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I was holding out for the Moto 360 (and still am actually) but I missed the best buy online order by 10 minutes the first day....then found a Best Buy with 2 in stock on Monday and got there 15 minutes later to find them gone.
I couldn't wait any longer so I picked up the LG G Watch just to check out Android Wear while I wait for Motorola to get their act together.
Just spent the past few hours with it and I've got to say I'm loving the Android Wear software/interface! Judging by reviews and posts I've seen, I didn't think the software would be anything special, but I think it's the perfect UI for a smartwatch.
Has anyone here gone from an LG G Watch to the Moto 360? I just want to know how much of a decrease to expect in performance and screen quality. The screen on the LG G Watch is really pretty damn good, I don't see any pixels from a normal viewing distance, a HUGE upgrade from my Sony SW2. Also the performance surprised me, the touch screen is very responsive and all the animations are fluid, haven't seen any hiccups or lag.
If anyone can chime in with their experiences on both watches that would be awesome.
play2lose said:
I was holding out for the Moto 360 (and still am actually) but I missed the best buy online order by 10 minutes the first day....then found a Best Buy with 2 in stock on Monday and got there 15 minutes later to find them gone.
I couldn't wait any longer so I picked up the LG G Watch just to check out Android Wear while I wait for Motorola to get their act together.
Just spent the past few hours with it and I've got to say I'm loving the Android Wear software/interface! Judging by reviews and posts I've seen, I didn't think the software would be anything special, but I think it's the perfect UI for a smartwatch.
Has anyone here gone from an LG G Watch to the Moto 360? I just want to know how much of a decrease to expect in performance and screen quality. The screen on the LG G Watch is really pretty damn good, I don't see any pixels from a normal viewing distance, a HUGE upgrade from my Sony SW2. Also the performance surprised me, the touch screen is very responsive and all the animations are fluid, haven't seen any hiccups or lag.
If anyone can chime in with their experiences on both watches that would be awesome.
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I have had both watches. Just sold my LG G Watch actually. I loved the LG for the ability to swap out leather bands. No special notches, no needing to measure if the band will fit "inside" the watch like the Moto does. I had a sweet custom watchband made for it and wanted to use it for the Moto, but alas, the band was way too thick to insert into the watch.
Now saying that, the Moto is a minor upgrade from the G watch IMO. The display is better IMO. Not sure if it's the roundness but the screen is crisp. Also the responsiveness is on par with the G watch. The moto has a button! LOL I know not a deal breaker, but great to use in a pinch to dim the screen right away rather than put my sweaty palms on the watch lol.
The moto's bezel is nice and minimal compared to the G watch. And stylistically, I "like" the round factor compared to the G watch's rectangle factor only because I own a lot of other types of watches and they are for the most part....round lol.
Battery: I have to say LG has a bit better battery than the Moto. Kinda surprised me because I would think they would use the moto fit knowledge and incorporate that into the battery here. Yesterday, I had an average of 6.33%/hour decrease in power on the moto in about 9.5 hours with ambient off and ambient screen off with the display to level 1. For the LG, my set up was screen always on, display to 1 and that lasted a good 12 hours and that averaged about 5.5% decrease per hour. All the decreases are dependant on usage of course. But I am measuring a typical work day with no navigation usage, and with constant texts/emails/and calls in the measured period. Oh and I have to also preface that the G watch was running the Ghoma rom which did optimize the battery according to the dev.
Today, I am testing out the moto with the ambient screen on and the ambient to AUTO and see how long it lasts for me today. So far I am averaging 7%/per hour. Hopefully this improves with time with the power cycle!
Bottom line, am I glad I switched? YES. The G watch was getting less and less wrist time because of my other watches and the moto kicked it back into rotation. The style is key here for me.
kpjimmy said:
I have had both watches. Just sold my LG G Watch actually. I loved the LG for the ability to swap out leather bands. No special notches, no needing to measure if the band will fit "inside" the watch like the Moto does. I had a sweet custom watchband made for it and wanted to use it for the Moto, but alas, the band was way too thick to insert into the watch.
Now saying that, the Moto is a minor upgrade from the G watch IMO. The display is better IMO. Not sure if it's the roundness but the screen is crisp. Also the responsiveness is on par with the G watch. The moto has a button! LOL I know not a deal breaker, but great to use in a pinch to dim the screen right away rather than put my sweaty palms on the watch lol.
