Smart watch moto 360 2. Smart watch MOTO360 – the most beautiful of the worst? Pairing with Android device and PC

The first round smartwatch from Motorola created a real sensation a few years ago. The round display qualitatively distinguished this watch from others. But there were also some problems, such as frankly weak operating time and not the most productive hardware. Motorola decided to solve these problems by introducing the 2nd generation Moto 360 smartwatch.

Leather bracelets

The straps are replaceable and easy to replace yourself. There are already separate straps on sale, which you can always buy in addition and change them according to your mood or occasion. The skin is quite soft, elastic and pleasant to the touch.

Brutal version

In addition to leather straps, there is also a version with a metal strap. Yes, they are not for everyone, but replacing the strap will not be a problem. But if you like the feel of a weighty watch on your hand, then a metal strap is for you.

The 2nd generation Moto 360 impresses with its diversity. Two sizes of men's watches with a diameter of 42 mm. and 46 mm., version for girls with a diameter of 42 mm., several colors and Sport version. The men's version of the watch has three colors: black, silver and gold, as well as two types of straps: leather and metal. Users in some countries have the opportunity to take advantage of the Moto Maker feature, where the buyer designs his own watch. You can choose the color of the case, the color and texture of the bezel and the strap. The women's version of the watch has a slightly different color scheme: silver, gold and rose gold.

Moto 360 Sport

There is also a Sport version. They look really sporty, but you can't replace the strap on this watch. Although the orange version looks very good in person. In addition to its appearance, the Sport version differs from the classic second-generation Moto 360 by the presence of a built-in GPS module. It will be useful for runners and those who like to record their routes.

Women's version of Moto 360

The appearance of the female version caused great attention among the fair sex. The characteristics of the watch do not differ from men's watches. The only difference is the size of the straps and battery capacity.

Characteristics

• Screen resolution 360x330 pixels at 233ppi
• Gorilla Glass
• Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2 GHz processor (APQ 8026)
• Adreno 305 graphics @ 450 GHz
• RAM 512 MB
• Built-in memory 4 GB
• Built-in battery capacity 400 mAh for the 46 mm version and 300 mAh for the 42 mm version
• Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Two microphones

Smart watch in classic style

The first thing that catches your eye is that the only button has moved a little higher, and the strap fastenings are now visible. Some people don’t like it, but the 2nd generation Moto 360 has become even more like a classic watch, and changing the strap has become even easier, including thanks to a special spring clasp that can be accessed from the inside. The watch still looks impressive and those who come across the round display for the first time are usually quite impressed. But the round screen is still not completely round. At the bottom there is a dark strip where the light sensor is hidden. All versions of the Motorola Moto 360 2 run on Android Wear, of course. Of course, they can notify about all events incoming on the smartphone. Social networks, calls, SMS, email - you will be aware of everything. Scrolling up from the watch face, you can see notifications from mail, weather, Google Now notifications and other applications. In addition, in the Moto Body application you can find a pedometer, find out how many calories have been burned and measure your pulse. A fairly standard set for modern smartwatches. Here's something unusual: a flashlight. In this mode, the watch simply illuminates the screen as much as possible.

Distinctive features

To the delight of many iPhone users, Android Wear watches have learned to work with Apple smartphones. The same application is installed here as on Android. It allows you to set the clock and change dials. The watch comes with a wireless charging dock, which is very convenient.

Prices

The official price for the second generation Moto 360 in the US is $349.99 and up. In Russia it is approximately 39,990 rubles, and in Kazakhstan from 169,990 tenge. You can buy Moto 360 in the COME ON online store!

Video review of Moto 360 2

Review of the Moto 360 smart watch: we've seen smarter ones

In modern IT history, smartwatches were popularized by Sony Ericsson - the model was called LiveView. Then, among the most popular, there was Sony SmartWatch, but the real boom broke out only later. Today, almost every major manufacturer has its own smartwatch, or even more than one model. Even Apple did not stand aside.

Of course, Motorola, as a former leader in mobile technology, could not miss the trend either. Moreover, the company, in collaboration with Google, decided to use the Moto 360 as an example to show what a real smartwatch should look like for an Android user. Like Nexus smartphones and tablets, Moto 360 was supposed to become a kind of standard among all smart watches for the Android world. Become? Let's try to figure it out.

