

Moto 360

Moto 360 Stainless with Stone Leather Band

Is the Moto 360 the best "Android Wear" yet?

After the announcement of "Android Wear" and the Moto 360 to the smart watch community I knew I had to have one.  Unfortunately also announced was the fact that the Moto 360 would not be released until Late Summer.  I then set out to get the first available Android Wear Watch, the LG G Watch at the local Verizon Store.  I was excited to get it but was soon left with the feeling of "Wow this thing is Ugly", but decided to give it a try.  The G Watch seemed to have some of the better specifications for the battery, processor, and memory so it seemed like a logical first Watch.  The Charging Cradle for the G Watch was user friendly, and the watch was actually comfortable.  I just could not get past the ugly phone on my wrist look.  I quickly returned it and moved on.  

My next experience was with a watch produced by a manufacturer that had several generations in the smart watch category already.  I went to Best Buy and purchased the Samsung Gear Live.  The Gear Live immediately felt like an upgrade over the G Watch.  The Live had a more refined looking metal case, and a contour that made it more comfortable than the G Watch.  While not as ugly as the G Watch the Gear Live was still basically a block on my wrist.  The battery was significantly smaller than the G Watch battery, but to my surprise it seemed to last just as long.  This may have had something to do with the display, and some of the settings I was using.  When I was faced with charging the Gear Live I was very disappointed.  I had heard negative comments about the snap on charger breaking, or being difficult to mount to the watch.  While it was frustrating to attach, if I took my time and was gentle it seemed to snap securely in place.  

I began wearing the Gear Live on a daily basis, and found it was very comfortable.  I also found the Android Wear experience was becoming more and more useful in my day to day activities.  With moderate use viewing incoming emails, and text messages I found I was easily getting through a full day with over 40% battery remaining on average.  I did find the Gear live was not getting caught in my dress shirt sleeve like the G Watch; however I had a couple of near drops when reaching into my pants pocket and the clasp popped open.  The clasp became the only physical downfall I was having with the Gear live.  I did have a few times that the watch would randomly disconnect from my phone, but it appeared to reconnect quickly and was not a major problem.  The major problem I had was when I began seeing the Moto 360 in person, and began to regret not waiting for it to become available.  I was fortunate to run into an understanding Manager at Best Buy who was gracious enough to allow me to return my Gear Live after a couple months of use.  

After leaving the return counter at Best Buy I was able to find the last Moto 360 Stainless with the Stone Leather band in stock.  I quickly purchased it and was off to begin enjoying the watch I originally wanted.  When I opened the beautiful circular themed packaging I found a very premium looking timepiece.  I put it on and found it to be not only very light weight, but it's round design and Horween leather band made it very comfortable.  I then found it was completely discharged.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it charged quickly on the wireless charging dock included with the watch.  With built up anticipation I powered up my 360, and found the same easy set up steps as the previous two Android Wear watches.  The stock faces included with the watch also look more premium than the LG, and the Samsung basic faces.  The Moto 360 ambient screen appeared very dim but when the screen is on it is both bright and crisp.  The Moto 360 PPI resolution is not as high as the other Android Wear watches, but when looking at such a small screen it is hardly noticeable.

The first day of wearing the Moto 360 was interesting.  The response of co-workers was that of both interest, and compliments on it's looks.  Response previously with the G Watch, or Gear Live were mainly sarcastic relating them to Inspector Gadget, and Night Rider.  I started my day around 7:30 a.m. but by noon I was very concerned as my battery was less than 50% and I had not had the time to really try any of the watches features.  The watch was completely dead by 4:30 and I was beginning to question my purchase.  When I arrived home I placed the watch on the charger and left it on all night.  The long charge must have done the trick because by the end of day two I still had 40% plus remaining after 14 hours of use.  The days after have had similar positive results with between 30 and 50% remaining after moderate use.  During my average days I find I am frequently checking emails, text messages, using the pedometer, heart rate monitor, and occasionally using the voice search feature.  I am sure usage will increase with functionality of Android Wear.

The processor in the Moto 360 is made by Texas Instruments and has been another topic of conversation in online forums.  Through my personal experience the combination of the processor, memory and the Android Wear operating system make the Moto 360 a very capable smart watch.  I do not find any noticeable performance issues.  The heart rate monitor works at times but may be impaired by a combination of the small holes for the LED, and arm hair.  As a side note I would say my arms have an average amount of hair for a guy.  The pedometer seems reasonably accurate in measuring average steps, keeping in mind I have never worn any other type of pedometer to compare performance.  I have not had the guts to submerge the watch in water to test the IP67 water resistance rating, and have no desire to wet the leather wrist band.  I do find the Moto 360 to be much more responsive than the G Watch, or the Gear Live in illuminating the display when I turn my wrist to check the time or incoming notifications with a glance.

So far in my experience with the Moto 360 I am very happy with it's appearance, comfort, performance, and overall build quality.  I feel STRONGLY that of all of the Android Wear experiences I have had this far, the Moto 360 is the best Android Wear watch to date.  I look forward to the evolution of the Android Wear operating system, and feel that the Moto 360 will be not only an accessory to my wardrobe, but a great tool in staying productive in my day to day activities.  I also look forward to reporting back over the coming months on some of the updates coming to Android Wear, and the Moto 360's functionality with those updates.
onthemovetech.com