The moto's bezel is nice and minimal compared to the G watch. And stylistically, I "like" the round factor compared to the G watch's rectangle factor only because I own a lot of other types of watches and they are for the most part....round lol.
Battery: I have to say LG has a bit better battery than the Moto. Kinda surprised me because I would think they would use the moto fit knowledge and incorporate that into the battery here. Yesterday, I had an average of 6.33%/hour decrease in power on the moto in about 9.5 hours with ambient off and ambient screen off with the display to level 1. For the LG, my set up was screen always on, display to 1 and that lasted a good 12 hours and that averaged about 5.5% decrease per hour. All the decreases are dependant on usage of course. But I am measuring a typical work day with no navigation usage, and with constant texts/emails/and calls in the measured period. Oh and I have to also preface that the G watch was running the Ghoma rom which did optimize the battery according to the dev.
Today, I am testing out the moto with the ambient screen on and the ambient to AUTO and see how long it lasts for me today. So far I am averaging 7%/per hour. Hopefully this improves with time with the power cycle!
Bottom line, am I glad I switched? YES. The G watch was getting less and less wrist time because of my other watches and the moto kicked it back into rotation. The style is key here for me.
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Awesome detailed comparison, I'm even more excited to get my 360 now!
Just thought I'd answer my thread with my own comparison too:
Went in to Best Buy today and actually got to see the Moto 360 in person for the first time, and this is after using the LG G Watch for a few days. The screen seems so much bigger! Round really gives you a decent chunk more of screen real estate, and that thin bezel looks amazing on it. I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference between PPI in the two which surprised me, so the 360 screen is fine. It also seemed brighter than the G Watch. The band on it was much more comfortable than the plastic sticky G Watch band. Also I didn't notice any performance hiccups, it seemed just as "smooth" as the G Watch, which means it's more than adequate.
The only thing I don't have experience on now is 360 battery life, but if the difference is really just 1% an hour more drain than I will be fine! The lowest I got my G Watch down to was 20%.
TLDR: If the LG G Watch was $179.99 and the Moto 360 was even $299.99, I'd say the Moto 360 is still better for the money.
I own an lg watch and am definitely getting the moto ,360 when they release it in Canada.. Would use it for special occasions and parties , whereas the g watch would be my silly driver.. Battery should not be a problem
Okay I've had the Moto 360 for 2 full days now and here's what I think.
The screen actually is a bit more pixelated, but since it's bigger you can hold it back further to the point where you can't tell a difference. On the plus side the contrast / brightness seems better on the 360.
Performance wise, I do see lag on the 360 which I never saw on the LG G Watch. Whenever you first touch the screen it lags for a half second (I'm guessing the CPU underclocks and then overclocks when you touch it.) When you keep touching it after that moving back and forth between cards it stays smooth, but then if you don't touch the screen for a few seconds and go back to it it lags again. This is a little bit annoying but definitely not a deal breaker. I bet if there were custom roms for this, a developer could fix this issue and give us better battery life to boot lol.
I just keep looking at my wrist and thinking wow, this thing looks incredible. haha
Hello G3 Family :highfive:;
I am reaching out to you today to request some advice from anyone who owns a smart-watch or any wearable tech could share a brief story/review of that item and whether or not you would recommend purchasing it or not.
I know that wearables and smart-watches are making their way into the technology market, but for those of you, like myself, who have a strong desire to buy one might provide some useful tips and advice for us!
Some smart-watches/wearables I was looking towards would be:
LG G Watch R
Microsoft Fitness Band
Fitbit Charge HR
Jawbone Up3
Galaxy Gear Watch
Pebble Steel
Let me know your thoughts and thanks for your input!
Sony Smart Watch 2. Awesome battery life. Might be cheaper to get too.
LG Watch R here.
I am now on 36 hours with my battery. I love it, really a positive user here. It is still a gadget, doesnt really add something. I am Dutch, so the google now experience isnt that good.
I'm a pebble guy my self I have had it for over a year and still loving it. Battery life last me 5-7 days!
Sent from my LG-ls990 using Tapatalk
Pebble Steel
I just got the Pebble Steel for Christmas and have been in love!!! (Should have gotten it when it was first offered, almost a year ago)
Things I like: Battery Life, Always On Display, Shake wrist for backlight, Vibrating Notifications, Dressier/Professional Look, Remote Controlling Apps(music, camera) Quick SMS replies.