Equipment

The Moto 360 comes in a beautiful cylindrical box, somewhat reminiscent of a gift wrap of chocolates.

A clock is immediately revealed under the lid.

Below them are the other components of the kit: charger with micro-USB cable, wireless charging adapter, instructions and other documents.

Since this is not an official “growth” delivery (watches are not officially sold in Russia), the “plug” on the charger is American. But this is not a problem if you have any other charger with a micro-USB cable at home.

We connect the cable into the adapter, and put the clock in a special groove in the adapter. It looks like this:

Wireless charging is obviously done to ensure water resistance. And this solution is much better than remote contacts or a micro-USB slot with a plug on the watch itself, as is done by other manufacturers.

Appearance

As you know from a school geometry course, among geometric figures with the same perimeter, a circle has the largest area. Apparently, this is what Motorola engineers were guided by when they made the watch round. Some will say that this is more common - after all, wristwatches have always been round.

However, initially they (wristwatches) became like this for one reason only - the hands in them move in a circle. Although, clocks with a rectangular dial are also made, and very often.

But considering that this is a smart watch, and in theory designed to read information (notification text, for example), and not just view the position of the hands on the dial, the round display turns out to be poorly suited for this purpose. Say what you want, but reading from rectangular screens is more convenient than from those whose frames are limited by arcs. In addition, the manufacturer apparently decided to enhance the effect of unusualness and equipped the edge of the display with a small chamfer, which is enough for a rainbow to appear against a light background, caused by the refraction of light in the bends of the chamfer.

Well, to complete the picture, the watch display is equipped with a “perfectionist’s nightmare” - a black “cutout” in the correct circle.

The watch is controlled either using a button on the side (you can press and hold it) or using the touch screen.

Multi-touch for the touch screen is not provided, and it is not necessary. But swipe gestures, for example, are supported.

Connection

Once you turn on the watch, it is ready to pair with the device. Before pairing, you can’t do anything with them; they can only display this message:

We take any Android smartphone, turn on Bluetooth and download the Android Wear utility from the Google Play application store. We launch it - and the utility immediately detects our clock:

Enter the code - voila - pairing is complete.

Software

All watch control is based on the Android Wear platform, which... Some settings can be made from the watch itself, others from the smartphone with which it is paired. Alas, it is not always clear what is where. For example, you can customize the appearance of a specific watch face on your smartphone, but select the desired watch face only on your watch.

By the way, there is no “running line” here. You can view the entire text of the notification only by going to it

In fact, Moto 360 apps aren't very well adapted to the round screen.

Standard pedometer application. Part of the picture remains “behind the scenes”

But this is not the only problem - these applications are somehow still not very functional. It's funny to say - among the standard “covers” for Moto 360, there is not one that displays the day of the week, and only one that displays the current date.

Quest “find the date here.” While some are abandoning skeuomorphism, others are trying to recreate the “regular” hand clock

Weather. How much free space is wasted...

Another picture of the built-in pedometer application

You can't immediately guess what it is. Hint: calendar.

“But wait,” the enlightened reader will exclaim, “after all, this is Android! Surely you can install other applications and they will work perfectly with Moto 360?”

Of course you can. The Google Play Market has apps for Android Wear that are capable of this feat - displaying the current date and day of the week and even the weather on the same screen as the watch. The only problem is that these applications are not adapted for a round display and look on the watch... unaesthetic, to put it mildly.

Third-party Weather Wear Watch Face app, also fully compatible with Android Wear

But, on the other hand, the Android Wear platform has an advantage over the same Sony Smart Watch. For example, it is not necessary to install a plugin for each application from which you want to see notifications. Almost all applications work like this - the correct icon is visible (plus ten points for recognition - where the notification came from), and even some text.

Notification from the standard Twitter client

Notice from a VKontakte client

But the text is in trouble again. Reading mail on the Moto 360 is extremely problematic - all the fields (from whom, to whom, who is in the copy, the subject of the letter) merge into one large text, which (yes, we are talking about this again) does not fit well into the round screen. On Sony Smart Watch 2, for example, this was done more elegantly.

