Motorola Moto 360 Gen 3

Motorola has announced a new MOTO 360 smartwatch due for general release on 12 November 2019, I’ve included the Moto 360 Specifications further below but let’s start with a quick overview of the third generation of Motorola smartwatch technology.

Clearly, we’re dealing with a stylishly designed Wear OS smartwatch built on Wear OS from Google. That’s an operating system that still has room for improvement but which I generally like and which, in any case, delivers a platform for hundreds of apps, decent connectivity and the ability to interact through Google Assistant (OK Google) and pay through Google PAY.

As you can see this is available in 3 styles – Steel Grey, Rose Gold, and Phantom Black, and they all look sweet enough.

With the always-on Amoled screen, the Moto 360 is aiming to compete with the beautiful looks that are required from any modern smartwatch. But it’s also robust with a decently hard lens and the ability to withstand the rigours of recreational swimming.

You will hopefully be able to use your music service of choice eg Google Play Music and Spotify are both supported and if you don’t like Google Fit you will be able to find many good sporty apps to use instead, for free, such as Runtastic or the more advanced, Ghost Racer.

Motorola Moto 360 Specifications

So we have the latest processor, a decent-looking always-on screen and a sport-friendly shell. The battery charges up quickly (60 mins) but we will have to see how long that 355mAh battery lasts for in real life…in reality, it will be lucky to deliver a day and a half of juice, although Moto does claim 3 days of usage as a timepiece is possible.

• Processor – Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100
• Operating System – Wear OS by Google
• Battery – Quick charge 355mAh, 0-100% in 60 minutes
• Memory – 1GB RAM + 8GB Internal Memory
• Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, NFC, GPS / GLONASS / Beidou / Galileo
• Sensors – Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Barometer, HRM, Ambient Light
• Water Resistance – 3ATM
• Tested for 10,000 swim strokes
• Compatibility – Android 5.0 or higher, iOS 10.0+
• Dimensions & Weight – 42.8 x 42.8 x 11.68mm (13.28 w/ HRM), 52g (without strap)
• Case – SUS316 Stainless Steel
• PVD coating (Steel Grey & Rose Gold)
• DLC coating (Phantom Black)
• Strap Width – 20mm
• Display – 1.2″ Circular AMOLED (390×390, 327ppi), Full Color Always On Display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3

Opinion

The inclusion of Galileo support looks interesting and the watch’s ability to produce a decent estimate of running/cycling speed as well as a decent HR track will be the key factors to determining how those of you who are focussed on accuracy will view this watch.

Those of you more concerned with the practicalities of the Moto 360 will undoubtedly have your views swayed by how GREAT…or not, the battery is. As always, those of you looking at this type of watch (and that includes the Apple Watch 5) will likely be beset with battery issues unless you remember to charge it frequently with a daily top-up.

Those of you looking for a generalist sports watch may well be happy enough with the looks and durability. The support for 10,000 strokes might sound a little like … huh? how far’s that? But, for most of you, it should be far enough as your stroke will probably be about a metre. I doubt many of you have swum 5k let alone 10k.