Moto 360 review • Hacker News Board

Re: Moto 360 review

#11

Post by memossy » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:25 AM UTC

allegory wrote: post #7

A colleague of mine purchased a Samsung Gear 2. I think it took about 2 days before it was discarded. He said it was awkward doing business in a display like that when the phone was in your pocket anyway. I suspect the same is true with this: it has initial appeal but lacks practicality and genuine use cases. I myself, after owning everything from a Timex DataLink, Fossil Wrist PDA, through a TI EZ430 to an expensive…

Be careful displaying your Casio F-91W if you visit an Arab country.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Claimed_use_in_terr...

Re: Moto 360 review

#12

Post by gambiting » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:28 AM UTC

masklinn wrote: post #8

cromwellian wrote: post #3

12 hours is the reported life, but I bet that's with constantly fiddling with it. The device's battery life is probably proportional to how often the screen is kept on and CPU fully awake. In real world usage, after the initial geek factor expires, the device will probably last longer. I've certainly had that experience with the other Android Wear watches and Google Glass. I'd also expect the upgrade to Android L to…

> The device's battery life is probably proportional to how often the screen is kept on I would expect a smartwatch's display to always be "on", displaying a watch face.

It won't be. You have to tap it to display the watch face.

Edit: Nope, I am wrong - the screen does indeed stay on all the time, sorry.

Re: Moto 360 review

#13

Post by gambiting » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:30 AM UTC

awjr wrote: post #5

sgarman wrote: post #2

Not even a day of battery life - that's such a deal breaker for me :(

Form over function? They made something that looks elegant without considering how people use watches. As the reviewer mentioned, you forget about it, it just becomes something you use adhoc during the day. Adhoc has to last 24+ hours. Could they not have made it thicker just to increase the battery size and make that a selling point? From a design point of view, you could then have made a chunky watch component that…

I am pretty sure they have considered it. But you can only make it so thick, before people won't buy it purely because of the thickness. Even in the current form, if you look on Engadget comments, 90% of people complain about how thick it is. There is only so much you can achieve using current battery technology, and they have decided that 12h battery life will have to suffice.

Re: Moto 360 review

#14

Post by weavie » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:31 AM UTC

allegory wrote: post #7

A colleague of mine purchased a Samsung Gear 2. I think it took about 2 days before it was discarded. He said it was awkward doing business in a display like that when the phone was in your pocket anyway. I suspect the same is true with this: it has initial appeal but lacks practicality and genuine use cases. I myself, after owning everything from a Timex DataLink, Fossil Wrist PDA, through a TI EZ430 to an expensive…

Another F-91W user here. Battery life is currently 13 months without a single charge. Does everything a watch needs to, including telling the time!

Re: Moto 360 review

#15

Post by AndrewDucker » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:50 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #12

masklinn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The device's battery life is probably proportional to how often the screen is kept on I would expect a smartwatch's display to always be "on", displaying a watch face.

It won't be. You have to tap it to display the watch face. Edit: Nope, I am wrong - the screen does indeed stay on all the time, sorry.

In that case I'll stick with the Pebble for the moment. That manages several days with the watch face constantly on.

Re: Moto 360 review

#16

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:50 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #12

masklinn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The device's battery life is probably proportional to how often the screen is kept on I would expect a smartwatch's display to always be "on", displaying a watch face.

It won't be. You have to tap it to display the watch face. Edit: Nope, I am wrong - the screen does indeed stay on all the time, sorry.

[deleted]

Re: Moto 360 review

#17

Post by tfinniga » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:52 AM UTC

So, here's something I've been wondering about smart watches, maybe someone here can answer.

It seems like the big dealbreaker for these is battery life. But a cheap watch with quartz timekeeping and digital lcd display can last a year or more on a single small battery.

Would it be possible to sandwich two lcd displays into the face of the watch, one that is cheap and one that is high-res full-color? Always display the time in the common janky digits, and then when touched, hand off to the nice display? You could even get them to quickly crossfade as the backlight turns on.

That way your $300 watch is at least as good as a $10 watch. Would that be possible?

Re: Moto 360 review

#18

Post by leoedin » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:55 AM UTC

memossy wrote: post #11

allegory wrote: post #7

A colleague of mine purchased a Samsung Gear 2. I think it took about 2 days before it was discarded. He said it was awkward doing business in a display like that when the phone was in your pocket anyway. I suspect the same is true with this: it has initial appeal but lacks practicality and genuine use cases. I myself, after owning everything from a Timex DataLink, Fossil Wrist PDA, through a TI EZ430 to an expensive…

Be careful displaying your Casio F-91W if you visit an Arab country.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Claimed_use_in_terr...

Cheap casio watches are used as bomb timers because they are ubiquitous. Any market stall selling watches in almost any country in the world will have a Casio F-91W or a clone of it. If you wore a cheap Casio watch in an Arab country nobody would think anything of it because everyone else is also wearing them.

Terrorists often wear boots, but wearing boots does not make one a terrorist.

Re: Moto 360 review

#19

Post by TobbenTM » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:57 AM UTC

tfinniga wrote: post #17

So, here's something I've been wondering about smart watches, maybe someone here can answer. It seems like the big dealbreaker for these is battery life. But a cheap watch with quartz timekeeping and digital lcd display can last a year or more on a single small battery. Would it be possible to sandwich two lcd displays into the face of the watch, one that is cheap and one that is high-res full-color? Always display t…

But then you wouldn't get a daily awesome watch face. Nor cards without waking it up. As it is, cards will appear even on dimmed screens.

Re: Moto 360 review

#20

Post by maggit » Fri, Sep 05, 2014, 9:59 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #12

masklinn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The device's battery life is probably proportional to how often the screen is kept on I would expect a smartwatch's display to always be "on", displaying a watch face.

It won't be. You have to tap it to display the watch face. Edit: Nope, I am wrong - the screen does indeed stay on all the time, sorry.

From what I gather, it is always on. Do you have a citation to the contrary?

"Like both already-released Android Wear watches, Moto 360 will feature an always-on screen, which is a power-saving dimmed display that still tells the time like a traditional watch." - http://www.techradar.com/news/portable-devices/moto-360-rele...