Deal: Pick up an unlocked 2014 Moto X for just $250 ($50 off) from Motorola
If you’re in the market for a capable, customizable off-contract smartphone that won’t break the bank, Motorola has a new deal that may be worth your while. From now until Tuesday, January 26th at 10:59 AM CST, you’ll be able to purchase an unlocked 2014 Moto X from Motorola for only $249.99. Considering the second-gen Moto X was one of the best Android smartphones to come out last year, this is a steal.
Perhaps the best part of this deal is that, since it’s being sold through Motorola, you’ll be able to customize your device with the Moto Maker program. You’ll be able to choose whichever back plates, front plates, accent colors and more, as always. It should be noted that the natural and leather back plate options will still cost a $25 premium, which still isn’t bad considering the $50 discount.
Moto X (2nd Gen) in video
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If you need a refresher, the 2014 Moto X comes with a 5.2-inch AMOLED Full HD display, a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 2300mAh battery and a 13MP rear camera. Plus, since this is the unlocked model we’re talking about here, it also runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. It might be a little dated at this point, but it still has some very compelling features that will definitely make some folks happy. If you’d like some more details on this phone before you take the plunge, be sure to check out our full review.
Buy now from Motorola
Next: Best cheap Android phones (January 2016)
Today’s best-selling unlocked Android phones at Best Buy (December 29)
The $99 Moto G (Gen 2) still leads the pack
So you got yourself some money over the holidays and now you’re looking to spend some. Why not start the new year out right with a new phone?
Purchasing a new smartphone can be quite the expensive endeavor. Moreover, it can also be a bit of a headache as you try to consider which phone, which carrier, and which rate plan is right. We’re here to help you with at least one of those segments: the phone. And, more specifically, we’re going to help nail down one place to check for your handset needs.
Why unlocked?
The benefit of an unlocked smartphone, for those who aren’t aware, is that it can be used on a variety of wireless service providers. Going this route ensures you don’t have to worry about contracts or long-term obligations. Want to hop from T-Mobile to AT&T or vice-versa? That’s no problem when you’re using an unlocked GSM phone.
We’ve gathered up the 10 best-selling unlocked Android devices from Best Buy so you can get a sense for what’s available. Indeed, you’ll see a nice mix of big-name vendors and devices from other, scrappy players. Note that we’ve omitted color variations; you might find other colors available.
So, the next time you need to replace your existing phone, consider scooping up one of these. It’s often a heck of a lot cheaper than going through your carrier in the long run.
- Motoroloa Moto G 2nd Generation 8GB – $99.99 SAVE $50
- Samsung Galaxy S6 32GB – $449.99 SAVE $150
- BLU Studio X 8GB- $99.99 SAVE $50
- Sony Xperia C4 16GB- $249.99 SAVE $50
- Motorola Moto G 3rd Generation 8GB – $179.99
- Huawei P8 Lite 16GB- $199.99 SAVE $50
- Motorola Moto X Pure 16GB – $399.99
- Samsung Galaxy S4 (Unlocked) – $269.99 SAVE $150
- Blu Advance 4 4GB – $59.99
- BLU Life X8 8GB – $129.99
The post Today’s best-selling unlocked Android phones at Best Buy (December 29) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
[Deal] Moto 360 (2015) only £190 from Amazon UK for a limited time
Amazon UK is running a lightning deal on the Moto 360 (2015), bringing the price of the Android Wear smartwatch down to just £190.
The wearable is normally priced at £229.99, but with this lightning deal, buyers will see £40 in savings. Unfortunately, the Moto 360 (2015) is only available in black from this particular retailer, but it’s still a very nice discount on a premium smartwatch.
Keep in mind that you’ll need to act fast. This is a lightning deal, and tech like this usually sells out insanely fast. If you’re interested, hit the link below!
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Moto 360 (2015) only £190 from Amazon UK for a limited time
Droid Turbo 2 is shatterproof and that’s all that matters (Review)
Over the last couple of years, Motorola has been making its way into our hearts with the Moto X flagship phones and amazing software support. So, when Motorola partnered with Verizon to build a “shatterproof phone” it turned more than just a few heads. Never has anyone actually managed to build a high-end Android phone that was genuinely protected from the daily torture that some people put their phones through that doesn’t look like a boulder with a screen. Could Motorola have finally pulled it off?