By the way, you can reply to messages from Moto 360. True, only by voice, but this is correct - what kind of touch input is there on such a tiny screen? The quality of voice recognition is not bad, although Apple’s is subjectively slightly better.

Battery

But still, the main problem of the Moto 360 smartwatch is autonomy. In the mode in which the screen is not constantly active, they work for a little more than a day. For a watch this is an unacceptably short time. Perhaps, if there were no other examples, this could be considered normal, but there is an example of the same Sony Smart Watch 2, which works for 3-4 days. And even some Samsung watch models can last more than 2 days.

Total

Poor functionality, insufficient autonomy and a high price - 15–16 thousand rubles - this is what the Moto 360 “smart watch” from Motorola is. When directly compared to competitors from Sony, Samsung and LG, the Moto 360 falls short in almost every aspect, including price. And, perhaps, only a nice (but controversial) design corrects the situation. But, we repeat, for comfortable reading of information from the watch screen, this screen must still be rectangular.

The first generation of the Moto 360 smartwatch was also the first round smartwatch (more precisely, almost round, but that’s a minor detail). This was their uniqueness and attractiveness. By the time the second generation of round competitors entered the market, Moto had more than enough. But there is still some interest in the Moto device. The second generation Moto 360 model, like the first, will not be officially supplied to Ukraine, but this did not stop the editors gg get to know the device better. And at the same time – with Android Wear in its current form.

What is this?

Smart watch on Android Wear OS. They come with a leather or metal strap, with a diagonal of 1.6 inches (resolution 360x330 pixels) or 1.37 inches (resolution 360x325 pixels). The asking price is from 10 thousand hryvnia (or 30 thousand rubles) for a smaller model with a leather strap to 15 thousand hryvnia (or 45 thousand rubles) for a larger model with a metal strap. The model is supplied unofficially to Russia and Ukraine.

What is inside?

An elderly mid-level processor (average at the time of its appearance and heyday) Qualcomm MSM8926 Snapdragon 400 (Cortex-A7, 1.2 GHz), Adreno 305 graphics. RAM capacity – 512 MB, internal memory – 4 GB. Display resolution - 360x320 pixels. There are no performance issues with the watch. Plus or minus the same characteristics in other models. The battery capacity is 400 mAh.

What's in the delivery box?

I don’t know if it’s correct to call the round packaging of these smart watches a box, but still. This very box contains the watch itself, a charging dock, a charger and documents.

Moto 360 surrounded by its kit

Smart watches on a pedestal - this is how they charge

However, you can find out whether they are charging by this diode - if it is on, then charging is in progress. It's not working now.

How do they look?

We reviewed a model with a diagonal of 1.6 inches (or 42 millimeters) and a leather belt. The box says that it is for men, but it seemed to me that the watch looks great on a woman’s hand.

The Moto 360 has fairly thin bezels around the screen compared to some of its competitors. Here, compare with LG Watch Urban.

Overall, the Moto 360 looks pretty standard for a watch. Round, but the bottom of the screen is slightly “cut off”. The light sensor is located in this place.

There is only one control element – ​​the screen lock and unlock button. The rest is gestures.

On the reverse side there is a heart rate monitor. This is a common thing for smart watches.

The Moto 360 looks sleek (as much as its size can). The dimensions are comparable to classic watches, so they do not interfere with life.

The strap is made of high-quality Horween leather (this is a fairly well-known American brand), which during the time that I used the watch (about two weeks) perfectly preserved its appearance. Which is understandable, it is understood that the watch should last a long time and endure all the vicissitudes of fate with dignity.

In general, there are no questions about the appearance and quality of materials. The watch does not collect scratches - the case and screen are durable.

How long do they work?

According to my observations, the maximum operating time corresponds to that declared by the manufacturer - one and a half days. Sometimes the watch has to be charged once a day, or even more often. It all depends on the activity of screen use, data synchronization and other little things.

The charging is wireless and looks somewhat similar to the charging from the Gear S2. The total charging time is an hour and a half.

What can Android Wear do?

