Outside of Apple Watch, Motorola’s Moto 360 has been the most widely anticipated smartwatch of late.
Unveiled at Google’s I/O developers conference in June, the Moto 360 was pitched as a flagship device for Android Wear, Google’s new software for wrist-based gadgets. With a rounded face and metal case, the Moto 360 was supposed to be a step above its Android Wear rivals.
Motorola finally released the Moto 360 earlier this month, and I tested it last week. While it may be the best Android Wear device on the market, that’s not saying a lot in its favor.
The Moto 360 suffers from the same shortcoming that plagues all smartwatches right now: There’s no killer app or compelling need to own one. Nearly everything you can do on a smartwatch can be done better on a smartphone.
The Moto 360 also, like many smartwatches, does a terrible job at something that should be one of its primary functions: displaying the time. To save power, the Moto 360 and many of its rivals dim or turn off the screen most of the time, so you can’t just glance at your wrist to check the time. Instead, you have to bring the watch to your face or even tap or jostle it.
If you’re going to have to do that, why not just pull out your phone?
The most distinctive thing about the Moto 360 is its round face. Most other smartwatches on the market are either square or rectangular, which, combined with their LCD screens, makes them look more like techy gadgets than timepieces.
The Moto 360’s simple circular design at least gives it the potential to look like something less geeky. With its stainless steel case and leather strap, it also feels solid and, if not expensive, at least not cheap.
But its fashion potential is undermined by both its thickness and its screen. The Moto 360 is more than a centimeter thick, meaning that it rises noticeably off your wrist. While it’s fairly lightweight — weighing in at less than 2 ounces — it’s no slender timepiece.
Its screen is of relatively low resolution, which means that when it displays a clock face, it doesn’t look like anything close to a real watch.
The differences between the Moto 360 and other Android Wear devices are only on the surface. It basically works the same as its rivals.
As conceived by Google, Android Wear works generally as an extension of an Android smartphone rather than as an independent computing device. So by themselves, the first generation devices can do very little. They can tell you the time, keep track of appointments they’ve already downloaded, act as pedometers and monitor your pulse rate — and that’s about it.
Paired with a smartphone, they essentially act as a second screen for it. Android relays alerts from a smartphone to the watch, as well as things like point-by-point directions and messages.
These notifications can quickly become annoying and overwhelming. I get lots of e-mails each day, few of which I actually need to be alerted to.
Yet the Moto 360 faithfully let me know whenever a new message or batch of messages arrived.
In some cases, users can interact with smartphone apps, typically using Google Now, the intelligent assistant feature included with Android. So, by talking to their watch, users can ask for directions or respond to an e-mail.
But many apps don’t yet work with Android Wear. The app I use to track my dog walks, for example, doesn’t interact with Android Wear, despite working with other smartwatches and fitness bands.
There’s no compelling reason for me to recommend the Moto 360 — or any other smartwatch — at least not yet.
Motorola moto 360
What: Motorola Moto 360 smartwatchLikes: Lightweight, metal case, round design
Dislikes: Does little without phone near by; dims or darkens screen when not in use, making it difficult to see time; inconsistently responds to wake-up gesture; notifications can be overwhelming; small screen makes reading, responding to messages difficult.
Specs: 1.56-inch, 320 x 290 screen, 4GB storage
Price: $250
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