![Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110044im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/4/1409845078687/d3264c83-a589-45e2-98e1-f3e34afb94e5-460x276.jpeg)
Motorola’s highly anticipated round Android Wear smartwatch is attempting to move beyond its geek phase and appeal to mainstream watch buyers.
The Moto 360 features a round screen, metal case and leather band that looks more like a large high-end watch than a piece of technology.
“We think the key to getting people to buy smartwatches is to build a watch first, a smartwatch second,” Christoph Jeneba, Motorola’s head of product for Europe, Middle East and Africa, explained to the Guardian. “That’s why we’ve built a time piece, and it had to be round because 85% of normal watches are round.”
![Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110044im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/4/1409845188003/86e16d83-3a35-4d17-8428-67e53eb6d947-460x276.jpeg)
The watch was first shown off at Google’s I/O developer conference in June alongside the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, but will only be released at the end of September costing £199 in the UK, £40 more than the G Watch and £30 more than the Gear Live.
‘Have to get beyond the geek phase’
Motorola believes that its focus on premium materials – the case of the watch is all aluminium and the strap leather – sets the Moto 360 apart from the pack.
![Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110044im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/4/1409845290314/88b6e5b7-4d74-4033-abf3-8ae6cf98f830-460x276.jpeg)
On the wrist it looks much more like a traditional watch than a smartwatch, about the size of a chunky man’s watch though much lighter and smaller than the Gear Live.
![Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110044im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/4/1409845380993/a3eb9084-d39c-4326-9933-4139d622e065-460x276.jpeg)
“We have to get beyond that geek phase and design a modern day time piece, a modern interpretation of a classic time piece,” Simon Collinson, Motorola’s international general manager told the Guardian. “If you want to go mass market you have to provide a credible alternative to a watch.”
The Moto 360 features a hidden heart rate monitor on the back of the watch, which can measure the wearers heart rate 30 times a day to track heart health using a bespoke Motorola app – something other heart rate sensor-equipped smartwatches do not do – while measuring activity, steps and distance covered.
![Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110044im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/4/1409845475171/df9dabcc-abb1-4da5-b696-5ffafccd9539-460x276.jpeg)
It is waterproof to IP67 standards (immersion to 1m) but the rest of the specifications are very similar to the other Android Wear watches currently available. Motorola quotes a day of battery life; most others, like the G Watch, last around two days.
The round screen has virtually no bezel, meeting the aluminium casing at the edges, but does have a squared-off bottom that resembles a flat tyre, where some of the electronic components are placed to operate the screen.
![Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912110044im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/4/1409845581121/0211e0c0-3409-478c-938d-216cb989f620-460x276.jpeg)
Who knows whether the Moto 360 is enough to convince more than early adopters that smartwatches have a place in the world but it is the best looking smartwatch to date and looks matter more on jewellery than technology.
• Google smartwatches review: LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live and Android Wear