Tech Specs
The Droid Turbo 2 sports the Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM. That pretty much matches any of the top flagships of 2015 and it comes with a 5.4” AMOLED QHD shatterproof display. It also comes with a 21MP camera on the back with all of Motorola’s optimizations that they baked into its 2015 Moto X Style flagship. On paper, this thing is the phone of the year.
Design/Feel
When I first took the Droid Turbo 2 out of the box, my first reaction was to how much easier it was to hold than my Nexus 6P. Admittedly, I find the 6P to be a bit unwieldy but the Droid Turbo 2 is a bit smaller and has a nice feel with the metal band around the outside and the rugged soft grip on the back. It also looks pretty slick and you can fully customize it just like any other Motorola flagship on Moto Maker.
When you actually start to take a look at the screen, though, you notice the compromises that Motorola had to make in order to make this thing shatterproof. The display is hidden under 3 layers of glass and plastic that help to protect the phone and guarantee that it won’t shatter. The problem with that is that there are 3 layers of glass and plastic between you and the display and you can immediately tell that when you look at it compared to other high-end smartphones. What’s worse is that the outermost layer picks up fingerprints and grease like it’s made of the same material that swiffer pads are made from.
The big question that everyone has about this phone is whether it is truly shatterproof, though. I actually hadn’t planned on testing that feature myself, but I accidentally dropped it directly on its edge on concrete one night during my testing. You’ll notice that the edge took a pretty solid hit but the glass was completely untouched. On any other phone, let’s be honest, it would be ruined and I would be crying.
To be entirely sure that this thing is shatterproof, though, UnlockRiver went ahead and dropped it from 275 meters and it survived. It landed right on the corner and it definitely felt the impact, but the phone was still totally usable, which is nothing short of astonishing.
One thing that drove me crazy about the design was that the SIM card tray was not flush with the rest of the phone. It is about 1mm lower than the rest of the metal band and I thought that it was a good metaphor for this entire phone. It’s about one off from being perfect.
Software
The Droid Turbo 2 is the child of Verizon and Motorola coming together to build a thing. It’s obviously mostly Motorola, but it also has bits of Verizon in there for flavor. You get a decent amount of bloat along for the ride but you can also uninstall most of it. Luckily this device only comes in 32GB or 64GB variants so at least you won’t be burning half of your space on a tiny 16GB internal storage thanks to the system and bloat.
The software is what we’ve come to expect from Motorola from the last couple of years – it’s very lightly modified AOSP with Motorola apps that can be updated through the play store that really improve upon the experience.
It’s been a long time since I’ve used a phone with Moto Display and I really appreciated having those pulsing notifications. The equivalent that Google built into AOSP, ambient display, is just terrible by comparison and it was a refreshing improvement. I also really liked the IR magic that it pulls off so that you can wave over the phone to get Moto Display to show you the time and your current notifications (if there are any). I found that after switching back to my Nexus I kept wanting to wave over my phone to get notifications and it was really disappointing when I couldn’t do that anymore.
One app that they seem to be pushing on the Droid Turbo 2 is Moto Loop. This is a product that is being at least partially funded by Verizon because it won’t even run unless you have a Verizon SIM in the phone. It is designed to be a light and easy to use app for keeping track of the things that mean the most to you – your family. It’s basically Motorola/Verizon’s version of Life360’s Family Locator but you can also control your Nest Thermostat from Moto Loop….for some reason.
They will also bother you with notifications from the My Verizon app, which doesn’t seem necessary but if you (like me) have no desire to see that you can just disable the app and forget about it forever.
Overall, there’s not much to say about the software experience on this phone because if you’ve ever touched a Nexus or a Motorola phone over the last few years, you already know what to expect. You may as well read a review of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Admittedly, it’s a bit disappointing that a phone that launched after the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow didn’t come with Google’s latest tasty dessert (and has yet to be updated to such), but it’s really not that surprising either. It’s not like Verizon has an amazing track record when it comes to Android updates and Motorola has been disappointing us at every turn since they were purchased by Lenovo.
