Motorola also launched the Moto Watch Fit and the Moto Buds Loop, and we’ve got major deja vu. The watch is basically an Android-only Apple Watch clone that focuses on basic fitness tracking, while the Moto Buds Loop are similar to the Bose Ultra Open. Motorola’s leaning on design — and some Swarovski bling — to set it apart.
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TechTranscript
00:00I still have to do this.
00:04Alright, phones weren't the only gadgets Motorola had in store today.
00:08It also launched two new MotoThings accessories, the Moto Watch Fit and the Moto Buds Loop.
00:14Smartwatches aren't new for Motorola.
00:16If you think back to the early days of Android Wear, the Moto 360 was actually one of the
00:21most popular smartwatches thanks to its circular face and sleek design.
00:26And then they quit smartwatches in 2016 and another weird company called eBuyNow licensed
00:32the Motorola brand and launched a zombie Moto 360 in 2019.
00:38Spoiler alert, it wasn't that good.
00:40So the Moto Watch Fit is actually the first Motorola smartwatch actually made by Motorola
00:46in almost a decade.
00:48But if you were hoping for the 360's grand revival, I got some bad news.
00:54The Moto Watch Fit is essentially an Android Apple Watch clone that does less.
00:59It's got a 1.9 inch OLED display with a thousand nits of brightness and Corning Gorilla Glass
01:043.
01:05It uses a 22mm strap, it's got customizable watch faces, and all the basic fitness tracking
01:11features you'd expect like heart rate, blood oxygen, built-in GPS, sleep tracking, and
01:16roughly 100 sport modes.
01:18It handles push notifications, media controls, and syncs with the Moto Watch app.
01:24Hardware-wise, you get an IP68 rating and 5ATM of water resistance, so you can take it in
01:29the shower or pool, whatever you're good to go.
01:32On the wrist, it's pretty light, but as you can see, it's basically an Apple Watch clone
01:37with some bezels.
01:39One interesting thing is that it's not compatible with iOS and doesn't run Wear OS.
01:44Instead, it's got a proprietary RTOS or real-time operating system, and if there's one thing
01:50you can count on from an RTOS smartwatch, it's better battery life.
01:55Case in point, this one gets an estimated 16 days on a single charge.
02:00On paper, this isn't bad at all.
02:02It's just sort of disappointing when you think about the history of Motorola smartwatches.
02:07Now, let's talk about the Moto Buds loop.
02:15If you're thinking these look a lot like the Bose Ultra Open earbuds, you'd be correct.
02:20It's a very similar design, though the feel isn't quite as premium.
02:25The middle bit is basically a flexible silicone.
02:27Motorola says that the sound is by Bose, and open earbuds basically let you hear audio while
02:33staying clued into your surroundings.
02:35They've been having a moment in the earbud world over the last few years.
02:38The buds have 12mm RNless drivers.
02:41They connect over Bluetooth.
02:42And I guess if you have a Motorola phone, you can use them to trigger Moto AI functions.
02:48Cool.
02:49You can also switch between Motorola and Lenovo devices using Smart Connect.
02:53There's also microphones to help you sound clearer on calls and dampen background noise.
02:58As for battery life, Motorola says you should get up to 8 hours on a single charge and 37
03:03hours with the case.
03:07The thing about these is that Motorola is definitely trying to make a fashion statement.
03:11I mean, the beige color literally has Swarovski crystals in it.
03:15They are blingin'.
03:17The idea is to make them look like techno jewelry.
03:21This isn't a new concept, literally, I got smart rings.
03:24But we've seen this with other hearable devices as well.
03:27This is just Motorola's take on that.
03:30Now I really wish I could tell you how much the watch or these Swarovski crusted buds cost,
03:36and when they'll be available.
03:38I got nothing for you.
03:40All Motorola told us was that the buds will be available in the coming months and that we'll
03:44find out prices sooner to launch.
03:46I asked Motorola if this was because of the uncertainty caused by tariffs, and I got crickets
03:52in response.
03:53Though, I think it's a fair guess since this ambiguity is pretty atypical for a product
03:59launch.
04:00I guess it's also fair to assume that the Swarovski buds will cost more than the version
04:04without, and the Moto Watch Fit shouldn't cost as much as a Wear OS watch because that's
04:10just not how RTOS watches work.
04:14But I guess we'll have to find out later.
04:16Tariffs are making gadget pricing just really complicated right now.
04:19Once we find out from Motorola how much these will cost, you'll be able to find it on theverge.com.
04:24Tariffs!