OEM vs. 3rd Party Bands? - Moto 360

Hey everyone.
So I've now been on the hunt for a replacement band for my Moto 360 (1st gen). There's nothing wrong with the current band (grey leather band it came with), I'm just really looking for a steel band.
I've looked around on Amazon and have seen very nice looking Milanese loops and traditional steel bands, however I've read that 3rd party bands could potentially interfere with the radios of the device and possibly even cause damage? I don't mind paying the (albeit a little expensive) 79 GBP on Motorola's website for the OEM steel band if it means it will be better for the watch, but I mean it's more than I paid for the watch itself (97 EUR). I've also seen you can install 'generic' bands which are made for normal watches. Is this the case? Any pros / cons going for that option?
I've also seen on the forums that some people have managed to crack the plastic shell on the back of the watch trying to replace the band. Is this something that happens easily, meaning is the shell very fragile, or do you really need to be a goof to crack it?
Post links for cool bands (must be deliverable to the UK) if you have any, and pics of your current setup!
Cheers :good:
[EDIT]: So these are the third party bands I've found online that I quite like:
- Rerri Band: I'm doubtful of how customizable this band is in terms of removing links.
- Truffol Strap: Looks great, however it is not specifically designed for the 360....

Related

Moto 360 with Pebble Steel Band (Mod Needed?)

So I am looking to put on the metal band for the Moto 360. Have people sorted out how to stop the cracking on the back due to the band? Is there a mod we can do to ensure this does not happen. Perhaps modify the pebble steel to limit it hitting the part of the plastic. I would love to hear peoples ideas on the matter.
You might want to read the long thread about pebble bands. This has been a part of that discussion.
Sfkn2 said:
You might want to read the long thread about pebble bands. This has been a part of that discussion.
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I saw them, some people are talking about a mod that is needed to work with people that have small wrists. The issue is I can not find people outlining the mod they did
There is no mod for the pebble steel band. That post that you saw was about the Trufol band which is made for the pebble steel. That individual simply removed the thickest links on the end in order to make it fit.
Generally speaking your options are to either mod the Moto 360 by removing the tabs inside of where the band is attached to the watch or to modify the band so that it can work around the tabs. The standard Pebble Steel band fits on the watch without modification but puts you at risk of cracking, but most if not all bands do.

Moto Selling Metal Band 360s

Hey, I was just online getting a Nexus 6 direct from Motorola and I noticed that Moto 360 is available with a metal band.
How long has that been available? Did I miss something?
Metal bands
You didn't miss anything, this was literally announced a while ago. A while being like an hour ago. They released a few things as well, not only the metal bands. Availability of new bands, such as Cognac Brown and Silicon bands as well, including leather bands made by DODOcase. Software update to the Motorola Connect also will allow you to customize the watch faces, add the Moto Contest Winner's new face and an updated health app including Calories and Distance. I think it's pretty cool and I can't wait until they release the bands separately (momentarily you can only buy them when purchasing a new Moto). Tomorrow's their AMA on Reddit, worth it to check it out and see if we can squeeze anything out of them about official release dates .
http://motorola-blog.blogspot.de/2014/11/moto-360-choose-watch-that-fits-your.html
I doubt they would answer, but we could ask them if they made a hardware revision to prevent the back from cracking so easily. I mean, if it happens with a leather band, I would think it would be even easier to crack with metal putting pressure on it. Unless they made it so the first link in the watch doesn't move so it can't push against it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Called Motorola today
I spoke with a Sales rep to buy just the band, but they're not ready yet.
charesa39 said:
I doubt they would answer, but we could ask them if they made a hardware revision to prevent the back from cracking so easily. I mean, if it happens with a leather band, I would think it would be even easier to crack with metal putting pressure on it. Unless they made it so the first link in the watch doesn't move so it can't push against it.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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The metal bands for Moto 360 seem to be quite customized from the pictures, in order to prevent touching the plastic back.
kevinlevrone said:
The metal bands for Moto 360 seem to be quite customized from the pictures, in order to prevent touching the plastic back.
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I was looking at that as well. Is the black plastic part of the metal band or the watch itself? If this is an addition to the watch to prevent cracking, this should be implemented with all the nonmetal band models as well. This would give many an incentive to just purchase the metal for this retrofit and then get a leather band as well.
Something is definitely wrong
Is it just me or does the moto 360 with the metal band look no where near as good as they made it seem in the concept pictures.
Take a look at this and compare it to what they are selling.
http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/126717-image/Moto-360.jpg
I know that I may be being naive but I honestly expected more.
شیرخدا said:
Is it just me or does the moto 360 with the metal band look no where near as good as they made it seem in the concept pictures.
Take a look at this and compare it to what they are selling.
http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/126717-image/Moto-360.jpg
I know that I may be being naive but I honestly expected more.
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Click to collapse
The metal band from the concept pictures is a different model from the one they actually sell, you can't compare like this. Maybe in the future they will sell that model too, but seeing how long it takes them to sell even run-of-the-mill bands I don't hold much hope.
So you cant actually pick the bands up in a store anywhere yet, this is just for ordering online? Any idea when you can get these in BB?
شیرخدا said:
Is it just me or does the moto 360 with the metal band look no where near as good as they made it seem in the concept pictures.
Take a look at this and compare it to what they are selling.
http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/126717-image/Moto-360.jpg
I know that I may be being naive but I honestly expected more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did I.
The bands they are showing now look absolutely crap compared to what was originally shown.
I'm seriously disappointed in Motorola, firstly for the flat tyre and now the crappy metal band they are trying to palm off on us.
Apparently they are also going to try and charge $80 for the band alone, they're smoking some serious crack.
When I got mine at best buy, there was a metal band available for $30. Said compatible with moto 360.