Things I don't like: Requires more than the Pebble App(which is nice) to make use of extra features that other "watch apps" use, such as Glance, Pebble Dialer, etc.
I wish that the Pebble App on the G3 or any phone did the same features that the other 3rd party apps do.
to all pebble users:
i am a pebble user myself but i can't handle the noticable battery drain when pebble services are up and running
is it just me and my g3 or most of you experience the same?
w/o pebble i can achieve 4 hours of SOT and with pebble on, reaching 3 and a half is nearly impossible
Also pebble user over here, original pebble that is. Have been using a galaxy gear first gen and although it was a fun device with its camera and built in speaker it wasn't nearly as functional as the pebble. As others said here: multiple days of battery life, notifications with canned replies, music control, background pedometer I love it all.
Did notice some heavier battery drain due to the constant Bluetooth connection and pebble services but that is quite understandable.
I do get about 18 hours of use with about 3.5 hours sot. That is with all sorts of syncing activated and mostly a (bad) 3g connection.
Lg gwatch R for me.
Great battery and design
Works perfectly
Envoyé de mon LG-D855 en utilisant Tapatalk
I got the lg watch w100. Pretty basic device and great for starter. And cheap got mine for 50$ new in box and stickers still attached.
Sent from my LG-D852 using XDA Free mobile app
Even though it wasn't on your list, I'm a new Moto 360 owner (had it for 14 days now). I love it. I got the light finish metal, but have since acquired a few other bands and I like that I can change them depending on how I want it to look or what I'll be doing (for example, I have a synthetic band I use when I'm exercising or running). Battery life could be better, but evidently it's better than it used to be. I can get through the day on regular mode, but if I use ambient I'll probably need to charge before the end of the day. A lot depends on the number of notifications you get. Obviously having Bluetooth on all day impacts the battery life on my G3, but it's still plenty enough for me. And I can always swap in the extra battery that LG was kind enough to give away last fall. I just think it looks cool - especially my current setup of the silver watch paired with a brown leather cuff-style band.
I debated buying one for the longest time, but after getting a couple Beat Buy gift cards for Christmas I decided to pull the trigger and I'm glad I did. It's definitely an unnecessary luxury item - more fashionable nerd tech than a practical item. But it's fun. Currently I'm slightly obsessed with designing my own faces in WatchMaker and hunting for the work of others. I think I've had at least 3 different faces on my watch everyday for the past two weeks.
Enjoy your potential purchase!
Pebble owner here. I recharge mine about every 7 days, but reckon I could get close to 10 out of it (was just ~4 before I realised I shouldn't have seconds showing). Not found any particular battery drain on my phone - but then we have poor wireless and signal at work so that normally hammers my battery.
LG GWR for me. It works really well with the inbuilt LG fitness app and gives you real time heart rate tracking.
H00pyFr00d said:
LG GWR for me. It works really well with the inbuilt LG fitness app and gives you real time heart rate tracking.
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How long does your battery typically last?
Sent from my LG-D850 using XDA Free mobile app
The phone about a day and a half. The watch just over two days.
Rodeojones said:
Even though it wasn't on your list, I'm a new Moto 360 owner (had it for 14 days now). I love it. I got the light finish metal, but have since acquired a few other bands and I like that I can change them depending on how I want it to look or what I'll be doing (for example, I have a synthetic band I use when I'm exercising or running). Battery life could be better, but evidently it's better than it used to be. I can get through the day on regular mode, but if I use ambient I'll probably need to charge before the end of the day. A lot depends on the number of notifications you get. Obviously having Bluetooth on all day impacts the battery life on my G3, but it's still plenty enough for me. And I can always swap in the extra battery that LG was kind enough to give away last fall. I just think it looks cool - especially my current setup of the silver watch paired with a brown leather cuff-style band.
I debated buying one for the longest time, but after getting a couple Beat Buy gift cards for Christmas I decided to pull the trigger and I'm glad I did. It's definitely an unnecessary luxury item - more fashionable nerd tech than a practical item. But it's fun. Currently I'm slightly obsessed with designing my own faces in WatchMaker and hunting for the work of others. I think I've had at least 3 different faces on my watch everyday for the past two weeks.