Android Wear watches differ little from each other. Unless each manufacturer has some kind of proprietary application for monitoring physical or cardiac activity (Google Fit cannot cope with the latter yet).

To start interacting with the watch, you need to install the application of the same name (Android Wear). Through it you can connect, take screenshots, install programs, set up notification blocking (believe me, this is an important function, it will come in handy, so you need to immediately remember where to look for it), calendar notifications and enable/disable notifications on your smartphone when you have a watch on your hands.

The endless list of Android Wear apps in the store gives the false impression that the watch software can be supplemented, expanded and deepened with more features. In fact, this is not entirely true - if we put aside the packs of third-party dials (including paid ones, with a price of about 40 hryvnia (a little more than 100 rubles), strange alarm clocks, fitness programs incomprehensible in our latitudes (understandable under Android Wear for now which is not enough: there is Google Fit, watch developer software, Endomondo, paid Runtastic, the rest is self-indulgence), there are dubious games, some of the usual services (Shazam, Skype, Todoist, Google Keep, weather from third-party developers, Tinder and other little things ) But there is no real abundance.And these programs on the watch serve mainly to come to terms with the fact that they exist on a smartphone and require attention.

So, in Google Keep you can only add voice notes or notes related to drawing on the screen. Shazam suggests music (if you manage to launch it in time), there are no questions about it. Todoist allows you to add voice notes; you can send all tasks for a specific project to this application on your watch from your smartphone (but not all tasks for the day, for example), they can be marked as completed or transferred to other dates. You can control the camera using third-party software. But we can't say that third-party developers have made smartwatches on Android Wear anything more than Google has made them at the moment.

The main task of the device is to serve as a speaker for Google Now and notifications from a smartphone. The watch could be a great help in the user's sports life if Google Fit was smarter. And so - yes, it can really pull up data on the distance traveled from the watch without additional activity on the part of the user. It can count, for example, squats, based on the movement of the user’s body. But Google’s native service does not yet allow you to look at the dynamics of cardiac activity in a convenient form. The watch just has heart rate measurements. And also, by default, the watch, unlike a number of smart bracelets, does not monitor sleep quality, although they have all the tools for this. I mean that the main reason is autonomy, which will come to naught if you use the heart rate monitor constantly and at the same time have a screen.

The main thing in the user’s relationship with the watch is to immediately learn all the control gestures. To the right - swipe a hint, see all the hints - pull up the one that is displayed on the screen, remove the reminder - swipe down on the screen, if you do the same, but from the top edge of the watch face, you can get quick access to the settings. Open the application menu - left. Behind the applications menu is a menu with contacts. From it you can send a message (dictate it with your voice, draw it on the screen as an emoticon) or a ready-made template. Behind it is voice search from Google and a large list of tips for it. Voice search is launched from the main desktop. It has enough various commands, even in Russian, for normal control of the clock. But I admit, I launched it only for test purposes and did not use it in everyday life. I have a big psychological barrier to talking with gadgets. In the same way, for quite a long time I could not accustom myself to talking on a headset in the city. This really looks like schizophrenia, until society is ready for this behavior of its members, I will not use voice search.

Android Wear has the ability to send drawings, photos or emoticons to other watch owners (as far as I understand, a similar function is present in the Apple Watch) - Together. Configurable on your smartphone. An invitation to communicate Together arrives by email. The service can even add itself to the “second screen”. At first glance, Together seems strange. But in real life it’s really nice to send and receive messages like this, even from yourself. With all my disdain for all sentimental manifestations, this function seemed beautiful to the point of disgrace.

Smartphone notifications, on the contrary, seem like a cool idea only in theory. After your hand continuously vibrates from messages in all communication channels (especially if your friends like to send you messages of two or three words in batches) for the first half hour, you want to throw away the watch. This is easier than re-educating your interlocutors. But in fact, it is better to turn off any notifications except calls, mail and SMS, then the maximum balance between unobtrusiveness and usefulness will be maintained. Messages can be archived directly in the watch, marked as read, and you can respond to them using voice control, emoticons, or ready-made text templates. I didn’t like that there was a separate screen for each individual function. In Tizen, these things are combined on one screen, which is much more convenient. Moreover, the place allows it.

