hey guys this is austin. so what’s the bestsmartwatch? to find out i gathered the 2nd gen moto 360, samsung gear s2 and apple watch.even though they look similar each takes a different approach. samsung was one of thefirst to tackle smartwatches with the original galaxy gear but with the gear s2 they’vebasically started from scratch. with a bright, fully round oled display it looks more likea traditional watch than most, in black it’s
Android watches, pretty stealth looking although there is alsoa classic option which comes with a classier leather band and different housing. the normals2 comes with a pair of rubber bands which are fine but it feels a bit on the cheaperside. one of my favorite features is the bezel, the touchscreen works but most things aremuch faster to do just by rotating the bezel.
there are also home and back buttons alongthe side which all adds up to make one of the easiest to use smartwatches out there.on the other end of the spectrum is the apple watch. this is the stainless steel versionbut it’s essentially the same as the sport, you’re looking at a much more traditionalrectangular display. the oled screen is just as good as the gear s2 with deep blacks andsolid colors but while options and menus work better without a round screen it just doesn’tlook as cool. like all smartwatches the touchscreen works but with such a small display it canbe a bit awkward which is where force touch comes in. unlike the others which often relyon long pressing the apple watch can pull up extra options by pressing harder on thescreen and it works well. there’s also the
digital crown which is how i interact withthe watch 90 percent of the time, i slightly prefer the rotating bezel on the gear s2 butthe apple watch is one solidly designed smartwatch. come over to the moto 360 and there’s noplastic or rubber to be found. instead there’s a solid metal chassis and a real leather bandwhich gives a nice premium feel, the only thing that slightly holds it back is thatit feels oddly light for such a beefy watch. like the first moto 360 we’ve got a rounddisplay which looks good but there is a small window on the bottom where the sensors live.i don’t really mind, in normal use i quickly forget about it and the slimmer bezel is nice.where the 360 really loses out is in usability, you’re limited to the touchscreen and asingle button. it’s fine but having a quicker
option to navigate the software like on theapple watch and gear s2 would be a welcome addition. when it comes to picking a smartwatchone of the biggest deciding factors is what phones they work with. it shouldn’t be ahuge surprise that the apple watch only works on the iphone and the gear s2 works on samsungphones but it also supports some other android devices with a few exceptions. i did havesome issues getting it to work with my note 5 as it needed a firmware update that wasn’tout yet but it worked out in the end. the real winner for compatibility is the moto360, not only does it work on android but it also supports ios as well. android wearhas made big improvements in the last year but it does feel a bit unpolished as if it’stoo heavy to run smoothly on a watch. while
the 2nd gen 360 is faster than before you’llstill get some slowness from time to time. in comparison the gear s2 feels lighting fast,the animations are quick and it’s easy to fly through the interface with next to noslowdowns. the apple watch is fast as well but it can take a while to open some things,especially when it comes to more hardcore apps. smartwatches are most useful for notificationsin my opinion but all support third party apps, i’m not sure how many people wantto read cnn on their wrist but the option is there. being able to navigate especiallywith walking directions is nice but most of the utility is very similar on all three watches.things like voice search work well although this is where android wear on the 360 doesbest but asking siri a quick question also
works just fine. unlike a normal watch you’repretty much going to have to get used to charging a smartwatch every night. it’s not the endof the world but it’s one more device you’ll have to remember to plug in every night. mostof the decision really comes down to what phone you use. the moto 360 is the safestchoice and with the ability to customize the design in motomaker you can really make ityour own. if you use an iphone the apple watch
has the best integration and the design isthe most premium here, it’s a bit more pricey but you do get what you pay for. the biggestsurprise is actually the gear s2, while the hardware is a bit on the cheaper side thescreen is great, the bezel works well and it’s seriously fast. if samsung brings supportfor the iphone the gear s2 is going to be hard to beat.
