Moto Watch review: It’s not the Moto 360 update you’ve been hoping for
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When I heard that Motorola was making a new smartwatch, I had high hopes. The Moto Watch doesn’t run Wear OS, which means we don’t have a true Moto 360 successor yet, but the company’s partnership with Polar looks promising, as Polar makes some impressive fitness smartwatches. Surely Motorola could capitalize on this to turn this affordable watch into something worth picking up?
Unfortunately, my time with the Moto Watch proved that Motorola still has a ways to go. There are some great ideas, but nothing feels fully baked, and I can’t help but feel that Motorola could have been better with Wear OS, even if it means battery life takes a hit.
|
Details |
Moto Watch |
|---|---|
|
Show it |
1.43-inch OLED |
|
Building materials |
Sandblasted aluminum frame, stainless steel crown, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
|
Water resistance |
IP68, 1ATM |
|
The senses |
Accelerometer, gyroscope, PPG sensor, ambient light sensor, compass |
|
GPS tracking |
GPS (L1 + L5 Dual Frequency) |
|
Communication |
Bluetooth 5.3 + BLE |
|
Music storage |
512MB |
|
Battery life |
13 days; 7 days w/AOD |
|
Watch the band size |
22 mm |
|
Dimensions/weight |
47 x 47 x 12mm, 35g |
|
Colors |
PANTONE Volcanic Ash |
At first glance, the Moto Watch is actually a solid smartwatch. The design kind of reminds me of something between the Galaxy Watch 7 and the OnePlus Watch 3. The aluminum frame makes it look good, and even though the watch is thick, it doesn’t feel particularly heavy. I don’t have big wrists, but I don’t mind that it only comes in a 47mm case size. This won’t be for everyone, though.
On the other hand, the size gives the large 1.43-inch OLED display more time to shine, and while I don’t know how bright it is, I never had a problem viewing it outdoors.
Setting up the Moto Watch is simple and requires downloading the Moto Watch app and pairing the devices. The process takes you through navigation, which is very reminiscent of Wear OS. Swiping down from the top opens the quick settings menu; swiping up shows notifications; and swiping from either side to circle panels, similar to Wear OS tiles.
In fact, most of the software experience is very smooth and reminds me of Wear OS, which is good because I find that other smartwatch UIs can be confusing and confusing (looking at you, Garmin), or just dull. Pressing the crown opens the app grid, which is laid out in the same way as on Galaxy Watches, and the crown rotates so you can easily navigate through menus. Unfortunately, it feels very thin and cheap, despite being made of stainless steel.
The button below the crown is a shortcut key that you can also customize to open any watch app.
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Unfortunately, the Wear OS similarities usually end there, and it quickly becomes apparent how small the Moto Watch is. For example, there are only a few apps available, which are as detailed as clock, timers, and weather, or related to aspects of health and wellness. You can no longer download.
There are also very few customization options for the Moto Watch, and you won’t find many ways to change the way the watch behaves. Fortunately, you it can be change and customize watch faces, many of which are available in the Moto Watch app. You can also use Moto AI in the companion app to create your own, super cool watch faces.
Speaking of Moto AI, its main function on the watch is to summarize notifications, which you can access via the Summarize button at the top of the notification view. It’s only available on select Motorola phones, possibly those with Moto AI available, and while it’s a handy way to get notifications if you’re wrong in checking your phone, that’s where its convenience ends.
In fact, the complete notification information on the Moto Watch is lacking. Sure, you can view notifications from your phone, but you can’t interact with them. As someone who primarily uses Wear OS watches, which let you type messages or select from pre-written replies, this is one of my biggest gripes with the Moto Watch. It kind of defeats the purpose of a smartwatch if I still have to pull out my phone to do basic things like reply to a message.
The confusing software choices don’t end there. Without access to streaming apps, you can only transfer music files from your phone through the Moto Watch app. Although it does not matter at all, this process is very difficult, since the clock shows much less storage than it has available (just 512MB, remember). It only allows me to transfer a few songs at a time, then forces me to go back through my extensive list of music files to select and transfer more, a process that has broken me a few times.
That only highlights the confusing speaker placement on the watch. It sits on the bottom of the watch, and while it’s quiet, it tends to block my wrist. On the other hand, you can still connect wireless earbuds to the watch.
Then there’s the remote camera function on the Moto Watch, which sounds a lot more exciting than it actually is. It only it works like a remote shutter button, not a remote viewfinder; you can only set a timer and take a picture without a way to see them on the watch. On the other hand, the Razr Ultra 2025 I’ve been using uses the cover screen as a viewfinder, so it’s not a big deal for me, but not everyone will have this functionality on their phones.
I also find it strange that there is no battery saving mode. Fortunately, the Moto Watch has great battery life and lasted me a full week on a charge, with at least one workout tracked each day, sleep monitoring each night, and tilt to wake enabled. Charging takes a while, though, and I got from 0-50% in 40 minutes and a full charge in about an hour and a half.
Motorola says you can get up to 13 days on a full charge, which sounds about right, although it depends on your settings and how active you are.
When it comes to health and fitness tracking, the Polar partnership sounds more promising than it really is. The Moto Watch comes with all the usual smartwatch health tracking features, including heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, and even stress. You can view details of these metrics on the watch or use the compatible app for a better view.
The companion app has three sections, one dedicated to Health. This shows you the activity ring and the seven metrics below. While the information is easy enough to follow, there isn’t much in the way of understanding how these metrics can affect you, which I expect after using other apps from Fitbit and Oura that include AI insights to help guide users to better habits.
The closest thing I’ve found is the Nighly recharge, which takes your “sleep” charge and your autonomic nervous system (ANS) — a combination of heart rate, HRV, and breathing rate — calculated to give you tips, if any, for the day’s exercise, sleep, and energy management. However, these are not very detailed, and I find myself looking for more guidance than “Go!” or “Exercising today will do you good, as long as you listen to your body.”
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Unfortunately, job tracking leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve tracked several workouts with the Moto Watch, from Pilates and HIIT to strength training, and during each workout, I noticed my heart rate was usually 10-40 bpm lower than my Pixel Watch 3 or Garmin Venu 4. There were times when the heart rate would be very similar to other watches, but those times are few and far between.
I also had the watch completely stop recording a power yoga session without realizing it. It is difficult to say whether this was due to the crown, which is slightly out of the watch, or to the recording of the pause.
Either way, it was frustrating, and the frustration only grew when I tracked the 2,500 step walk with the watch. The auto-stop feature kept kicking in while I was moving, so the watch missed a few steps when testing it against the Pixel Watch 3. However, after turning it off, it performed well against the Garmin Venu 4, which was actually pretty impressive.
|
Moto Watch |
Pixel 3 watch |
Episode 4 |
|---|---|---|
|
2,326 |
2,499 |
— |
|
2,501 |
— |
2,502 |
Ultimately, the Moto Watch doesn’t feel very reliable, and that extends beyond fitness tracking. Sure, the battery life is great, and the Wear OS-like UI makes it very familiar, but I feel like Motorola would have been better off just going with a real Wear OS. At least then, the software will feel mature, giving Motorola a better chance against competitors like Samsung, Google, and OnePlus, which makes Wear OS smartwatches.
The Moto Watch is available now for $150, which is a good price for a mid-range smartwatch. That said, the experience leaves a lot to be desired, and you might be better off with something like the Galaxy Watch FE, which you can get for even less.
