Moto 360 Review

[Anonymous]

My experiences/review of the Moto 360/Android wear...

Moto 360 build and feel: Not too large even on my small wrists, feels comfortable and looks good.

Usability:

Android wear is currently very limited in lots of ways.  For example, coming from a Sony SW2 in which I could read my entire inbox, delete emails, mark them as read etc, all of these are not possible.   You just get a notification, and if you swipe it away it’s gone for good... 

Voice control, when it worked it was great! BUT, you can't rely on it and it requires a good internet link (I think)    As it was, I ended up getting frustrated repeating the commands and it then stopped working completely, just disconnecting from the phone whenever I tried it.  

Also the voice integration isn't as with my phone, e.g. you can't create an appointment by saying, "Ok Google, create appointment for 2 o'clock tomorrow" I assume this will be fixed in future upgrades.

Always on screen isn't possible (ambient mode still turns the screen off randomly)  With ambient mode off, you need to make a very exaggerated movement to get it to switch on.  Also with ambient mode on, when it first lights up you can’t use voice.  This made it difficult to predict when voice was going to work.

Battery life is very poor.  I kept ambient mode on and in this mode it would not last a full day.  SW2 with screen always on lasted a few days.

Sorry, run out of time to write much more.  Might add to this if people are interested.

My conclusion:  It’s not worth buying yet.  Due to a combination of the Moto 360 battery and limited Android wear platform.

I’d like to see the following, which is hopefully not too far away:

Always on touch screen which doesn’t require a backlight (as with the Toq)   It’s not a good look when your arm lights up randomly.

Voice control which isn’t internet dependent.

Full integration with email and calendar

A battery life of 3+ Days

Mike.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My experiences/review of the Moto 360/Android wear...

Moto 360 build and feel: Not too large even on my small wrists, feels comfortable and looks good.

Usability:

Android wear is currently very limited in lots of ways.  For example, coming from a Sony SW2 in which I could read my entire inbox, delete emails, mark them as read etc, all of these are not possible.   You just get a notification, and if you swipe it away it’s gone for good... 

Voice control, when it worked it was great! BUT, you can't rely on it and it requires a good internet link (I think)    As it was, I ended up getting frustrated repeating the commands and it then stopped working completely, just disconnecting from the phone whenever I tried it.  

Also the voice integration isn't as with my phone, e.g. you can't create an appointment by saying, "Ok Google, create appointment for 2 o'clock tomorrow" I assume this will be fixed in future upgrades.

Always on screen isn't possible (ambient mode still turns the screen off randomly)  With ambient mode off, you need to make a very exaggerated movement to get it to switch on.  Also with ambient mode on, when it first lights up you can’t use voice.  This made it difficult to predict when voice was going to work.

Battery life is very poor.  I kept ambient mode on and in this mode it would not last a full day.  SW2 with screen always on lasted a few days.

Sorry, run out of time to write much more.  Might add to this if people are interested.

My conclusion:  It’s not worth buying yet.  Due to a combination of the Moto 360 battery and limited Android wear platform.

I’d like to see the following, which is hopefully not too far away:

Always on touch screen which doesn’t require a backlight (as with the Toq)   It’s not a good look when your arm lights up randomly.

Voice control which isn’t internet dependent.

Full integration with email and calendar

A battery life of 3+ Days

Mike.

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I've been thinking about what you said about wanting the ability to see your inbox and read emails. Initially I thought that was a good idea, but then I kept coming back to the thought of "why"? Why would you want to have essentially a replica of your phone in your wrist? Having a smartwatch which does too much or as much as your phone, kinda renders that £500+ device in your pocket useless. I think Google Wear has the right idea so far. It should be a convenient way to acknowledge and action in simple ways, notifications and act as a remote for some apps. There is still room for improvement but I see the smartwatch as an addition to your phone, not a fully featured replacement for it.

[Anonymous]

Seems people are having very different experiences!

I agree about the voice integration. Hopefully future Google app updates and updates to the 360 software will make it more like on the handset.

I disagree about battery life though. I too had the SW2, and it would last longer then a day, however it didn't have the heart rate monitor or pedometer. I also rate the screen a higher clarity and quality personally. Also the SW2 has gone through several more software updates to improve on battery life. We're still in early days with Moto 360. One update improved it drastically, so here's hoping for further.

I don't use ambient mode for the extended battery life. Realistically with it off I can probably get through a day and a half, however I put it on charge each night anyway. My father in law has ambient mode on always and he can get a days usage out of it no problem. He's not told me about it going off, I'll have to ask him if he's experiencing that.

I also disagree about the requirement to move significantly for it to light up. Without fail mine will light up upon raising it to view.

I too would like to see better integration with calendar though. I can forgive these type of things as it'll come I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

I decided to monitor my battery life over the last 12 hours. I was working a night shift last night. I removed the watch from charge at 1930. At 0730 this morning it was down to 75% charge. That's approximately a 2% loss per hour. By that figure I'd surmise in 24 hours it would be down to 50%. If it depleted at the same rate, it's possible I could get two days usage (2 days 1 night without charge, on charge overnight second night, ready for third day).

[viridis]

Some great end user comments and discussion.
Possibly warrants their own thread but I'm really enjoying people's thoughts on Google wear.

[Cleoriff]

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@viridis wrote:
Some great end user comments and discussion.
Possibly warrants their own thread but I'm really enjoying people's thoughts on Google wear.

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I have already asked for Chris's to be moved. It now has its own thread....but he keeps coming back to join in this one....

(he posted on it for so long...it must feel like home...)

[Toby]

Hi Mike,

I've created a thread just for your review. Lovely job

[Cleoriff]

Thanks again @Toby  I just aim to keep you busy...:smileywink:

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been thinking about what you said about wanting the ability to see your inbox and read emails. Initially I thought that was a good idea, but then I kept coming back to the thought of "why"? Why would you want to have essentially a replica of your phone in your wrist? Having a smartwatch which does too much or as much as your phone, kinda renders that £500+ device in your pocket useless. I think Google Wear has the right idea so far. It should be a convenient way to acknowledge and action in simple ways, notifications and act as a remote for some apps. There is still room for improvement but I see the smartwatch as an addition to your phone, not a fully featured replacement for it.

The reason I want a smartwatch is to avoid pulling the phone out of my pocket as much as possible.

The current card notification system doesn't give me that quick glance at my inbox to check if I need to respond to an email. I'm sure a third-party package could be written to fill this gap (I may even write one)

I'm also sure the battery issues comes down to the amount of screen time I wanted and the 300mA battery.

Decided not to give up on Android wear completely and I'm replacing the Moto 360 with a SWR50 which has a larger battery 420mA and a Transflective Display. Just a pity it doesn't look as nice...

May be back with a new review in a week or two.

[Anonymous]

So... I tried the Sony SWR50 for a few days.   For me it had all the failings of the Moto 360 plus more...

Ended up purchasing a Pebbel Steel from Argos, so far so good!   Great battery life, excellent always on screen, simple clear interface with options to change the vibration depending on the type of notification.  Ability to delete read emails, reply to text's etc, all discreetly and reliable.   Perfect!

Left feeling that colour touch screens on watches are not the right solution and less is more...

If you want a toy buy an Andriod watch, it is a cool gadget!  But if you want a reliable extension to your phone on your wrist the best option right now seems to be a Pebble.