Official bands are here!!!!!!!

www.engadget.com/2014/11/06/moto360-metal-bands/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000602
http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/05/...vity&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
And they are expanding the leather options with some from DODO case, PLUS they are finally adding the winning watch face from the face-off contest!
What happened to the good looking one in all the promo shots?
Is it me or are there still no links to actually purchase the band's separately?
Takin Notes..
Yup.. Seems like they ain't releasing the bands separately
So they're here, but not here. Thanks Motorola.
skally said:
What happened to the good looking one in all the promo shots?
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Indeed, that one looks much better. This new one looks crap.
Apparently ATT has the bands available individually now...
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/11/0...al-individual-watch-bands-right-now-from-att/
I can't tell if the "Gray Lether" is the initial Gray, or the Stone Gray (Based on Moto's Blog it should be STONE Gray)
Amazon has a listing for the "Dark Metal" band -> http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Mobi...sbs_cps_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0B9DJ4AVD63GXN0XAJB7 but its not available yet.
$80 for the metal bands?????????????????????????????????????????????
Thats crazy.
Are these bands even available for pickup anywhere? Or is this online order only
Went into an AT&T store today and the people there said that it's online order only.
More coming...
I missed that there are pictures of the future bands are available at -> https://drive.google.com/?tab=mo&authuser=0&pli=1#folders/0B8Kpi4PsQvSQVFBDRk1LOHA4ZGs
(link is found at the bottom of http://motorola-blog.blogspot.com/2014/11/moto-360-choose-watch-that-fits-your.html )
The pictures there show the Cognac_Leather, DoDo_Pumpkin_Tan, Dodo_Red, Dodo_Slate_Blue, Dodo_Teal, Tylt_Black, Tylt_Navy, Tylt_Olive, Tylt_Purple
Kind of interesting.
I wonder when they will the rest will be available, and from where?
It's probably a little over priced, but I just ordered one of the silver steel bands. If it saves my plastic from cracking it's worth it. I tried a Pebble band and it's ok I'm just really nervous the back will crank, I even Dremeled it a bit but it doesn't seem to take much stress off the edge of the plastic bottom. I will post back with pictures and more details of how it turns out if you guys want. And I'm not willing to void my warranty installing the super engineer 2 band, or whatever it's called, which also costs 80$ for the band.
DrPopper said:
It's probably a little over priced, but I just ordered one of the silver steel bands. If it saves my plastic from cracking it's worth it. I tried a Pebble band and it's ok I'm just really nervous the back will crank, I even Dremeled it a bit but it doesn't seem to take much stress off the edge of the plastic bottom. I will post back with pictures and more details of how it turns out if you guys want. And I'm not willing to void my warranty installing the super engineer 2 band, or whatever it's called, which also costs 80$ for the band.
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Click to collapse
Do post pictures of how the band fits into the watch, when you have it installed. [emoji4]
DrPopper said:
It's probably a little over priced, but I just ordered one of the silver steel bands. If it saves my plastic from cracking it's worth it. I tried a Pebble band and it's ok I'm just really nervous the back will crank, I even Dremeled it a bit but it doesn't seem to take much stress off the edge of the plastic bottom. I will post back with pictures and more details of how it turns out if you guys want. And I'm not willing to void my warranty installing the super engineer 2 band, or whatever it's called, which also costs 80$ for the band.
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Click to collapse
do you have a link for the silver band?
Im concerned about the size of the bands. Im at rep at AT&T, and when we got in the moto 360 with the dark metal band i tried it on. It was really tight! Im a big guy, but not big enough were my wrists would be above average girth, so for an average male those bands are small. Are they sold in sizes? Can you add links to the band? I looked inside the box and there were no extra links. Am I going to have to buy the watch that comes with the metal band AND buy an additional metal band just to get links out of it to add to the main? Anyone know?
darkleafar said:
Im concerned about the size of the bands. Im at rep at AT&T, and when we got in the moto 360 with the dark metal band i tried it on. It was really tight! Im a big guy, but not big enough were my wrists would be above average girth, so for an average male those bands are small. Are they sold in sizes? Can you add links to the band? I looked inside the box and there were no extra links. Am I going to have to buy the watch that comes with the metal band AND buy an additional metal band just to get links out of it to add to the main? Anyone know?
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Everywhere I've read has said it comes with 4 extra links. One guy said he couldn't find them like you, but upon further inspection of the packaging, they were in a little paper envelope. Maybe you just missed it?
charesa39 said:
Everywhere I've read has said it comes with 4 extra links. One guy said he couldn't find them like you, but upon further inspection of the packaging, they were in a little paper envelope. Maybe you just missed it?
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Click to collapse
Its possible! I inspected the box very quickly because I was on the clock, lol. I will check again first thing tomorrow! Just to be sure, you are referring to the watch that already comes with the band, not the band by itself, correct?
darkleafar said:
Its possible! I inspected the box very quickly because I was on the clock, lol. I will check again first thing tomorrow! Just to be sure, you are referring to the watch that already comes with the band, not the band by itself, correct?
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Correct. The one that costs $299 and comes with the metal band instead of the leather band. I've been holding out this entire time for the metal band version to finally be released, and I ordered it from Best Buy today. Getting it shipped to store, so should be here in a few days. Can't wait.
Has anyone actually found the metal band in the wild yet, or is AT&T the only place you can get them? For anyone who has ordered from AT&T, how long did it take to get the band?