Enjoy your potential purchase!
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Wow, where did you get that leather strap? That looked awesome!
CADeleted said:
Wow, where did you get that leather strap? That looked awesome!
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It's from an old broken Fossil watch I kept for some reason. Glad I did.
So I tend to use both the LG G R watch as a daily driver and my Samsung Neo when I go joggin since I can easily just attach it to my computer and just drag and drop music. Before this I use to use the Sony SW2 which was okay for it's time.
My question is, can I expect anything crazy from this SW3? I know it has the GPS and decent enough screen that I can see in daylight but is there anything else?
I also bought a Pebble Steel yesterday and that's going straight back.
Comfortable to wear, excellent screen for viewing just about whenever except dark, with the screen "off". So it's perfect for being a watch and easily lasts 48 hours with always displaying the time. Screen will look dull compared to your GWR but its visibility outweighs that flaw. GPS can be sometimes erratic but no solid evidence about that. Getting the USB cover out can be tricky but not that bad, but it's awesome knowing you can charge it wherever without an accessory. Best waterproof rating of any android wear smart watch. Other than nothing to crazy. It's a solid watch that stands out cause its GPS, and its pretty futureproof with that, wifi, and a big one being NFC. Just need google to open that up.
Nothing more to add but I really like mine and feel I made the right choice, It was either the G watch R, Asus Zenwatch and this one. Got this one and haven't regretted it at all, I find it really useful and battery life is great.
Out of interest why are you leaving the G Watch R behind? I'm in the middle of writting an app and struggling with just the Sony with it being square and was thinking of picking up the G Watch R so I could test on a round device (and have another toy)
better screen, better mic, better battery
Also band is better, plus its lighter.
I have both the SW3 and the GWR. The GWR is a prettier watch, the SW3 is a more useful gadget. I use my GWR as a dress watch and the SW3 for everything else. The main reason is the trans- reflective display, I can live with it being duller because I can read it in daylight, even with sunglasses on. I got over it not looking like a watch a long time ago. In fact most of the watch faces I use don't even look like a traditional watch. I would also rate it even higher if the light sensor was a bit more effective in dimming the screen at night.
I don't think the light sensor is needed at all on the SW3. I always keep mine at the lowest brightness level, and it is very readable anyway. In fact, the more ambient light, the better.
Hi,
I'm hoping to buy an android wear smartwatch soon but I'm torn between the Moto 360 and LG Urbane. I'm leaning towards the Moto 360 mainly for the larger screen and wireless charging. But not 100% keen on the bottom bar even though I know it's needed and the design can't work without it but does spoil the design somewhat though some watch faces seem to work well with it.
I generally prefer the design of the 360 over the Urbane, though screen is slightly better resolution on the Urbane thought would prefer the bigger screen. I just want to know what the Moto 360 is like to use daily and if the bottom bar really is much of an issue and would you rather get the Urbane?
mikesaa309 said:
Hi,
I'm hoping to buy an android wear smartwatch soon but I'm torn between the Moto 360 and LG Urbane. I'm leaning towards the Moto 360 mainly for the larger screen and wireless charging. But not 100% keen on the bottom bar even though I know it's needed and the design can't work without it but does spoil the design somewhat though some watch faces seem to work well with it.
I generally prefer the design of the 360 over the Urbane, though screen is slightly better resolution on the Urbane thought would prefer the bigger screen. I just want to know what the Moto 360 is like to use daily and if the bottom bar really is much of an issue and would you rather get the Urbane?
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Not much of an issue to me.. I guess its personal. I realize something that I prefer in the Moto 360. In comparison to the LG watch R, the cards in it tends to get cut off, which it will not happen in moto 360.
Just got a black one yest from a closing radio shack for 125. I already have a pebble steel, but i kinda like the android wear exp.
I got one today. I returned a pebble steel with a broken button. I've had it for a few hours now. I will be returning it this evening and getting another Pebble Steel. If I can convince them to give me a full refund, I might wait for the Pebble Time.
When I brought the 360 home, it was at 12% battery life. This was to be expected. I was able to turn it on for about 30 seconds before auto-shutdown. I set a timer. It took 2 hours and 33 minutes to fully charge. It immediately wanted to upgrade after turning it on and completing setup. (v5.0.2)
It has been 4 hours and I'm down to 27%. Granted I've used the watch more than I normally would as I get used to the menus, but this is not acceptable. If I reduce it to what I consider to be normal use, it will not last the day.
