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