[Q] Band/Strap Size?

Slightly random question, but can anybody with the Zenwatch advise on how large the strap is? As in, what size wrist it'll accommodate?
My wrists are stupidly large (don't ask, I have no idea), so I'm wondering whether I'll need to swap the band out. They''re about 220mm (about 8.6 in). That's assuming it ever gets to my country.
The included strap will not fit anything above roughly 7.5 inches. However, the strap is extremely easy to change out, and there should be plenty of 3rd party straps that will fit your needs.
As a note, the watch is pretty long so after market straps will have an exaggerated length. I'd say I have a medium wrist but I'm using the shortest setting on the aftermarket strap I bought.
Thanks for that guys - looks like an after-market strap. I don't suppose the Asus clasp can be redeployed onto a different strap, do you think? I've seen similar accessories out there, but I don't know much about that sort of thing.
I highly doubt it. The bottom part could probably work if you found just the right band but the top part (the clasp past that says "asus") is pinned and I can't imagine it would be very easily modified. Not even sure the pin can be removed. The way Asus made the band removable from the watch is pretty slick though and makes me think they plan on coming out with different interchangeable bands. Who knows when though....
Thank you. After having a look, a lot of the places that sell straps also sell "deployment clasps" (a new term for me). An after-market option that replaces the buckle of a strap with a unit that then slots into one of the holes. They seem to be fairly universal and, whilst possibly not being as slick as the supplied clasp they perform the same task. It would seem that you could replicate the advantages of the stock strap.
Something like these (I think) http://www.watchworx.co.uk/pages/access/deploy.html (random Google result - I have no affiliation)
Yes, you CAN reuse the ASUS deployment clasp.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/zenwatch/general/replacement-band-t2951630
l_stevens said:
Yes, you CAN reuse the ASUS deployment clasp.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/zenwatch/general/replacement-band-t2951630
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Thank you - yes - I'd seen that. Would appear you need a band that tapers from 22mm to 18mm (or can do some modifications.

