Gadgetory

it's probably the most anticipated SmartWatch ever Motorola's Moto 360 isn't the first to shoehorn a smartphone sidekick into a round chassis but it is the first Android wear device to do so does that mean you should run out and buy it right now well that's what we're here to find out i'm michael fisher with pocket now and this is our motorola moto 360 video review we've already reviewed the software driving Google's SmartWatch platform Android wear and there's not much different here in that respect what really sets the Moto 360 apart is it's hardware that includes a stainless steel casing rater to ip67 for dust and water resistance whore we another on the conventional wristband and Gorilla Glass 3 display protection on the face the display underneath is a large backlit LCD with pixels stretching all the way to the edge where the glass is beveled slightly to meet the casing the display is a bit lower in density than some of its competition which means Google's cards use up more of the watch face than we like the more talked-about flaw in the circular display is an equipment bay at the bottom which gives the screen what some have called a flat tire look with certain watch faces we don't really mind but you might there's a single button on the right side with crisp snappy feedback and on the back cover a heart rate sensor sits nestled within a wireless charging coil that eliminates the need for external connectors it all comes together in a sleek and beautiful if big package that weighs in at 49 grams comes in silver or black and goes with just about anything you wear alongside it it might surprise you to learn that counterbalancing this cutting-edge exterior is a 4 year-old processor on the inside the OMAP 3 from Texas Instruments now it is backed up by modern amounts of RAM and onboard storage and really how much horsepower do you need on a SmartWatch still we're a little put off that this $250 device is powered by the same silicon that drove the Droid X in 2010 thankfully that seasoned chipset doesn't often affect the day-to-day use of the moto 360 it suffers from the occasional hiccup sure but not really more so than the other Android wear watches we've tested and it has all the basics just as well it buzzes your wrist for notifications except voice commands and dictated replies it measures your heart rate and counts your steps it tells you your next appointment and it plugs into compatible third-party apps and of course it tells you the time using almost any watch face you can think of it does all this so you don't have to take your phone out of your pocket quite as often which sounds like the ultimate first world problem yes but is actually a real compelling convenience once you get used to it in particular navigating to a destination from your wrist is very handy when biking or even walking and dismissing an inbound call with a candid text response is also useful if you're in the middle of something unfortunately Android wear is still very much a one-point ho product most of the issues we complained of in our Android wear review earlier this summer remain like the inconsistent nature of the cards interface the fact that your app list is buried all the way at the bottom of the least accessible menu and the software's tendency to send a text message while you're still dictating it this software is also a stickler for specific phrasing saying set a timer for 10 minutes will do just that but saying start a 10 minute countdown will make the watch try to open an app on the phone we've never heard of and don't even have installed that's because the watch recognizes the start keyword as an app launch command but still saying set a 10 minute countdown just takes you to a Google search so does what movies are playing nearby a question that in Google now on the phone gives you a useful list some of this just comes down to remembering what to say and how to say it but Android wear is still not as smart as it needs to be to deliver consistent convenience the Moto 360 hardware does its best to make up for that in the details its ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display brightness the Motorola connect app lets you customize watch faces to suit your own tastes and you can also plug in specific data about your health to give the watch a better idea of how to track your exercise and the charging pedestal may not be the most portable device but its bedside clock mode sure is slick you won't want to get far away from that charger for long but the 360 isn't the battery hog we first suspected at least not relatively speaking keeping the screen on all the time will definitely kill it faster we only managed 11 hours of use in that state but turning ambient screen off and relying on either the accelerometer or the side button to wake it when we need it the 360 does much better one day after 12 hours of moderate use and mild notification traffic we still had half a charge remaining at the end of the day that's obviously not terrific but it is par for the course with Android wear watches so there's a lot of compromise to the Moto 360 and for 250 dollars it's not going to be worth it for everyone you can certainly find more limited but more reliable smartwatches outside the Android wear ecosystem and for cheaper but if you're looking for the tightest possible integration with your Android phone and you're looking for a beautiful build to boot well you just can't do better than this device the Moto 360 lives up to the hardware hype about as well as we could ask for now all we have to do is wait for Android wear to catch up for more on Android wear other Motorola devices and every other smartphone tablet and SmartWatch we can get our hands on visit us at pocketnow.com subscribe here on youtube and follow us on social media where we talk text and tweet until next time this has been michael fisher captain two phones on twitter thanks for watching and we'll see you real soon you