Battery Life
I would give the battery life on the Droid Turbo 2 a B+. It definitely gets better battery life than the Nexus 6P, but that’s probably attributable to its massive 3760mAh battery by comparison to the Nexus’ 3450mAh battery. When the Droid Turbo 2 gets its Marshmallow update, we can probably expect it to get better battery life, still. In my experience it had no problem making it through the entire day without needing a recharge, so that’s generally 16 hours off the charger with and going to bed with about 20% left.
Motorola has done pretty good over the last couple of years optimizing for battery life, but this phone doesn’t seem to be much better than what you would expect from AOSP. That partially could be attributed to the improvements in AOSP, but I think that the Snapdragon 810 is partially to blame for holding this phone back. Moto did a good job of taming the beast, but it is particularly evident when you’re “turbo charging” this guy, which is remarkably fast but the phone also gets really hot when you’re doing that, so keep it away from flammable objects while turbo charging.
Performance
I’m an opponent of the idea that you can get any real information about a phone based on benchmarks so you’re not going to get any, here (sorry, not sorry), but performance on this phone is above and beyond what you would expect from a Snapdragon 810 phone running Android 5.1.1. It’s very smooth and could handle anything I threw at it without a stutter.
Like I mentioned in the previous section, Motorola did a good job of taming the beast (SD810) and keeping Android’s memory issues on Lollipop under control, so I would highly recommend this phone if performance is important to you.
The Camera
Overall I would give the camera on this phone a solid B. I didn’t get to spend as much time with this phone as I normally do and that prevented me from fully reviewing the camera but I would say that it leaves something to be desired compared to most 2015 flagships. Android phones really brought the competition this year when it came to camera improvements and Motorola is by no means an exception, but they still aren’t at the same level as an LG, Samsung, or even the new Nexuses. I could make the pictures come out well, but I found that it took a lot of effort on my part rather than just shooting and snapping.
I also can’t stand the camera app that Motorola has on its phones. When everyone else is using tap to focus, it really throws you off to have tapping anywhere snap a photo and focus is basically just a prayer.
Fingerprint Reader (oh, wait…)
I put this section is because that’s what Derrick Miyao had put into his review of the Nexus 6P a few weeks ago (definitely worth checking out). After now having used several phones that have fingerprint scanners (OnePlus 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 5, and Nexus 6P), I’ve honestly been spoiled by the convenience of having the ability to instantly unlock the phone and I found that it was really annoying after setting up Android Pay that I had to use a pattern unlock again. If you’ve never had a fingerprint scanner on your phone, you probably won’t care but this was a disappointment to me for Motorola’s entire 2015 lineup. This is something that we should see on all flagship phones going forward (unless you’re Blackberry and think it isn’t secure enough).
Audio
When I play games or music out loud on my phone (that is to say, rarely), I like for the sound to be loud and crisp. I love the trend that HTC started with its Boomsound speakers to bring the speakers around to the front of the phone where they can actually be enjoyed and they’re less likely to be covered up by your palms when you’re playing a game in landscape. At first glance you see that the Droid Turbo 2 is a part of this trend as well – it appears as though you have a great set of stereo speakers much like the HTC One M-series or Nexus 6P.
As it turns out, the top speaker is for the earpiece only – no big deal, you still have two speakers on the bottom part of the phone flanking the Verizon logo, right? Turns out that’s deception as well. Only one of these is actually a speaker and the other is just a hole for collecting dust and small creatures. Covering up the right of the two blocks all of the sound from coming out of the phone. I understand wanting symmetry, but this just feels deceptive – much like the “stereo” blasters on the bottom of the OnePlus 2.
The single speaker that actually does exist makes a pretty decent amount of sound, though. It’s not nearly as loud as it could be if it had a dual setup, but it holds its own for what it is. I noticed that the sound gets a little distorted if you turn it all the way up, but I don’t really have the highest of expectations for phone speakers, and these are honestly pretty average.
Reception
It’s worth mentioning that this phone (much like most of Motorola’s phones) has above average reception across the board. I was getting better coverage than I usually do with my Nexus on all types of coverage (2G-4G LTE). What’s especially impressive about this is that I was using my personal SIM card in the phone while I was testing it, which is a T-Mobile SIM.