The watch is glitchy and doesn't always register touch. When I am able to navigate to the menu I want, the watch will frequently and randomly vibrate and shut itself off while I'm in the middle of something (the same behavior as it I had covered it with my palm). This is beyond annoying.
About 50% of the time, the watch fails to turn the display on when I lift my arm (the standard lift and rotate gesture shown on the youtube videos). I've put this through extensive testing, and the exact same gesture (what I've found to be the most effective) is only effective about 50% of the time.
The heart rate monitor doesn't work. The strap is on tight and I have actually cleared a part of my arm of hair to test it. I have never been able to get a successful heart rate. I even got my girlfriend to try it. The lights on the back come on, but nobody is home.
Most of the best watch faces and apps require a purchase. I suppose this is by intention (the designers do deserve to profit from their designs). But the real annoyance is that there is a lot of bait-and-charge software too. Software that claims to be free on the Play store, only to find it severely handicapped until you pay via an in-app purchase. AFAIK this is a big kick in the teeth for the Android Wear community and a major drawback. It won't turn away the hardened Android fan-boys who already have invested in the apps they like, but it will turn of a lot of people on the fence. If you are gonna charge for your app, at least be up-front about it. Its shady as hell.
Furthermore, I've detected that there appears to be a lot of very similar watch faces. The comments and reviews indicate that there is rampant design theft and doesn't appear to be any checks in place to prevent this. As such, I have no idea that when I am purchasing a watch app, that I'm giving money to the original artist or a plagiarist.
Not all circular watch faces will render correctly. The "flat tire" utility bay will cut some of them off.
The watch is not visible in direct sunlight. I don't care what the reviews say. I was outside in the bright sunlight today and I could barely read the watch face.
The vibration is not strong enough. When the Pebble Steel vibrated, it was very strong, but not intrusively so. This watch I can hardly even feel when I'm expecting it. Not acceptable.
Step counter doesn't work, but this is to be expected. Even the Pebble Steel was off. I've always maintained that wrist based pedometers are a fad and can't tell what your legs are doing.
Sorry for being critical, but you did presumably ask for honest opinions. I suppose it is subjective, but the 360 isn't for me. It feels very Beta. Maybe the 360 2 will get it right, but this watch is a pass IMO.
I been wanting a new gadget to play with.
I bought someone's NIB black refurb off CL for $120. So far it's been a cool experience. I don't regret my purchase. YMMV it's a personal thing.
I bought a SONY smart watch. Turned it on, could figure out anything, couldn't get it pair. Turn it off, left it in the shopping bag somewhere.
pacificwing said:
Sorry for being critical, but you did presumably ask for honest opinions. I suppose it is subjective, but the 360 isn't for me. It feels very Beta. Maybe the 360 2 will get it right, but this watch is a pass IMO.
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Anyone with a 360 could have told you now was not the time to buy...
Motorola still haven't figured out the 5.1 update, and the previous update seriously hurt battery life and the tilt-to-wake function. Right now we're all in the same boat, just trying to keep the thing working properly till the end of the day...
The original software on the 360 was very responsive and had good battery life so we know it can work, but our only hope now is that Motorola's team of trained chimpanzee coders manages to set it right.
Hey everyone,
So I like to bike maybe once a week and have typically used Map My Ride or Strava to, well, map my rides. But I'm on Project Fi now so am becoming a miser with my data. I was thinking of getting a SW3 and using GhostRacer and the built in GPS to handle that but wanted to see if it is still worth it. I know the 360 Sport is around but the reviews haven't been stellar. Assuming the price is in the $100-$125 range is it still worth it?
I do also go to the gym a couple of days a week so keeping music on the watch and using headphones is a plus as well.
Thanks,
I owned both SW3 and Moto 360 Sport, however I just sold the 360 Sport yesterday because the battery drained on it a lot faster than on the SW3. I prefered the look of the Moto 360 Sport over the SW3 even though I own the SS, Universal strap and silicone strap for the SW3. Both are also water resistant.
Here is a breakdown of pro and cons.