At first (when I had not yet thought of turning off notifications from Viber, for example), mail annoyed me no less than other events on the phone. But ultimately, after several moments when I was waiting for some important letters on the way to work or home, the watch on my wrist helped me out a lot. Because for every buzz, you didn’t have to reach into your pocket and check what came on the phone. It was enough to raise your hand.

By the way, did you notice that the screenshots from the watch are rectangular? To be honest, throughout the entire time I have been using devices on Android Wear (and this is about three weeks, and the practice continues), I have not left the feeling that this interface is not ready for the circle. Yes, round watches look more interesting - they look more like watches, and it’s unusual - a round gadget. But by and large, Android Wear has not yet done anything to ensure that the space on the display is used rationally. If you don’t think so, go back to the review of the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch – there, the interface shots clearly show that space is used wisely and efficiently. And this move with the control ring is simply brilliant. It's sorely missed in any round Android Wear watch when you have to scroll through long sheets of installed apps or settings. By the way, in the application menu the list starts with programs that have been used recently.

In the context of talking about the capabilities of Android Wear, it remains to mention the settings. You can get to them through the application sheet or by swiping from top to bottom on the main desktop. There, in the “hot” mode, the “do not disturb” mode and access to the display brightness will appear, and all the settings will appear on the third screen. In the settings you can control the display (change the font, brightness and dial), connections (for example, if you want to connect a headset), turn off/reboot/reset the device/switch to airplane mode. But the two most important options are the always-on screen and the wrist gesture (available in ON and OFF mode). You should immediately understand whether you need a constantly active screen (firstly, it blinds you at night if you wave your hand in front of your nose, and secondly, it eats up the battery mercilessly). But on the other hand, it always shows the time and some other notifications that you configure.

What's in them from Motorola?

Brand, style, materials, second generation of life in round design - this is obvious. There is also software from Motorola in the watch. This is a download from the Moto Connect and Moto Body app store.

Moto Connect is software designed to unite different Motorola devices into one universe. Including watches, smartphones, Moto Power Pack, etc. In watches, using this application, you can customize the interface design so finely that there is a risk of drowning in the number of available options.

Moto Body is something more interesting. This program records steps and monitors the load on the heart (I still don’t understand whether the program measures heart rate when it determines this mode, or whether the data appears based on the accelerometer). Moto Body also has a “Running” mode, the ability to set goals based on the number of steps taken or calories burned. In addition, synchronize data with several fitness applications (Google Fit is one of them). The program looks colorful and more friendly on a smartphone screen than Google's software. It also produces graphs where you can track the dynamics in different forms. But essentially, in Google Fit, plus or minus the same thing, and even a little more. But I want something more advanced.

What did I use in the Moto 360 smartwatch?

After a happy outcome in the battle with unnecessary notifications, I finally warmed up to having a smartwatch on my wrist. And notifications, a pedometer and a heart rate monitor are not all the useful things they have. Firstly, the device is convenient as an alarm clock. It doesn’t have a “smart” alarm clock, but to be honest, I played enough with this wonderful technology and after using it for a long time I realized that I didn’t feel much difference in waking up in the wrong or right phases of sleep (rather, the time of day, the number of hours matters sleep and what you need to wake up for). But waking up with a light vibration on your hand with a convenient opportunity to postpone sleep for another 10 minutes is really pleasant.

The second thing is the timer and stopwatch that smart watches have. Recently, out of curiosity, I decided to track how much time I spend on certain things and study my habits. Smart watches are an ideal assistant in this matter.

The third is mail and calls on the road or when you don’t have a smartphone at hand.

Fourth, you can control your music on the road, but you still need to get used to this feature.

Fifth is integration with Google Fit. Although I constantly criticize this service, smart watches still give a more complete picture of physical activity, and besides, they allow you to do abs or squats, not counting the number of times - they have a similar function (there is also running, push-ups, bicycle and other delights of life, but they did not interest me). In addition, although clumsily (through a long menu), the watch can measure heart rate in different states.

Sixth is the weather at arm's length.

Seventh – dials. There are really very beautiful ones, when I found something that completely suited my taste, I truly appreciated their charm.