The Droid Turbo 2 isn’t marketed as such, but it has all of the LTE bands necessary to be used on Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile and get excellent coverage throughout the country. The only loss for T-Mobile customers is band 12, which is missing from this phone. I was really impressed by this phone’s reception overall and I would give it an A+ for radio quality.
Overall
Like I mentioned earlier, I think that the Droid Turbo 2 is just short of perfect in every category. The speakers are fine, the camera is fine, the design is fine (albeit shatterproof), the lack of fingerprint sensor is disappointing, and the software would be a lot better if it were devoid of all of the bloatware that Verizon insists upon. Of course it really shines in the way of reception, but there are other options from Motorola if that’s what you want (and for a lot cheaper). The Droid Turbo 2 clocks in at $624 if you buy it outright, or $21.83/mo if you get it on an Edge plan from Big Red. For some people the prospect of a shatterproof phone is worth any amount of money, and for that you really do get your money’s worth. For me though, it’s just not worth it. I’m more likely to pick up a Nexus or the Moto X Pure Edition, but that’s just a difference in my priorities. Of course, there’s no other phone that you can get a Force Awakens edition of, so if you need a BB-8 phone (much like I sort of do) then this is your only option.
Purchase: Verizon Wireless
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Unlocked Motorola Moto G (2015) receiving Android 6.0 Marshmallow in the US
Following the rollout of Android 6.0 Marshmallow for the Moto X Style, Moto X Pure Edition (2015) and Moto X Pure Edition (2014), it looks like Motorola has begun pushing out the big update to the unlocked Moto G (2015) in the United States. If you own this variant of the budget-friendly device, the update should be waiting for you.
As previously noted, the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow will bring a ton of new improvements and features, including Doze mode, more granular app permission controls, Google Now on Tap, Android Pay, and much simpler volume controls. Also, Motorola will be taking away a few features with the Marshmallow update, including Moto Assist, Motorola Migrate, and the Google Chrome extension for Motorola Connect. Motorola claims that there is no need to pre-install these features on their devices anymore because Google provides similar functionality in Android. The company says it wants to compliment Android, not compete with it.
See also: Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates roundup – December 18, 2015
Interested in finding out more about the Moto G (2015)? Be sure to check out our full review.
If you have yet to receive the update, head to Settings>About phone>System updates to check manually. Has your Moto G been updated yet? Do you have a different Motorola device that’s gotten the update? If so, be sure to let us know how you’re liking it in the comment section below.
Marshmallow rolling out for unlocked Motorola Moto G (2015)
On the heels of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates rolling out for the Motorola Moto X (2014), the smartphone maker continues to drop some holiday cheer in the way of operating system updates for their devices. This time, owners of the Motorola Moto G (2015) are the recipients as the Marshmallow update is rolling out to unlocked devices in the U.S. and Canada.
According to sources, the update will show up on unlocked, SIM-free handsets, although other variants should being getting the same update soon. For those with an unlocked device that has a SIM card installed, you may be able to try removing the SIM card to see if that triggers the option to receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The update reportedly clocks in at about 2GB in size, so you will likely want to be on Wi-Fi to grab it. Once completed with the update process, your device should be on software version 24.11.25.en.US.
Like the Marshmallow update for the Motorola Moto X Pure Edition/Style and the Moto X (2014), the update for the 3rd generation Moto G brings all the expected Marshmallow changes as well as removal of a couple Motorola apps that became redundant. Marshmallow for the Moto X Play is also rolling out in a limited way – to the Canadian market – so expect to see that update start appearing in other markets as well.
source: AndroidBeat
via: GSMArena
Come comment on this article: Marshmallow rolling out for unlocked Motorola Moto G (2015)
Dear Santa, Can you please add these features to flagship devices for 2016?
The lines between budget, mid-range, and high-end phones are rapidly becoming blurred. There are many devices in every price category that perform at a high-level, so it is about time that flagships start differentiating themselves again.
With Christmas just a day away, I’m writing an open letter to Santa Claus who hopefully will grant my smartphone feature wishes for next year. I think I have been good, and hope to have stayed off of his naughty list…
Dear Santa,
Flagship phones cost a great deal of money, and it’s embarrassing to see phones that cost half as much offer similar performance and hardware for half the cost. Santa, can you help Samsung, Sony, HTC, and LG design new features into their best phones to keep the enthusiasts happy? I know some of these ideas might be a little crazy, but it can’t hurt to ask!
