The world’s prettiest smartwatch, the Motorola Moto 360, arrives in Australia but it needs more power

MOTOROLA’S first smartwatch the Moto 360 has been hailed for its good looks, but is it the revolution in wearable hi-tech that its makers claim it to be?

Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch using Android Wear software.

RARELY does a gadget’s design capture worldwide attention.

Google Glass did it. The Apple iPhone did it. Sony’s Walkman achieved it too.

The latest entrant to this rarefied category is Motorola’s first smartwatch, the Moto 360.

In a world of square smartwatches, Motorola stole attention with a round-faced model.

Its circular body is highlighted with a polished and precisely machined steel shell, generous 1.56-inch (4cm) screen, and a selection of customisable watchfaces, many of which make this smart device resemble an old-school timepiece.

A high quality suede leather band from Chicago’s Horween tannery comes as standard, aiding its comfort and visual appeal.

But smartwatches are about more than the superficial, and the Moto 360 must deliver more than arm candy to succeed.

Elegant Android ... the Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch using Android Wear software.

It attempts this using Google’s Android Wear software that may be familiar to existing smartwatch wearers.

When connected to a Google-based smartphone — one of any brand — the Moto 360 uses its internet connection and delivers notifications in cards that pop up on its screen.

Everything from social media updates, to email previews, calendar alerts, reminders, flight delays, birthday reminders, and weather and traffic alerts can pop up on this watch, and can be read or dismissed with a swipe of the screen.

SMS messages are delivered in full and even picture messages are displayed on the watch, though the photos are cropped into a rounded shape.

The Moto 360 also hides a microphone on the left side of its face, allowing you to issue commands, dictate text messages, or employ search engine Google to do your bidding.

Its voice recognition is aided by cloud processing, so if the watch does not immediately understand you, it often corrects itself within seconds.

Sadly, the watch lacks an accompanying speaker to let you take calls or announce its web findings.

Motorola’s Moto 360 smartwatch comes with a suede leather band.

Android Wear apps are also limited but are growing in number, and allow you to add a calculator, news service, or phone tracker to this watch. Motorola’s own Connect app lets you customise its seven preloaded watchfaces.

The company also has added an important hardware extra. In addition to a pedometer, this watch features a heart-rate monitor.

It uses lights at the back of the watch to take your pulse and display it on the screen, and can store the data in a Motorola account.

It won’t substitute for a running watch, or a medical device, but the addition takes this smartwatch into fitness gadget territory.

This is helped by the watch’s IP67 water resistance, making it impervious to sweat and even small dips in water.

Motorola’s first smartwatch features a pedometer and heart-rate monitor to track exercise.

Another smart addition is useful when you remove the watch. It comes with a charging dock that you rest the Moto 360 against to charge it — a perfect nightstand addition.

But, like other iconic technology items, the Moto 360 is not perfect.

Its beautiful circular face features an ugly black bar at the bottom that some have dubbed the “flat tyre”. The bar hides a light sensor and display driver but can stick out if you employ a white watchface.

Its large screen and 1.1cm thick body will not suit everyone, as what is stylishly chunky in some eyes is merely chunky to others.

That suede leather band may also have to switched for sweaty pursuits.

Its battery can also wear down quickly. You will need to charge the smartwatch at least nightly or risk wearing a watch-shaped bangle. Enthusiastic users may even need to charge it more frequently, forcing them to carry the charging dock.

The Android Wear platform is also quite fresh, and it will undoubtedly take a while for bolder features — like the boarding pass you can send to the watch as a test — to become a reality.

While you wait for those features to arrive, or a longer battery life to materialise, the Moto 360 is a useful, gorgeous device to keep you occupied.

Smartphone fanatics will appreciate its frequent, useful and unobtrusive updates, active types will find it hard to keep their fingers off its step-counting and pulse-monitoring apps, and those looking for a smartwatch that finally resembles a high-end timepiece can end their searches here.

Motorola MOTO 360

Pros:

— Most attractive smartwatch yet

— Heart-rate sensor adds to fitness credentials

— Wireless charging dock

— Compatible with any phone running Android 4.3 or above

— Water- and dust-resistant

Cons:

— Battery will need to be charged daily, at least

— 1.1cm thick form may not suit all wrists

— Flat tyre design detracts from its looks

— Few Android Wear apps

— Limited availability in Australia

Moto 360 smartwatch

Motorola / 4/5 / $329 / moto360.motorola.com