My Moto 360 official metal band replacement review

I originally purchased my Moto 360 with the "stone leather" band. Color is the ugliest from all the leather bands, but it was the only one available at the time with a silver watch (which was a must for me). All was fine and dandy, until the band begun to smell awful. I did wear my watch while doing weight training four times a week, but I suppose that's why it has a heart rate monitor, right ? I tried to get off the smell using a stain remover called "Vanish" which "eliminates 99% of bacteria". It did eliminate the original bad smell but another chemical smell took its place and stayed there. I finally destroyed the color of my leather band using sodium bicarbonate in one last try to eliminate the smell.
I didn't want to use 3rd party metal bands because I was afraid I would end up with a cracked watch back, and also due to the watch lugs design, they don't look good attached to the watch because they form a steep angle while exiting the watch, leading to a "hockey puck" look.
Finally the official metal bands became available via Amazon (the only ones shipping to a package forwarding addres - I live inside EU). I purchased the band for more money than I would like to spend but it was a must. I also purchased a cheap set of tools to help me replace it. I replaced the band in about 2 hours, being very careful not to scratch anything, and I succeeded to keep the watch intact. However, from this experience I advise you that this is not a simple operation and it's better to go to a jeweler. This is because the pins are hidden inside the watch and the original band takes up all the space and the pins are not visible and are hardly reachable. Also, the link pins are very hard to get out from the band in order to adjust, even with specialized tools. I really hope Motorola changes the band attachment and adjustment style on the Moto 360 v2, an easier procedure is sorely needed. Maybe they could take some hints from the Apple Watch
The band feels a lot better on hand compared to the leather band (strangely). The leather band was constantly reminding me that it's there, like I had some kind of allergy to it, I had to adjust it all the time, plus the bad smell. The metal band heats up to body temperature and you really don't feel it, despite being heavier. However, in my opinion, the metal band is about 1-2mm wider than ideal. Its actually 23mm instead of the standard 22mm. It's out of balance compared to the watch diameter and overall size. Another disadvantage of the metal band is that at the watch entry point the band looks unnatural, unfinished. The wide links end about 3mm before the rest of the band enters the watch, creating this "unfinished" effect. I think they could have done a better design. But this is a minor problem, overall the watch looks a lot better with the metal band. I do think it would look very good with the new cognac leather band, but I have to wear it while training so I can't use any more leather bands. Maybe a silicone band would come handy.
About the cracked back issue, the official metal band has 2 plastic pieces that are designed in such a way that the metal band never touches the watch back. Even the plastic pieces don't put strain on the back, it's very well designed in this regard.
A picture of the watch is attached to this post. Thanks for reading
Thank you for your input and the picture.
i have yet to see the real shape of them plastic spacers... if u ever take band off, i would like to see the actual close up pic of those plastic things
chaco81 said:
i have yet to see the real shape of them plastic spacers... if u ever take band off, i would like to see the actual close up pic of those plastic things
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I posted some photos in the Accessories section about a week ago:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57436743&postcount=19
Well got mine today from the US, ... Cousin was coming to India
Tomorrow I will apply it.
There is a video on YouTube where it seemed it was fairly simple to change it.
Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk 2
Good Review .. Thanks man
Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk 2
I prefer the look of the pebble steel band for some reason.
macropterous said:
I prefer the look of the pebble steel band for some reason.
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Click to collapse
I did at first also.
But after checking it out at BB, I wasn't impressed.
I'm now leaning to the Moto band, or this Mesh one on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00PV...qid=1419285189&sr=8-15&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
I guess no one has paired the steel watch with the black steel official band? What do you think:
Sent from TabPRO 8.4
It's an interesting look, but I'd still go with the silver one, on the silver Moto 360. I just wish the bands were a bit cheaper. 79.99 is kind of a lot.
I finally got mine from Moto - I ordered the black watch with black band and they held it up for a month waiting for the screen protector to come in. Jerks. But I digress
The band was too small so I added a link using a cheap kit I bought on Amazon (and man are the tools included cheap! Not quite single use but close). The band was too wide to see what I was doing in the pin removal tool so I had to do it manually with a dinky hammer and an appropriate pin removal tool. Long story short, it wasn't terribly difficult to just add or subtract a link.
It looks good and works well - my only gripe is that the little space between the band and the watch case doesn't look like what I'm used to looking at.
For those of you thinking the bands are expensive... I tried to order a replacement band for my TAG sports elegance watch and those burglars wanted $600 for a new band. So I got a moto360 instead.
FYI:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57809422&postcount=23

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