My hands-on experience with the Moto 360 has completely changed my view on wearable technology, especially smartwatches. And I hope that my insights will help you to decide whether it’s worth for you to buy a smartwatch or not.
Reasons to buy the Moto 360 or any other Android smartwatch
1. You own an Android smartphone
Owning an Android-based smartphone is pretty much the very first pre-requisite to buying an Android smartwatch like the Moto 360. If you don’t have an Android device already, don’t bother buying a smartwatch, unless you want to have an expensive LED-backlit screen on your wrist that doesn’t do much more than tell you the time. A Moto 360 or LG G Watch by itself is nearly useless, unless you pair with with your Android smartphone via Bluetooth. Sorry Apple users, Android smartwatches won’t work with your devices.
2. You receive tons of notifications
I get hundreds of notifications on my Android phone every single day: emails, messages, social alerts, news, etc… Some of those notifications I simply can’t afford to miss, others can be looked at at a later point in time and some I don’t even know why I get them (looking at you, Facebook). An average user gets around 100 smartphone notifications on a daily basis, and if you feel that you get an above-average amount of notifications, I would recommend you to seriously consider getting a smartwatch. Ever caught yourself checking your phone because you felt a slight vibration… but there’s nothing? Yeah, that’s something most smartphone users experience once in a while: Ghost Notifications. With a smartwatch like the Moto 360 the need to check your phone for notifications will become redundant. The notification vibration is very distinct and can’t be mistaken for anything else, really.
3. You are an early adopter
Wearable tech is far away from being perfect, both from the hard- and software perspective. However, if you care more about new and exciting technology than you care about lags, bugs, dropped frames or other tiny little inconveniences, you should think twice before saying no to a smartwatch.
4. You have the funds
A good Android smartwatch like the Moto 360 costs as much as a low-end Android smartphone. The Moto 360 comes with a $300 price tag… and the LG G Watch R even costs $330.
5. You are deep in the Google Apps ecosystem
Android Wear gets amazingly useful if you are using Google apps on a daily basis. For me it is Gmail, Google Calendar, Keep, Hangouts, Google Now and many others. If you are like me and you are using many of those apps every day, you should get much more out of your new smartwatch than other people.
Conclusion
All in all, you need to be an avid Android lover, Google enthusiast and consider yourself an early to justify the $300+ price tag for a new Android smartwatch. The new technology still lacks what many of us got used to a long time ago: fluid animations, good battery life and an immense amount of features. Android Wear, along with the current flagship smartwatches like the Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R, are still in the very early stages. If you are really passionate and excited about new technology and you have the money to spare – go ahead and buy one right now. If not, wait for the next generation of Android smartwatches to be released. The hardware will improve and the software will come closer to matching the users’ expectations. If you have any other questions I might be able to answer you about my experience with the Moto 360 and Android Wear, simply ask in the comments section below.