What disappointed me about smartwatches?

I couldn’t enjoy the accessibility of Todoist or Google Keep - after all, I consider voice control a shameful thing. I also didn’t make friends with the sports orientation for the usual reason - my favorite adidas miCoach application does not support anything except the “native” watch and the “native” fitness bracelet. And I have a strong dislike for other programs. I'm ready to use some of the features of S Health, but overall, I still have a feeling of emptiness where there could be a useful function. Motorola has tried to correct this omission, but it is still not what is needed. Yes, it’s even sad that with automatic sleep monitoring, smartwatches on Android Wear are worse than any bracelet. I forgot about many of the watch’s features because I had to navigate through inconvenient navigation to get to them. For example, calls and messages. Plus, these features are not yet fully functional in Android Wear.

Bottom line

Although, over the course of using smartwatches from different manufacturers, I have discovered several useful functions in them, in my opinion, this device with all its current capabilities still remains an interesting thing, primarily for those people who wear watches (I don’t, but just in case). The proliferation of round (or almost round) displays and the Android platform adapted for wearable devices has brought an important thing to the smartwatch market - diversity. Nowadays, smart watches are produced by many manufacturers. Therefore, the user has the opportunity to choose something that perfectly suits his style or wallet. Moto 360 is an accessory for those who prefer sleeker electronics. Despite the fact that this model has a design and some software from Motorola, in everything except appearance, the model is a typical representative of Android Wear devices. This means that it does an excellent job of notifying the user about all important events, has a high-level voice search and operates on a single battery charge for less than two days. If you are ready to endure the shortcomings of autonomy and understand well that the capabilities of this watch will be useful to you, then welcome to the store (Ukrainian-speaking users should take into account that there is no support for their language in the interface). If you also expect benefits from wearable electronics in sports endeavors, then Android Wear is not the best assistant here (the same Samsung Gear S2 or Sony SmartBand 2 cope with these tasks better). In general, to be satisfied with your purchase, first understand what you expect from a wearable accessory and check with your sense of beauty.

4 reasons to buy Motorola Moto 360 (2nd generation):

• elegant design, there are options for different straps and diagonals;
• This is Motorola;
• It is important for you not to miss calls, letters, messages, and generally always keep your finger on the pulse;
• you're willing to accept that smartwatches in their current form aren't as provocatively smart as a smartphone, and wait for them to get smarter, especially since Android Wear has a very good chance of doing so.

3 reasons not to buy Motorola Moto 360 (2nd generation):

• you are not ready to charge your watch every day or two;
• in fact, you are looking for something more sporty;
• price factor.

Specifications

• Android Wear (works with any Android smartphone with OS version 4.3 and higher)
• Screen 1.56 inches, 320x290 pixels, round, Gorilla Glass 3
• Water and dust protection IP67
• 512 MB RAM, 4 GB internal memory
• Processor TI OMAP 3630 1.2 GHz
• Battery Li-Ion 320 mAh
• Bluetooth 4.0LE
• Dimensions – 46x46x11.5 mm
• Weight – 49 grams

Contents of delivery:

• Wireless charging on the table
• Charger
• Instructions

Positioning

Motorola was until recently part of Google, and therefore the first MOTO360 watch was perceived as a native, reference product of the search giant, at the level of Nexus devices. Perceptions of what Google does may vary, but it always guarantees interest. Moreover, by announcing its watch back in March 2014, Motorola ensured time for other companies to bring their variants to market. Inside Motorola, smartwatches as a project originated back in 2008, in the wake of the popularity of the RAZR, the company explored new niches. In 2011, MOTOACTV watches appeared on the market, which were competitors to Sony SmartWatch and were distinguished by the same ideology.

That version of the watch can safely be called a sports watch, which is exactly how the company positioned it; it is not an accessory for every day, but an additional device for sports – which sharply reduced the potential niche for it. Sales of the MOTOACTV turned out to be a failure, the watch quickly fell in value, and was sold out outside the United States, although initially this accessory was positioned only for the native market.

In 2011, the AURA Watch project appeared (the name was different, but that’s what they were called within the company), these watches were distinguished by the fact that they tried to make them designer and use round displays, like in MOTOAURA.