Optical zoom and a camera lens cover
Before smartphones, most of us used actual cameras to take our pictures. One of the cardinal rules of photography was to never touch the lens. Oil and dust can ruin any picture but no smartphone comes with built-in coverage. Almost all compact cameras come with an automatic lens cover to protect the lens from dirt and oil, so can you help one or all of these companies help protect our lenses? Most lenses come with a coating that helps keep them protected, but after a year of wiping and cleaning, that protection is gone and pictures just don’t come out as good as they did when the phone was new.
Optical image stabilization, ridiculous megapixel counts, laser auto-focus, dual LED flash and Ultrapixels are all great, but optical zoom is what is missing on smartphone cameras these days. Samsung made the Galaxy S4 Zoom a couple of years ago, but that phone was just too thick and a niche device. And Sony made the external DSC-QX30 wireless lens, but no one really likes to bring along a second device to take pictures, unless it is a real camera.
Santa, can you help the engineers come up with a revolutionary way to bring us 3-10X optical zoom to our smartphone cameras? It shouldn’t add much bulk to our devices and should be reliable too. Optical zoom would be a great way for us to enhance our pictures.
Dual front-facing speakers with full range sound
Quite a few phones have dual front facing speakers like the Nexus 6 and 6P, but many flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note5 and LG V10 still have a mono speaker on the bottom of the device that are anything but spectacular. Loud but tinny sound is the norm on flagships, but can you help the engineers develop fuller sound like the HTC One line has?
It would be nice to make audio an important feature on all flagships these days and we shouldn’t have to settle for a huge black bar to get it. We all love to listen to music, take calls over speakerphone, play games and watch videos. Is it too much to as for full range sound?
Decently made earbuds with an inline remote and microphone
The Apple iPhone has great earbuds that come free with every purchase. Sadly many manufacturers have quietly stopped giving us earbuds and make us buy them separately. If they aren’t going to provide us with quality front facing speakers, can you help them develop earbuds that seal out excess background noise while providing decent sound while being included with every purchase?
Panasonic makes the RPHJE120K In-Ear Headphones and they retail for $6.29 on Amazon.com with free 2-day shipping! The headphones have over 27k reviews with an average rating of 4.5/5 stars which means they are excellent. It really can’t cost manufacturers that much money to manufacture these, so I beg you to help these companies add headphones back into the package.
External Memory with 32GB of base memory
There are fewer and fewer flagships with the ability to add external memory. As technology progresses, our data consumption increases right along with it and some of us need more memory. We are downloading HiFi music from Tidal, and videos from YouTube Red and need our storage space.
Some companies like HTC and LG still have external memory as an option, but Samsung recently decided people care more about looks than internal hardware. In this time of great phones, we should be able to have great builds with external memory too. And while I am at it, can you also make 32GB of memory a base option for flagships? Android software can take over 5GB of space, and that isn’t including all of the bloatware that Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T install on our phones without our permission.
16GB of base memory is unacceptable for flagship devices.
USB type-C and Qi Wireless charging
Many devices are switching over to USB type-C, like the Nexus 5X and 6P which is a great thing. One of my favorite features, albeit a very simple one, is that you can insert the plug in any orientation. Even though it is a huge pain in the rear to have different charging cables(micro USB and USB type-C), the benefit of not having to look at a small plug before inserting to charge is a nice feature to have.
Santa, can you help all companies adopt this standard?
Sadly while Google brought USB type-C to the Nexus 6P and 5X, they decided to leave out wireless charging. It’s kind of ridiculous that we need to sacrifice one feature for another. Can we just have both? Wireless charging is a great feature that many of us take advantage of. Once you get used to wireless charging, it is really difficult to go back to using a standard plug to charge your device.
48-hour battery life
I’m not sure why phone manufacturers have set a 24-hour limit on battery life, but most flagships barely can make it through a full day of heavy usage. Before smartphones, our flip phones used to last a couple days on a full charge. One would logically think that battery life on smartphones would get better as time passes, but as efficiency improves manufacturers just make the batteries smaller. The Samsung Galaxy Note3 and Note4 both had larger batteries than the Note5, but all three get roughly the same amount of usage on a single charge.
