Published in Mobiles

Moto 360 launches at $249

by on05 September 2014

$299 with metal strap

The eagerly anticipated Moto 360 is finally official and it turns out most of the rumours were spot on. The device costs $249, but a $299 version with a metal strap is coming later.

For some reason Motorola did not talk about the specs very much, which implies that this is supposed to be a product for the great unwashed rather than proper geeks. Many tech sites covered Moto’s event and did not even bother with the spec, which is understandable since Motorola still hasn’t revealed anything.

Moto 360 spec still incomplete

The screen is a 1.56-inch LCD and the resolution stands at 320x290 (bear in mind this  is a round screen, or at least it should be), which translates into a respectable 205ppi. Motorola’s choice of SoC is unusual. It the Texas Instruments OMAP 3, but the details have not been disclosed yet.

The Moto 360 has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage, along with a 320mAh battery. The OS is of course Google’s Android Wear. It is still unclear what to expect in terms of connectivity, we don’t know the exact WiFi spec, whether or not it has NFC and so on. The Moto 360 features Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy connectivity.

motorola-moto-360-white

In terms of sensors the watch sports a pedometer and an optical heart rate monitor, which is good news for fitness buffs, but this is hardly a differentiator since we expect all smartwatches to feature similar functionality.
The material of choice is aluminium and the device is IP67 certified. It can handle an occasional splash of water or even a short swim, but you won’t be diving for pearls with the Moto 360.

Buzzkill time

Time for some bad news. Motorola chose its product renders carefully and it used a weather widget at the bottom of the screen. This is because the screen is not entirely round – it is chopped off at the bottom and it looks like something that could annoy potential users. With a black custom clock face it should look ok, but we are not sure about white though.

The screen is LCD rather than AMOLED, which raises questions about the Moto 360’s battery life. Furthermore the battery is a paltry 320mAh. It is on par with the competition and it is no game changer. Perhaps the choice of TI OMAP 3 silicon has something to do with extending battery life but it is still too early to say.

Metal wristbands will cost $79 when sold separately and this does not sound like a very good deal at all. However, it's good news for LG, as its G Watch R looks a tad more tempting now. At least it has a proper round screen.

Last modified on 05 September 2014
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