The Moto 360 smartwatch may be a looker, but apparently its beauty is only skin deep.
According to iFixit, which gutted the smartwatch to inspect its internals, the wrist gadget features a 300 mAh power cell—despite hardware specifications listing a 320 mAh battery.
That 20 mAh difference may not seem like much, but it matters more for small wearable devices—especially those that replace traditional watches with a year-long battery life. The site notes that a 300 mAh battery offers only 75% of the capacity of a 400 mAh battery, the same capacity found in the LG G Watch.
That doesn’t bode well. I’ve worn the LG G for weeks, and found its charge routine of every day and a half cumbersome and annoying. The prospect of giving Motorola $249 just to charge a smartwatch more often isn’t very enticing, even with wireless charging.
See also: What Not To (Android) Wear: One Woman’s Search For Smartwatch Bliss
With an older, power-guzzling SoC (system-on-a-chip), that battery life could take an even bigger hit. SoC circuits essentially cram an entire computer system onto a chip, and recent versions offer better power management and performance. Unfortunately, iFixit found that Motorola dipped into its dusty stash to whip out a 2010 OMAP 3630 SoC for its premiere smartwatch.
So even though Motorola claims its 360 watch offers all-day battery life, I’m dubious. Maybe that will work, if you shut down every feature that makes a smartwatch worth having.
iFixit also wasn’t too keen on the amount of ungluing and prying necessary to crack the 360 open, all of which makes for a tougher repair scenario. And should you actually break that round display, it would take a full disassembly to replace it.
Take that as warning. Moto 360 owners may wind up having to baby that wrist candy.
Images courtesy of Motorola
