2nd gen Moto 360, Moto 360 Sport hands-on

The leaks seems to have gotten Motorola‘s smartwatch play here at IFA 2015 spot on. Or at least most of it. And that will probably disappoint some while still wow’ing others. The 2nd gen Moto 360 does come in two sizes, at least for men, while there is a single size only designed for women. And yes, there is a Moto 360 Sport version as well. He get some hands-on time, or one and a half to be precise, with the smartwatches to check out what Motorola is offering this time around.

The new Moto 360 is somewhat deceptive. At first glance, it looks to be similar to the previous Moto 360 especially in design, perhaps save for the relocation of the primary and sole button to the 2 o’clock position. It’s still the same circular face though Motorola claims it has a 71.7 percent screen to body ratio, the highest among its peers. People, however, will most likely be criticizing that “flat tire” dead spot. There are, of course, changes, even on the outside. In particular, the band holder is now easier to get to, which makes it easier to replace.

Inside, there are also changes, perhaps the biggest being the switch from a Texas Instrument processor to the now standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. There’s 512 MB of RAM and now 4 GB of storage. It still has the basic set of motion sensors, sadly no heart rate sensor still. No GPS either. It’s IP67 rated but should be noted that it is only water resistant, not water proof.

The new Moto 360 comes in a variety of sizes, colors, and band combinations. For men, there are two sizes for the body, 42 mm and 46 mm, and works with any 22 mm band. The one for women is only available in 42 mm and works with 18 mm bands. The chart below summarizes the dizzying number of options. Prices range from $299.99 to $499.99.

We also got half a hands-on with the Moto 360 Sport. Half because we only got a non-working dummy model that’s meant to showcase only the overall design, which is also the biggest and most pronounced difference from the new Moto 360. The sporty version naturally has a more rugged look to it, both with the body and the strap, which is one and the same thing because of the unified design. An internal difference is that, one, the Moto 360 Sport ships with an onboard GPS for tracking. Two, Motorola advertises an “AnyLight Hybrid Display” which supposedly automatically adjusts how the LCD shows light as determined by the ambient light sensor. This one we’ll have to see for ourselves in action.

At launch, the Moto 360 Sport will come in only three color options: Black with Grey bezel, White with White bezel, and Red with Grey bezel.