The display of both watches are similar other than round vs square, however the Moto display is a bit nicer with more vibrant colors and while in ambient mode it's in color vs b&w.
Moto 360 Sport also has a built in optical HR monitor SW3 does not.
SW3 has replaceable watch band, infinite combination, Moto 360 Sport comes in White, Black, and Orange and you can not replace the bands.
Again, battery life is night and day better on the SW3 additionally you can charge is with any Micro USB cable vs a proprietary wireless charger. Additionally SW3 charges really fast, almost 2X faster than Moto 360 Sport.
SW3 has built in NFC, you can't do much with it now but future updates may give you more options.
I haven't used either watch with the headphones, so I can't comment on that aspect of the watch.
So I would say go with SW3 and save some money, you'll have no regrets.
Had the SW3 for about 6 months now and I love it. I use it for tracking runs, playing music paired with BT headphones and for keeping track of my appointments. It's great for the price, but I suggest holding out a while longer until announcements for support (or lack thereof) for Android Wear 2.0 come out. Motorola has confirmed it won't be getting the software update for the 1st gen Moto360, so there's a good chance the SW3 won't either..so you might be better off getting one of the newer models. I'm thinking the price might still go down if it won't support AW 2.0, but if it does, at the current price it's a steal.
pawces said:
Motorola has confirmed it won't be getting the software update for the 1st gen Moto360, so there's a good chance the SW3 won't either..so you might be better off getting one of the newer models.
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Because first gen has bad processor and bad battery.
SW3 has same processor than Moto 2nd gen and other actual wear watch.
dersie said:
Because first gen has bad processor and bad battery.
SW3 has same processor than Moto 2nd gen and other actual wear watch.
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I won't get my hopes up. It may have the hardware requirements , but seeing as the SW3 was the last of the 1st gen devices to get the recent android update, Sony may not be too keen on putting any more effort into the device. Still a great device for the price it's going for now though, and a good entry point into Android Wear for minimal $. Just bear in mind that when purchasing any piece of tech, it's bound to become obsolete in a year or so, simply because that's how fast technology is evolving. Hardly anything is future-proof these days.
I have this watch for a couple of months now and yes I absolutely love it. Might even buy a second one, for no other reason than having a spare, just in case. I'm sad that smart watches aren't really popular - I'd love to have a SW3 with better hardware and a heart rate sensor - but this watch is great. I use it for stuff like skating and thanks to the great location tracking, I can safely leave my phone at home, and when I'm back it will sync my whole route. This took a looong time the last time I did it, but ok, I rode for 30km so that's probably a lot of data to sync. Now I can see my entire route back on Google Fit. I really love that.
As a sysadmin I also use my watch for easy notifications, and for dispatching tasks to Tasker, using WearTasker. It's great that I don't need to take my phone each time I get a notification. This also applies to when I'm driving - using my phone when I'm on the road is something I absolutely never do, and now, when I get a message, I get it on my watch, so at least I can see if it's something urgent.
The voice capabilities work well enough to also make this a lovable feature.
The rubber wrist band fits nicely. I also bought a, what's the name, the plastic thing in which you can fit a band of your own choice. But I like the rubber band a lot more.
The display works great with a screen protector and the light sensor also works good.
All in all.. what's there not to love about this watch?
Have had mine for about seven months now. Overall I'm very happy with the watch and will probably (hopefully) keep it for a long time.
I'm most impressed by the battery life, which is great, and the durability of the display. I'm very neurotic about my phone's screen, always using tempered glass protectors, but I've worn the SW3 without any kind of screen condom pretty much all the time for over half a year, and the display still looks like brand spanking new. Thing is tough, is what I'm saying.
I just went through all of this myself when my original SW3 broke. I went through all of the available smartwatches and started narrowing them down. I like running but hate taking my phone because of its size (6p). I found an awesome Amazon Warehouse deal on a 360 Sport. The band is a deal breaker. Plain and simple. Its awful. Everything sticks to it and it was uncomfortable for me. This wouldn't be an issue normally, but you cannot replace the band...ever. Also, potential issue with the 360 Sport is IP67 water resistance vs IP68 on the Sony SW3.
I also tried the Samsung Gear S due to its IP68 rating and heart rate. While the fit and finish is above and beyond what the SW3 has to offer, I missed the always-on TFT screen, Wear, Google Now (voice commands work amazingly well), and my customized Watchmaker Premium face (with Tasker integration .
