MOTO 360 second generation has upgraded performance and battery life

Unlike the Android-powered Nexus, Google has not launched any products for Android Wear, so people more or less regard the Moto 360 as a trendsetter in this field. And indeed, the stylish appearance of the Moto 360 has long been unrivaled in the Android Wear products.

If the Moto 360's exterior is so adorable, its interior seems less than sturdy, largely because it uses a Texas Instruments OMAP 3 processor.

Fortunately, the second-generation Moto 360 switched to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400, a choice that ensures the watch is at least decent in terms of performance and battery life.

In addition, Motorola has taken product design to a whole new level. The company said that its online design platform Moto Maker will also provide support for 360, which means that users can fully reflect their preferences and personality in this watch.

The second generation of 360 takes the needs of female users into full consideration and launches a more compact 42mm model.

Moto Maker: 360's powerful backing

The Moto Maker customization service for Moto fans has been available for some time, but previously it only supported the company's smartphones . Now, the service is supporting smartwatches for the first time. This is an unusual move by the company. After all, watches traditionally have more decorative attributes than mobile phones, and the monotonous appearance can easily make many potential consumers, especially fashion trendsetters, feel entangled. Now, the emergence of Moto Maker can dispel the concerns of these consumers.

Even Apple, which is known as the fashion leader in the technology industry, has not been able to do this. Apple obviously has this in mind, as can be seen from the fact that Apple Watch provides consumers with different materials and straps, but it is still a long way from the deep customization of Moto Maker. Motorola even provides different sizes for consumers of different genders. The men's model has 46mm and 42mm sizes to choose from, while the women's model only offers 42mm. Consumers can not only choose the color of the watch, but can even specify the surface treatment of the case. Since the strap is easy to replace, a large number of third-party strap manufacturers are scrambling to provide users with a variety of styles to choose from.

The different sizes of Moto 360 are functionally identical, with the exception of the display size and battery capacity. The 42mm model offers a 1.37-inch LCD display with a resolution of 360 x 325 and a 300 mAh battery, while the 46mm model has a 1.56-inch display, 360 x 330 pixels and a 400 mAh battery.

Of course, there are also differences in the size of the straps. The men's 46mm and 42mm watches correspond to 22mm and 20mm straps respectively, while the women's 42mm watch corresponds to a 16mm strap. This design highlights that Motorola has fully considered the detailed needs of consumers of different genders.

The watch body is made of "aviation-grade" 316L stainless steel, and different color options are provided for consumers of different genders.

The material of the strap is still the traditional metal or leather, and there are many styles and colors in this regard, and users can match them according to their preferences. Moto Maker also provides different dials for consumers to choose from, but this is largely just to provide a comprehensive reference for the matching effect. As a smart watch, the choice of dial is never important, and consumers can try new combinations at any time.

A variety of combinations are very important for wearable devices and can influence consumers' final purchasing decisions. The second-generation Moto 360 offers more than 300 possible combinations, enough to meet the needs of all kinds of consumers.

design

The new 360 is one of the few Android Wear products with a small body, which is particularly suitable for consumers with slender wrists. The effect after wearing it is completely different from other bulky and rough products.

Even in the second generation, the Moto 360 still has the so-called "flat tire" design, which is used to describe the small black area below the screen where no display is displayed. The display circuit and ambient light sensor are hidden here, but it is a bit weird by the standards of traditional watch faces. Of course, if you use it with a black watch face, it can be visually concealed.

The display is also very good, with a pixel density of 263ppi, which makes the content on it clear enough that people will not notice the existence of the pixel matrix. However, once the watch enters ambient mode, the content on the screen becomes slightly grainy because the Android Wear system forces the display to enter a low-resolution mode.

The position of the buttons on the right side of the watch has been slightly adjusted, moving slightly counterclockwise from the original right side position similar to traditional mechanical watches. This is mainly to avoid accidental touches.

Like other products, Moto 360 also places the heart rate sensor on the back of the watch body, and the small lens occasionally emits green light to read the user's heart rate. However, this type of sensor has certain defects. In theory, it uses green light to penetrate the skin, reach the surface of the blood, and then reflect and be received by the sensor to read the heart rate data. At this time, if the arm or watch is in motion, the corresponding reading will become very inaccurate.

Sitting still will solve the above problems, but it is not a long-term solution and is particularly troublesome. In addition, considering that most users cannot sit still all day, the changes in heart rate data throughout the day are not of much reference value.

The product comes with a Qi-standard wireless charging dock, which looks very similar to the previous charging dock, but Motorola says the two are not compatible. Nevertheless, testers found that whether using the old dock with the new 360 or the new dock with the old 360, the charging process was successfully completed.

Android Wear 1.3

Moto 360 is equipped with Android Wear 1.3 based on Android 5.1.1. The system has not changed much in terms of functionality, and as usual, it provides users with various information cards, including notifications from Google Now and paired smartphones.

Android Wear supports voice commands, but they don't work as well as on a phone, and they don't support custom voice commands. Google is trying to improve this through a framework called "Custom Voice Actions."

The biggest highlight is the Google Hangouts app. Now, users can directly receive and initiate chats on their watches, review historical chats, and even reply with hand-drawn emoticons on the watch face.

It is also worth mentioning that if the user takes off the watch, the pattern lock screen function will be activated to provide additional protection for the watch.

Battery life

The comparison of battery life between different watches can only provide a rough reference, because watches are different from mobile phones and it is impossible to adjust their screen brightness to the same level. The tester connected via Bluetooth and sent a message to the watch every 15 seconds to simulate a screen click. In this case, the 42mm Moto 360 lasted nearly 5 hours with a 300mAh battery.

The above situation is unlikely to occur in actual use. In the actual daily wearing experience, Moto 360 can be fully charged from morning to midnight without any pressure, which can fully meet the needs of daily use.

In addition, since the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 replaces the previous generation Texas Instruments OMAP 3 processor, the 360's interface is smoother and various functions can be started more quickly.

Although other similar smartwatches may offer more powerful functions, in the field of wearable devices, users are always most concerned about the appearance of the product, and this is exactly what Motorola focuses on. As the smallest smartwatch today, Moto 360 is easily the first choice for consumers with slender wrists. In addition, the product can run the latest Android Wear system smoothly, and the battery life can easily meet the daily use, which is more than enough to meet the basic performance needs. For today's wearable products, appearance is far more important than the technical specifications of the product, and the former is the strength of Moto 360.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.