The Note5 can last a full day on a single charge with a 3000mAh, battery, but it’s time to give us a 4000-5000mAh battery found in unlocked devices. We want more time away from our chargers. Is this something you can help us with?
4k Display
I know having a 4k display seems a bit ridiculous at this point. 2k displays commonly found on flagships are so clear that you cannot see pixels without magnification. But as virtual reality(VR) expands in popularity so does the need for increased resolution. VR magnifies your display in a viewer, like the Google Cardboard, making pixels on 2k displays easy to see.
The Elephone Vowney is an unlocked Android smartphone and comes with a pixel busting 2k display with 535ppi. It also comes with 4GB of RAM, 32GB of memory, an octa-core processor and even a 2k display. It also costs just $299. Paying top dollar for a Samsung, LG, HTC or Sony flagship just doesn’t make sense when you can get so much hardware at a mid-range price.
4k resolution may be a bit over kill for most, but it will help future proof our investments since our devices should last us two years or more.
Case and Screen protector
I have now purchased two unlocked budget devices from Gearbest.com, and both phones came with a screen protector installed with a clear hard case covering the back too. Sure this has never been apart of any flagship, but most of us do want added protection for our devices. When we pay $800, it won’t cost much to throw in a case and screen protector.
Amazon.com lists many cases and screen protectors for less than $10. I’m sure cases and screen protectors cost a fraction of that amount, so start including them with our purchases. Instead of giving us fewer accessories, while giving us software features we don’t need, can you help the manufacturers redirect their investments and put them towards things we do need? A simple case and screen protector would be fantastic, and is probably the most reasonable things on my wishlist for 2016.
Budget devices come with them installed out of the box, so the big manufacturers like Samsung and LG shouldn’t have an issue with this.
I think I have been good this year…
Santa, I think the things I am asking for are not too unreasonable. Android manufacturers like HTC and Samsung are getting killed when it comes to smartphone sales and are frequently turning over senior management. They have lost sight of what makes their phones great, and 2015 was a year that lacked in true innovation. Mid-range and budget devices have caught up this year, and are set to do even more damage for 2016.
I ask for the things listed above, because the current sales figures for 2015 represent our growing dissatisfaction with what the major smartphones offer us, and I really want to see a comeback for smartphone flagships in 2016.
I may or may not be granted some of my items from my wishlist, but I am taking part in the spirit of giving on my own anyways. I will be selecting one winner from the ultimate giveaway package that can be entered with a simple comment.
Have a safe trip delivering gifts around the globe Santa. I will be tracking you using Google’s Santa Tracker.
The post Dear Santa, Can you please add these features to flagship devices for 2016? appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Moto 360 Sport review: Solid smartwatch, subpar workout tool
The original Moto 360 was the first Android Wear watch to get people really excited about the platform. The second was a thoughtful update, if not exactly a game-changer. And now we have a third, the new Moto 360 Sport, which has a slightly different mission than the others. Sure, it’s easy to look at it as a spinoff of the existing 42mm model, with similar internals and the same $299 price tag. I did — at first, anyway. Its purpose as a fitness companion helps it stand apart from the rest of the Android Wear pack, though, as do a few neat software tricks. Make no mistake: While it isn’t the best Android Wear device out there, it’s still a decent workout buddy.Slideshow-349766
Design
This will come as a surprise to exactly no one, but the 360 Sport feels like a cheaper, slightly more rugged take on the standard edition. “Feels like” are the key words here; I naturally (and foolishly) assumed that the more athletic version of the 360 would be more adept at handling dust and water. Sorry: The 360 Sport has an IP67 rating just like the original, meaning it’s not meant to take prolonged submersion or blasts from a high-pressure sink. In other words, this smartwatch can come to the gym with you; just don’t bring it into the shower afterward. This, dear friends, is what we in the business call a “bonehead move.” Activity trackers do their best work when you can wear them all the time, and competitors like Garmin understand the importance of standing up to tough conditions.