I would still choose the SW3 today due to these things: battery life (2 days not uncommon), TFT display (always on without killing battery-visible in direct sunlight), ambient light sensor (I'm looking at you Huawei and Asus), microUSB charging (yes, it's kinda a pain, but you can charge anywhere-getting a right-angle USB cable helps make it less annoying to plug in), and interchangeable bands (I have 2 bands now. They are comfortable for me and quick clasp). Lack of heart rate does not bother me b/c I don't think any wrist-based HR is accurate enough to matter.
Note: I use my SW3 with headphones all the time. Works great. Syncing music is cake with Play Music, though, since it has USB, I would prefer if it supported MTP and you could just drag and drop whatever straight to the device. Definitely not a problem, just annoying to have to wait for all your offline music to sync over BT.
My main issue with my SW3 is the very very.... poor readability indoor in dim mode. With low light it is very difficult to read. And with only black & white dim mode most of the wear face are very bad. Even the pebble time LCD screen color is much better
Good outdoor 1% of the time but bad indoor 99% of the time.
dersie said:
My main issue with my SW3 is the very very.... poor readability indoor in dim mode. With low light it is very difficult to read. And with only black & white dim mode most of the wear face are very bad. Even the pebble time LCD screen color is much better
Good outdoor 1% of the time but bad indoor 99% of the time.
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I will say that the LCD in the SW3 is not the best for viewing angles and resolution. However, readability is never an issue for me. The main reason is the ambient light sensor. I tried a Zenwatch 2 (which is a nice watch for the money), but the lack of the ambient light sensor meant the screen was always too dim or too bright. I don't want to fiddle with brightness every time I go outside or back inside. Yes, the always on TFT mode is going not the greatest for inside, but that's not its point. Still, sitting here at my desk under weak, florescent light, I can read it perfectly at a glance. That is another selling point for this watch. It is fairly useful as a watch...lol.
I am bit disappointed with my SW3, or more with Android Wear actually.
Besides notifications I have not been able to find much use for it. I had Pebble for two years and loved the way it handled notifications, with a certain third party app though. IMO Android Wear is quite clumsy and I miss more customisation options especially with the way notifications are handled. My battery lasts about a day and a night. For a smartwatch I guess that is not bad but I do miss Pebble's several days of juice.
So I am not sure if I would buy one now that I have used SW3 for few months...
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Which Smart Watch?
I own the Sony S3 Smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S2 and two Moto 360 2nd generation watches. Yes, I have four smart watches for no reason other than I love gadgets. I also owned the Huawei smart watch for about a week before I exchanged it for a Moto 360. The Huawei is great but I have huge wrists. So the Moto looks best on my wrist. Anyway, I use each watch for different activities. Each watch has it's pros and cons and correlates directly to which activities they are best for. For instance, the Sony Smartwatch has the best waterproof rating. So I wear the Sony to the beach and for playing beach volleyball (any activity with the possibility of submersion). The Sony is also one of the only watches with on-board GPS. That's great when you want to track your movement without lugging the phone around with you. The Samsung Gear S2 is probably the most versatile and it's sort of a hybrid between a sports watch and a casual dinner watch (depends on which band you install). The Samsung works great in every aspect and is probably the best overall performer but you cannot wear it as a luxury piece. It just does not have the look of a luxury piece. That's where the Moto 360 2nd Gen comes into play. The Moto performs great but you don't want to wear it playing beach volleyball. The Moto is designed to look like a luxury time piece and it looks the part. Of course the stock straps with the Moto are absolute garbage. You will want to order good thick leather straps online (or nice stainless steel). Once you have installed the new 3rd party strap your Moto will look very much like a fine time piece similar to a Breitling, Tagheur, Omega, etc.... Then you just need to use the Watchmaker premium app to download hundreds of custom watch faces that resemble luxury time pieces. In conclusion, if you want the smart watch solely for exercise I suggest the Sony S3. If you want a very nice (large) watch that looks like a Rolex I'd suggest the Moto 360 (46 mm). If you want a smart watch for the office and exercising I'd suggest the Samsung Gear S2. Most importantly, all three of these watches are top performers with good processors and great screens. So the only thing that differs greatly is the appearance of the piece itself.