The secret lies not in its 240-mAh battery, but in its low-power 200 MHz CM3 processor and Mirasol display technology, a middle ground between E ink and LCD. In the two week of wearing it, I’ve only needed to charge the battery once. It’s my first smartwatch, let alone, my first watch in the last eight years. I’m wearing a Qualcomm Toq smartwatch on my wrist this very moment. Also worth mentioning, the extended battery life is a result of forgoing a colored display in favor of E Ink. Regardless of frame-choice, both smartwatches use the same intuitive UI courtesy of Pebble’s proprietary OS. Those who are not interested in the premium steel frame may prefer the standard Pebble, which costs $135.99, offers the same functions, but looks like a “smart watch.” The standard Pebble’s frames comes a multiple colors. The Pebble Steel currently retails between $169.99 – 199.99. The Pebble Steel is arguably the best overall smartwatch, featuring over 1,000 apps (including Yelp, Foursquare, Pandora, EPSN, and more), water proofing up to a depth of 165 feet, five to seven days of battery life courtesy of a rechargeable 130-mAh battery, and an elegant steel-frame and leather or metal band that camouflages the gadget to resemble a standard wristwatch. The Moto 360’s biggest drawback is its short battery life the 320-mAh battery struggles to provide even 24 hours of power if the fitness tracker is activated. Given the watch’s “serious-business” appearance, one may prefer to use an exclusive fitness tracker, especially if the Moto 360 is fitted with a leather strap.
A built-in heart rate monitor provides an accurate heart rate reading, but is inconsistent at reading pulse.
Motor 360’s LCD display features a 320 x 290 resolution, a single-core 1 GHz TI OMAP 3 processor that runs the Android Wear OS, and a 320-mAh battery. Couple this effect with a selection of watch faces that resemble standard wristwatches, and you get a very modest smartwatch that draws little to no attention until activated – for some, this may be a good thing. Unlike other smartwatches, Moto 360’s watch face encompasses most of the Gorilla Glass 3- covered screen, leaving very little border space. The watch’s frame is circular and steel rimmed and can be attached to either a steel or leather strap.
Motorola’s contribution to the smartwatch trend is the Moto 360, an extremely elegant device that doubles as a man’s wristwatch. The Samsung Gear 2 is priced at approximately $180 Unfortunately, its color displays takes a huge toll on its 300-mAh battery, providing two to three days’ worth of life. The watch also includes a 2 megapixel camera and a 320 x 320-pixel AMOLED display.
Gear 2 is powered by a dual-core 1 GHz Exynos3250 processor and uses 512 MB of ram. The voice capabilities take advantage of Samsung’s S Voice, a Siri-like function, to look up things like contacts and the weather. Samsung’s most recent flagship smartwatch is the Samsung Gear 2, a device that features a built-in microphone and speakers to allow the-future-come-today-like wrist calling. Devices typically differ based on operating system, battery life, display, and aesthetics. While the exact features vary by individual model, most smartwatches display time, temperature, and weather using customizable watch faces. Some devices even permit GPS navigation and voice calling.
Smartwatches are very similar to smartphones, performing much of the same fundamental functions: running mobile operating systems and mobile apps, acting as portable media players, displaying phone notifications and calendar appointments, tracking physical activity, with the addition of monitoring heart rate. Catching whiff of a potentially huge and untapped market, electronic giants like Samsung, Motorola, Qualcomm and Apple, have all jumped on the bandwagon. The trend initially gained traction in the spring of 2012 after the Pebble’s extremely successful Kickstarter campaigned raised 10,266% of its initial goal. Since early 2013, a variety of smartwatches have trickled into the market, raising the total number of available models to well of 10.