Moto Watch 100 review: An exercise in frustration not worth the $100 price

The first wearable from Motorola that I tried was the MOTOACTV back in 2012 and that gadget served me perfectly for a pair of several years. I also invested time with the Moto 360 in 2014 and identified it to be a person of the improved Android Have on equipment.

Last month I obtained an e-mail from Motorola promoting the new Moto Watch 100 and for just $100 I figured I would order a person to check out out. I missed the information that eBuyNow is a business that licenses the Motorola branding and this look at comes from that business and is not a immediate Motorola product. Just after ten days of annoyance, I have initiated a return due to the fact there are just way too lots of difficulties even with the two firmware updates I have already installed.

Like

  • $100 cost
  • Good hardware layout and quality establish
  • Fantastic AMOLED display screen
  • Comfortable silicone strap

Really don’t Like

  • Buggy Android application
  • Laggy display screen reaction
  • Messy smartwatch software program
  • Knowledge locked in the smartphone application
  • Constrained check out of historic details, no reviews
  • No third get together apps

Crucial features of wearables really should be correct details collection, reliable syncing to your smartphone application, the potential to check out tendencies and run reviews so you can observe your development, and flawless utilization that would not consume your time or result in annoyance. Regretably, the Moto Watch 100 only does fine in a pair of these features and even then the details does not appear to be of the greatest quality.

Hardware

The Moto Watch 100 is out there in Glacier Silver or Phantom Black for just $99.99. The hardware is clearly the greatest section of the look at practical experience with an aluminum look at scenario with curved edges, huge side buttons, difficult plastic back panel. The display screen is a Colour Lcd that is crisp and distinct, but not that bright. The problem with the display screen is that swiping up and down as a result of lists is painfully gradual and laggy.

The black silicone strap is perfectly designed and snug for prolonged have on. The look at charges by using a proprietary USB cable with a magnetic conclusion that has two pins that connect with the back panel.


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Specifications

  • Exhibit: 1.3-inch Lcd touchscreen
  • Watch scenario: Aluminum
  • Water resistance: 5 ATM/IP68
  • Connectivity and sensors: Bluetooth 5. BLE, optical HR and blood oxygen, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou
  • Battery: 355 mAh, up to 14 days in usual utilization, charges from empty to whole in sixty minutes
  • Band dimensions: 20mm normal with fast-launch pins
  • Dimensions: 46 x 46 x eleven.9mm and forty five.6 grams

Watch software program

Raise your wrist or push a person of the buttons to change on the display screen and clearly show your chosen look at confront. There are 7 look at faces out there for you to pick from buried down in the settings identified on the look at, there is no syncing of look at faces from your smartphone both and the look at faces are not customizable.

Swipe down from the leading to check out the handle center that shows fast controls such as silent mode toggle, alarm, settings, continue to keep display screen on for five minutes, and come across my phone. This display screen shows you the date and remaining battery everyday living of the look at.

Pressing the leading correct button opens up the listing of apps and utilities identified on the look at. These consist of settings, actions, sleep, SpO2, coronary heart fee, notifications, audio, weather conditions, flashlight, alarm, come across my phone, shutter, timer, and stopwatch. There are no other out there apps or widgets to install. Tapping a person of these opens up the application and then shows you some other details or functionality.

Pressing the bottom correct button requires you to a listing of 26 action solutions. There are no customizable displays for what is revealed on the display screen while taking part in a person of these actions so it is a quite restricted and restricted practical experience, but there are quite a several sports and actions out there to observe and GPS is supported by the look at.

Swipe from still left to correct to go back a person display screen when you dive into an application or exercise possibility. From the look at confront you swipe still left or correct to transfer as a result of wellness summary of your working day, audio controls, weather conditions, sleep, SpO2, and coronary heart fee widgets.

Smartphone software program

In order to connect your Android phone and the Moto Watch 100 you ought to install the Moto Watch application. The web page states that a variation of the software program is also coming to iOS in December 2021. There are 4 principal tabs in the application residence, sleep, wellness, and action. Tapping the icon in the leading still left corner requires you to the display screen in which you can deal with the look at relationship and your account. You are also meant to be equipped to deal with your profile, but producing any alterations right here never ever get saved so you should not bother with the profile settings.

On the residence tab you can pick from cards that are revealed two broad down the display screen. Card solutions consist of sleep, measures, calories burned, lively minutes, bodyweight, coronary heart fee, and SpO2. The chosen cards clearly show up with status charts for each individual details form you pick. Below this your latest actions are revealed on the residence site. Tapping a card requires you into the card with additional details, such as weekly and every month views.


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The sleep tab shows your everyday and weekly sleep scores, sleep objective, and your averages. At the bottom are your sleep timetable and a line for viewing your sleep log. When viewing your sleep log it just shows you the complete several hours slept for the previous days and there is no functionality to faucet on that working day and check out the information of your sleep.

The wellness tab shows your coronary heart fee, resting coronary heart fee, substantial coronary heart fee, and blood oxygen saturation amount. There is also a line for your bodyweight that you can log manually. Tapping on your coronary heart fee will open up a check out with today, weekly, and every month plots.

The action tab shows your action, lively calories, lively minutes, and measures for the 7 days or seven 7 days interval. Scrolling down to the action log shows your previous actions and tapping these does certainly open up a display screen with all those information. The information clearly show a GPS plot, period, length, and lively calories, laps, common speed, complete measures, and coronary heart fee. For the operates I analyzed with the look at no measures or coronary heart fee details was revealed. The look at did Alright with the GPS length and calorie estimate, but it is not going to get any contest for GPS accuracy. The details also mixes up units from the universal assortment so the practical experience is fairly damaged.

Day-to-day utilization encounters and conclusion

Through the look at and smartphone application, there are misspelled words and phrases, improper captalization, settings and solutions that are unable to be enabled, and other settings that do not keep chosen following navigating to one more section of the application. There is a mixing of units even when a person universal assortment is designed. The look at and smartphone software program both of those will need some perform to be dependable and experienced.

There is no rhyme or cause to the listing of widgets, utilities, and solutions in the look at software program so points are not even organized alphabetically. When you push the leading button you see solutions such as action log, sleep, coronary heart fee, SpO2, and then notifications in that order. You are unable to pick out to reorder just about anything so locating one thing to do is a annoying squander of time.

The smartphone application appears superior at first with interesting shades and cards for the details with principal tabs for residence, sleep, wellness, and action. Having said that, you have quite restricted access to check out previous actions and details with no potential to build or export reviews. You are unable to export your details or share it with any other companies so other than viewing one thing on the working day you are action, collecting the details is somewhat ineffective and not handy for strengthening your wellness and physical fitness.

The OnePlus Watch is a a lot improved possibility, but nevertheless not that wonderful and priced $50 additional. If you are looking for a physical fitness tracker that does a improved position with monitoring your details and delivering you with the potential to use that details, then you really should consider one thing like a Fitbit Luxe or Amazfit Band 5.

I will be returning mine shortly and so much the men and women responding to my return ask for at eBuyNow have been handy and comprehension relating to my ask for to return the look at. In spite of a pair of firmware updates due to the fact it arrived, the look at software program and smartphone application nevertheless will need a ton of perform for me to suggest this look at to anybody.

Maria J. Danford

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