Motorola Moto 360 2 (2015) review roundup

Motorola unveiled its second generation Moto 360 at the recent IFA 2015 (Europe’s biggest tech show) in Germany. The new Android Wear smartwatch is a refined classic timepiece that can be fully customised with a host of design specifications.

Motorola marketed the first set of smartwatches with a “round” face in 2014. This year, the Moto 360 (2015) collection brings in different models for men, women and fitness enthusiasts. The button was moved to the two o'clock position on the watch face. The watch features a longer strap.

The 1.37-inch (360 x 325 resolution) model is for both men and women whereas the larger 1.56-inch model with a 360 x 360 resolution (233 pixels per inch) is available only for men. The male versions can be paired with a strap up to 22 mm wide.

Both the variants tout an LCD display protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The Samsung Gear S3 is the smallest of all smartwatches released this year running the Tizen operating system.

Users will be able to select bands with a quick release feature from a pool of metal and leather variants. Using Moto Maker, the latest Android Wear can be personalised with numerous style, body and material combinations.

Just like the LG G watch Urbane and Huawei Watch, the Moto 360 (2015) also runs the latest version of Android Wear. The new smartwatch sports a quad core Snapdragon 400 processor, which is huge upgrade from the earlier version. This processor has made the device much more responsive, reports Techno Buffalo. The smartwatch houses 512 MB of RAM with 4 GB of storage on board.

The considerably updated battery capacity (from 320 mAh to 400 mAh) makes a whole lot of difference. The company claims a full day battery life with the ambient sensor turned on.

The battery keeps going for more than 34 hours on a single charge. Moto 360 (2015) works with Qi-standard wireless charging technology, which means the watch can be charged with any Qi-standard wireless charging stand.

The pre-installed Moto Body keeps tab of the calorie meter and also helps in step tracking and meeting daily activity goals. It also includes an optical heart rate monitor. The water resistant smartwatch has a more accurate performing accelerometer. The unique Live Dial feature allows users to customise dials on the home screen.

The Moto 360 (2015) is a unique timepiece that stands out because of an incremental update to its predecessor. Even with a hike in price to US$300 (AU$426), this Android Wear smartwatch is worth considering.

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