None of the standard 360’s customization options are available either; the best you can do is decide whether you’d prefer a white, black or orange silicone band. That silicone wraps around the Sport’s body almost completely, too, leaving openings for just a microphone and a textured plastic button at the two o’clock position for turning the screen on and off. I loved the Moto 360 2015’s near-endless customization choices (even if they did leave our reviewer Nate with a pretty hideous watch), but it’s no surprise that wouldn’t fly for the Sport.
At the very least, the silicone strap is unobtrusive and comfortable. It makes the 360 Sport one of the few smartwatches I can wear while writing all day without going absolutely batty. Even better, the way the silicone band arches away from the watch’s body means there’s always some space between plastic and flesh; you’d be surprised how well this helps mitigate Sweaty Smartwatch Wrist Syndrome.
Hardware and display
The Moto 360 Sport features a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 chip, along with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. Oh, sorry, did you fall asleep there? I can’t blame you: That’s almost the same configuration as the standard Moto 360, not to mention LG’s Watch Urbane, the Huawei Watch and others. I say “almost” because the Sport is different in one crucial way: It’s one of only two Android Wear watches to have built-in GPS, a feature that, while helpful for charting out your runs, eagerly slurps up the watch’s remaining power.
The 300mAh battery does well if your days are mostly spent brushing off notifications; my review unit routinely ran for 18 to 20 hours on a charge in those cases. More importantly, the 360 Sport seems to use that Snapdragon chipset in ways other devices haven’t: It’s been unflinchingly snappy over my week of testing. You’ll still run into the occasional slowdown when swiping through a long list of apps but in most cases the Sport has been quite speedy indeed.
So far, though, the real star of the show has been the watch’s 1.37-inch, 360 x 325 “hybrid” screen, which combines a reflective panel for outdoor use in bright daylight with a more conventional LCD display for legibility indoors. When you’re inside — which in my case is almost all the time — the screen behaves the same as any other Android Wear watch. Outdoors, though, Motorola’s AnyLight screen tech does a fine job reflecting photons under the harsh winter sun, even when it’s directly overhead. Purists might still bristle at the “flat tire” at the bottom that houses the ambient light sensor, but I’ve had plenty of time to get used to it. In fact, I don’t even really notice it anymore.
In use
Despite the clear fitness angle, most of the time the 360 Sport is like any other Android Wear watch. The platform itself has gotten some notable upgrades over the past few months, including Wi-Fi compatibility, wrist gestures and drawing emoji, making the experience feel more polished than it did a year ago. All of the stock apps and menu options are right where they’ve always been too, so early-adopting Android Wear aficionados can pick up right where they left off.
What’s especially neat about the Sport is its approach to activity tracking, which will stare you in eye as soon as you fire up the watch. The Sport watch face is the default, and it tracks steps taken, calories burned and heart activity in minutes. Tracking a run takes a single tap on a Start button in the center of the screen. Just select “indoors” or “outdoors,” set a goal, and you’re off.
When you glance at your wrist mid-run, you’ll see your total running time, how many miles you’ve gone and your current pace. There’s actually even more information you can dig into, like an up-to-the-moment heart rate display that tells you what calorie burning zone you’re in, but that takes an extra swipe to the right — not the easiest feat when you’re trying to beat your mile record. It’s moments like this that made me wish the 360 Sport had another physical button to make sifting through this info easier, but Motorola clearly didn’t want to muck with its hardware formula.
It’s too bad. Between the built-in GPS and the ability to stream music from the watch’s 4GB of internal storage, the 360 Sport seemed like an ideal runner’s companion. An extra button would have been yet another selling point, as would have a bigger battery. Remember when I said I regularly enjoyed 18 to 22 hours with loads of notifications rolling in? That figure drops dramatically with GPS in action — even more so when you’re using the watch as a music player. I usually try to run for an hour, and with the GPS and Bluetooth streaming working, the 360 Sport lost about 50 percent of its charge by the time I finished. For folks who run early and habitually plop their watches into their charging cradles throughout the day, this won’t pose much of a problem. If, on the other hand, you’re a late-in-the-day runner like me, there’s a solid chance the watch could die before you finish.