The contents of the watch were no different from those in MOTOACTV. When Motorola Mobility came under the wing of Google, the idea arose to pull out an already developed product with existing prototypes and use it to show the capabilities of Android Wear. It was cheap and cheerful, quite Google-like.

And here we come to a very important question - for Google this product was important only as a demonstration of Android Wear; the company never cared about its sales. At that moment, the deal to sell Motorola to Lenovo had already begun. At Motorola itself, this product did not receive management support, since no one believed in it, it was perceived quite skeptically. As a result, the amount of advertising support is minimal, production volume is minimal, and plans for 2015 are to release a more advanced version of this model. As an anecdote, I want to tell you that inside Motorola they didn’t even want to launch this product for wide sale, they didn’t see the point in it. Under pressure from Google, this finally happened, and then Motorola began hastily adding software. Only a couple of months after the start of sales, the software for this watch was rewritten for Android Wear, all the crutches were removed - the result was an increase in operating time by at least three times, as well as greater smoothness of the interface. But at the very beginning of sales, buyers did not receive a working, commercial product at all, but a crude product on rather problematic software (suffice it to remember that the clock did not live until the evening and popular rumor had already remembered that it did not work much).

But let's move from the internal kitchen around MOTO360 to who this product might be interesting for. Let's start by describing the watch niche - today it is represented more by technology enthusiasts than by ordinary buyers. The volume of this niche is very small; in 2013, according to the research company SmartWatch Group, 3.1 million watches were sold.

In 2014, this volume will at least double, but it remains a drop in the ocean, especially against the backdrop of sales by Swiss companies. I discussed a little about the watch market and the place of smart watches in it in “Spillkins”; it’s worth reading this text.

Before writing a review of the MOTO360, I asked readers who found the MOTO360 an interesting, beautiful-looking watch and what watch they were using now. An interesting pattern has emerged that cannot claim absolute accuracy, but I think that on the whole it is correct and coincides with my feeling about this product. So, the design of these watches was highly appreciated by those who currently use GShock watches, in second place in terms of mentions are Citizen, Orient, that is, Japanese brands of both quartz and electronic watches. This is a very important point, since all these brands, to one degree or another, relied on technology back in the 80s and earned a reputation as pioneers in one area or another (charging from solar panels, protection from water and shock, etc. .).

It turns out that in the watch market, a designer product similar to MOTO360 could become a replacement for such devices. Potentially. But will it happen? The question is open, but for MOTO360 the answer can be given precisely - the watch no longer took place due to the volume of production and the manufacturer’s lack of faith in it. But on the other hand, they can be purchased, and the small number of watches on the market even makes them more attractive, they are definitely not the same as everyone else's. Let's look at all the components of this watch and talk about its capabilities.

Design, dimensions, control elements

You need to choose the color of the watch before purchasing it - black or gray. Both look good, the difference is solely in your taste. Most people choose the classic – black body.

Initially, these watches go on sale with leather straps (in each color they correspond to the color of the case). These are high-quality straps from Horween, very comfortable and do not pinch your hand. But in November, sales of watches with metal straps will begin in the United States; they can be purchased separately for $80, and they look like this.

Considering that the watch can be worn for swimming, a metal strap is a good help. The watch case is made of stainless steel (316L), the coating is excellent, it does not scratch. On the inside you can see a heartbeat sensor, along with information about the characteristics of the watch. But the insert is made for an expensive watch, where the mechanism can be seen through the sapphire crystal. There is no sapphire in MOTO360, but rather soft, scratch-resistant plastic.

The IP67 protection standard means you can stay in the watch at a depth of up to one meter for 30 minutes. It is not recommended to dive into them, but you can take a shower or swim in the pool - this will not cause any problems. To make the case as protected from moisture as possible, the watch has wireless charging; the kit includes a desktop charger where you can place the watch and charge it. Comfortable? Undoubtedly. There is no need to bother with adapters, connecting them to the watch - here you just put the watch on the base and took it off after an hour and a half.

