One year with the Moto 360
The story of me acquiring the Moto 360 is quite an interesting one. I was meant to leave the US to join a company in Sweden when Motorola announced the launch of the Moto 360. I, of course wanted to be one of the first to own one, especially after scouring youtube for every possible review prior to the release.
My move simply meant that I needed to buy one before I left, since Motorola products are less available outside the US.
After much annoyance and determined persistence, I managed to buy one from the Motorola website. At check out, the delivery date given to me was 3 weeks from the day of purchase which also happened to be the same day I was meant to leave the country. My heart sank knowing that some random stranger walking down my neighbourhood would pick up my parcel and enjoy the shiny piece of metal and Horween leather.
Fortunately the parcel arrived a week earlier thanks to my desperate cry of help to customer care who were quite amused by my very unique situation.
Since then, I have only good experiences with my watch.
I have always been a watch person, but there was a point when I suddenly just stopped wearing one, so when I put on my Moto 360 it was after a six-seven year hiatus.
The watch fit my wrist perfectly and the metal felt comfortable on the skin. It was much lighter than I imagined, which was a really good thing. So let’s list out some of the broad topics.
Design and glitter value
The watch has continued to get curious stares and eager touches. Several conversations have been started with random strangers just because of my watch. Most of them are drawn to it like bugs to a lamp, literally. They see the gentle glow of my watch and they immediately ask me, “Is that a smart watch? It’s much prettier than the Apple Watch”, to which i politely reply saying, “Yes it is.”
I have even got curious stares when they don’t see anything on the screen. Most of them look at the dimmed/off display and say, that’s a strange watch, you don’t have any time showing on it. And then I just move my wrist a bit and they are all gasp in surprise. “Oh my! That’s a beautiful watch”
The so called “Flat Tyre” has never really been a problem for me, neither for function or aesthetic. I happen to actually like it.
Battery life
The battery life has been pretty robust for the past year. The frequent software updates improved performance and of course the battery performance too. I never wear my watch to sleep, which means the charging dock at my bedside table was a perfect place to keep my watch whenever I was not wearing it. I almost don’t think about the battery life at all because my watch is always charged when I leave my house in the morning.
Voice Recognition
I have frequently replied to Whatsapp messages directly from my watch itself. Especially when my phone was away being charged and I was in the kitchen cooking. The preset messages suggested too are quite handy if the voice recognition seems too odd to use, especially when you’re out or at a meeting.
Apps
The growing number of apps is great, but the thing I probably use the most is my Google Now cards and my Navigation app. I also do end up using the messaging apps without realising it since I get frequent notifications whenever I receive messages or calls. But those are mostly reactionary and not self initiated.
The health data is quite useful, but I never really set any goals as such. I just wear the watch and let it calculate my activity which I then on occasion analyse on my phone or computer. But that’s probably because I don’t care so much about measuring health information.
Navigation
The one service I find the most useful is the little haptic buzz and direction information displayed on my watch when I drive or bike around the city. I hear the lady on the phone tell me to turn somewhere and I look at my watch to see what sort of turn it is, a round about an exit or a T-junction. It’s extremely handy.
Notifications
The other thing that I can’t live without is the ease at which I can access notifications. Just a twist of my wrist and I know if it’s worth taking my phone out if my pocket or not. It also allows me to easily see if someone important is trying to reach me without having to make an effort. If it’s the endless messages coming in from a WhatsApp group I could just ignore it and read the messages later on my phone. The watch notifications have inadvertently lowered the chances of me dropping my phone every time I try taking my phone out of my pocket.
Conclusion
The watch is everything that I wanted and more. Beautiful design, very very functional and it got me back on having a piece of metal on my wrist. It might already be a year old, but it doesn’t feel outdated in anyway for me.