Continuing our tour, another quick tap shows you all those vital stats before leading right back out to the watch face. Simple. For more nuanced info (complete with maps and graphs!), you’ll have to turn to a separate Moto Body app on your phone. It dutifully sucks up movement data and run statistics from the watch and lays them out in handsome graphs for at-a-glance insights.
It’s here where you first get a sense of how accurate the 360’s GPS is; it tracked most of my jaunts through Montreal without issue, though it misinterpreted some of my in-apartment pacing as a trek down the block and back. That’s certainly something to be aware of, but it’s also partially my fault for not turning off Run mode when I should have. On the flip side, the watch is better at figuring out your heart rate and current step count than the original Moto 360 ever was — a crucial detail to get right if the 360 Sport wants to appeal to the fit crowd.
I’m no fan of sealing my health data in one place, so Moto Body offering to share it with services like Strava, Runkeeper, UnderArmor Record, Google Fit and more was a welcome touch. Pushing that information onto other platforms is a great trick — I just wish the 360 Sport had a few extra fitness-focused bells and whistles. Sadly, much of this is moot if you’re planning to use the 360 Sport with an iPhone. When connected to an Apple device, the watch works fine as a screen for notifications and Google Now cards and that’s about it. There’s no corresponding Moto Body app on iOS for a view of your activity data, nor can you feed information from the watch into Apple’s stock Health app.
The competition
$299 can go a long way if you’re looking for a new wearable, and there’s plenty out there to make a would-be 360 Sport owner do a double take. If, for example, you don’t need heart rate information, Sony’s SmartWatch 3 ($99) has a built-in GPS nestled inside a properly waterproof body. Most units you’ll come across will have a workout-friendly rubber strap, but you’ve at least got the option to wrap the core unit in a few additional bands. And there’s always the classic Moto 360 ($299-plus) available if you want most of the 360 Sport experience with a prettier design.
Hardcore runners have options like Garmin’s Vivoactive ($249) to consider, too, which trades the Android Wear app ecosystem for improved accuracy, waterproofing and informational depth. Then again, some people are looking for a workout tool that’s even more casual. The Fitbit Surge ($249) handles the occasional notification and tracks your runs and heart rate while maintaining a level of physical subtlety. Oh, and on the off-chance you’re an iOS user considering the 360 Sport for its fitness chops, don’t bother. There’s no straightforward way to get all that health data off the watch and onto an iPhone — you might as well stick with an Apple Watch ($349 and up).
Wrap-up
There are people who couldn’t care less about fitness stats on a watch, and there are people who crave them. The Moto 360 Sport really only makes sense to people who fall smack in the middle. It’s functional and even ingenious in some ways, but it doesn’t provide much more than the normal 2015 360 does. Despite the lack of ambition, a lack of competition means 360 Sport is still the best fitness-friendly Android Wear watch you can find. If you’re a die-hard runner, though, or need a little wrist-candy to liven up your next cocktail party, look elsewhere.
Motorola’s Moto X (2016) could have fingerprint scanner… obviously
The next version of Motorola’s Moto X could have a fingerprint scanner, following the current trend in the mobile industry of having a better form of security.
PLACE your FINGER (“cough”) on this #powerful device… #motox #comingsoon 😉 pic.twitter.com/AO3BFTaNLH
— Ricciolo (@Ricciolo1) December 22, 2015
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The last Motorola phone to offer a fingerprint scanner was the Atrix 4G from 2011, which was the first smartphone to offer that feature.
The potential fingerprint scanner was not the only detail revealed about the Moto X (2016) on Tuesday. A picture leaked earlier in the day revealed that the new version may incorporate a heat pipe, which could indicate a shift to a metal and glass chassis.
Source: @ricciolo1
Via: Phone Arena
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Moto X Play Marshmallow update now rolling out in Canada
Good news for any Moto X Play owners: it looks like Motorola is finally rolling out the Marshmallow update for the smartphone. The catch? Right now, that update is only rolling out in Canada.
So if you’re in Canada and using a Moto X Play, keep an eye out for the Android 6.0 update on your phone. If you’re anywhere else in the world, hang tight. If Motorola has gotten the ball rolling in one country, other countries should follow relatively quickly.
Come comment on this article: Moto X Play Marshmallow update now rolling out in Canada
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