If a regular watch has a winding crown, this one has a button in its place. After the announcement of the Apple Watch, many began to praise the fact that Apple used this element for the first time in its watches, while others did not think of it. As you can see, this statement is very far from the truth; Motorola was the first to do this. The button allows you to activate the watch, but also when you raise your hand, the screen turns on. You can turn off the watch with the key by holding it long enough.

The screen is round, but at the bottom there is a rectangular insert, in particular, there is a light sensor. A small part eaten away from the circle does not spoil the appearance of the watch at all; in any case, you quickly get used to it. Another thing is that Gorilla Glass 3, which covers the screen, has beveled edges and a very mediocre oleophobic coating - fingerprints are constantly visible on the screen, it needs to be wiped. This is a weak point in smart watches, since in regular watches we do not touch the screen and the sapphire glass, moreover, is made curved, hand marks are not visible. Here everything is exactly the opposite.

In the sun the screen remains readable; it can only become blind in very bright sun. Screen diagonal – 1.56 inches, resolution – 320x290 pixels. Considering that you only need to swipe the screens, no finger input is provided, this is quite enough.

Design is a very personal thing, I share the opinion that this watch is the most pleasant of all smartwatches. But comparing them with mass-produced models of conventional mechanics, I can’t find anything particularly remarkable in them. They stand out in their niche (primarily due to their round dial), but overall they are nothing special. The image component of these or any other smart watches is zero today.

The built-in Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 320 mAh is quite capable of working for about 1.5-2 days in conjunction with a smartphone. There are no problems with this, unlike the first versions of the software, which only provided half a day of work. Full charging time is about 1.5 hours. A lot, but quite comparable to other similar devices.

Android Wear - a variant from Motorola

This watch is built on the Android Wear platform from Google, which means it does not have any unique differences from other brands; it is a first-generation watch with all the ensuing consequences. True, someone may consider the presence of 6 different dial design options to be that very unique feature - they look good.

In my review of Samsung Gear Live, I went into detail about the concept of what Android Wear is today and why Google's prediction is still not very convenient, a kind of mishmash of reminders.

But for someone, in the absence of a large number of reminders, such a product may become interesting; read the material from our reader about his experience with Android Wear.

You install Android Wear from the Play Market on your smartphone, you can also install Motorola Connect, but the second program doesn’t make much sense - it duplicates the functions of Android Wear.

Voice control from Google works well, you can even respond to SMS by voice, but, for example, you cannot talk from this watch. You can reject or accept the call. Look at the photos of different alerts, programs and notifications on the watch, no special explanation is required.

Impression

The cost of this watch in the USA is $249 excluding taxes (at the current exchange rate, a little more than 10,000 rubles). In Russia, resellers offer these watches for 15,000 rubles; you can find them a little cheaper, but the difference is insignificant. Those interested in watches usually note that they are as similar as possible to ordinary watches, and in this aspect, many manufacturers have tried to level out this line. For example, in September, LG showed the next generation of its watches on Android Wear (to avoid confusion, this is the second generation of watches from LG, but the first generation of the platform) - LG G Watch R.

The cost of these watches in Europe starts from 300 euros; in Russia they will appear approximately in November, in a very small edition and at a price of 15,000 rubles. It turns out that in any case you will have to fork out for a round-the-clock watch on Android Wear. The style of the model from LG is clearly inspired by the sports GShocks, with one but key difference - they are cheap plastic, they feel on the hand like something light, you don’t feel the weight at all. And considering the cost, it becomes completely ridiculous. When choosing between the LG G Watch R and MOTO360, I'll give my vote to Motorola.

In reviews of watches on Android Wear, it has become a tradition to say that the hardware turned out to be normal, but the platform itself is very confusing, it is impossible to work with it normally (to some extent and for some scenarios it is possible, see our reader’s article). But for the mass market, Android Wear is a crude and incomprehensible product. Moreover, for the amount they ask for such a watch today, you can buy an entry-level Swiss watch, which in class and perception will be head and shoulders above all the electronics that are bought for a year or two at most. It’s a niche product, and no one believes in it yet, including the manufacturer itself - the situation is the same in LG and Motorola, they produced the bare minimum of devices to be presented, but that’s all. Here's a sad story about smartwatches on Android Wear. We are waiting for the second version of the platform.