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Battle of the Android Watches: G-Shock vs. MOTOACTV vs. SmartWatch

sonysmartwatch

 A Sony smartwatch with a blue band displayed on a stand, showing icons for time and weather on its screen.

A whole bunch of new Android-connected smartwatches are on the market right now, but it's a bit difficult to tell them apart. Some, like the , drain their batteries quite quickly, so you'll probably need to charge 'em daily. That said, nothing looks more futuristic than calling someone via your wrist. Let's take a look at how these smart watches compare.

Sony Smartwatch

 A person holding a Sony smartwatch displaying a contact named "Amanda" on the screen.


Features

  • Initiate calling
  • Texting (pre-saved messages like "I'm busy")
  • View missed calls, Text Messages, Twitter, Facebook status updates.
  • Training app synchronizes countdown clock with your phone, can also monitor heart rate
  • Listen to music

Compatibility

  • All phones running Android 2.1 or higher

Battery Life

  • 24 to 48 hours, depending on usage.

Price

  • $149

Verdict:  The Sony Smart Watch offers a wide range of features for a comparatively low price. The ability to send text messages like "I'm busy' when you can't pick up the phone is a convenient innovation we can imagine using a lot. The fact that the watch can track your heart rate makes it an easy combination of i'm watch functionality with MOTOACTV's fitness features. The only downside is a short-ish battery life.

MOTOACTV

A close-up of a smartwatch displaying the time "12:22" and icons for settings and notifications on a person's wrist.
 


Features

  • Monitors heart rate, calories, lap time and pace
  • GPS tracks your distance
  • Smart music player stores hours of music and "learns" which tracks motivate you the most by tracking your heart rate during songs.
  • Receive calls

Compatibility

  • Any Android with Bluetooth

Battery life:

  • 325 hours stand-by, 20 hours playback, 20 hours workout tme.

Price

  • $250

Verdict: The MOTOACTV watch is for fitness-oriented Android owners who need a high-tech watch to stay motivated during their exercise routines. The feature that remembers which songs get your heart-rate going is especially helpful. You can also receive calls, although you can't place them like with the i'm watch. A decent battery life round-out the features of this stylish device. The only thing off-putting is the relatively steep price.

i'm Watch

A wrist with two watches: a traditional analog watch on the left and a digital smartwatch displaying time and weather on the right.


Features

  • Check e-mail, Facebook,
  • Dial numbers, call people and talk directly from the watch
  • Set up appointments
  • Read news, check weather
  • Look at photos, listen to music
  • Download apps compatible with i'm Watch

Compatibility

  • All Androids, as well as Blackberry, iOS, Symbian and Windows devices

Battery Life

  • 24 hours standby time, 3 hours talk time, up to 5 hours for other uses. 

Price

  • $249 - $1699 (luxury edition)

Verdict: The i'm Watch is the most feature-laden of all the smartwatches listed here – and the most expensive. I think the $249 version of the watch is worth the money but paying $1699 is obviously absurd, even if the watch is made out of pure platinum. i'm Watch is very ambitious, but I'm not sure it succeeds on all counts. Battery life, especially, seems to be miserable.

 A black Casio G-Shock watch displaying the time as 4:28 and the day as Tuesday.

Casio G-Shock GB-6900

Features

  • Calls, SMS and e-mail notifications.
  • Phone finder

Compatibility

  • All Androids with Bluetooth

Battery Life

  • 2 years

Price

  • $150

Verdict: Unlike the other watches listed here, the Casio G-Shock GB-690 doesn't feature a color touch-screen display. But what it lacks in features it makes up for in stylishnes, usability, price and battery life. The watch displays calls, SMS and e-mails discretely, and can be used to set your phone to vibrate. Another function allows you to find your smartphone using an alarm. The battery life is amazing: at 2 years, you'll get the same life out of this watch as you would one with far fewer features. 

Conclusion: While we're impressed by the Casio G Zone's battery life, the i'm Watche's calling capabilities and MOTOACTV's fitness function, the Sony SmartWatch seems to offer the best features for a low price.

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Steven Blum

Steven Blum
Freelance Editor

Steven Blum has written more than 2,000 blog posts as a founding member of AndroidPIT's English editorial team. A graduate of the University of Washington, Steven Blum also studied Journalism at George Washington University in Washington D.C. for two years. Since then, his writing has appeared in The Stranger, The Seattle P-I, Blackbook Magazine and Venture Villlage. He loves the HTC One and hopes the company behind it still exists in a few years.

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  • 1
    Ryan Lusk Mar 23, 2013 Link to comment

    Minero, The Z1 has an outdated OS. And as for the Sony Smartwatch, it's entirely a useless device unless it's synchronized with your phone.


  • 2

  • 1
    Mineo Apr 17, 2012 Link to comment

    What about Z1 Smart Android 2.2 Watch Phone GPS WiFi Bluetooth( http://www.ibuygou.com/prod/Z1-Smart-Android-2-2-Watch-Phone-GPS-WiFi-Bluetooth.html ),i buy it from ibuygou.com.
    Features

    * Android 2.2 OS
    * Wifi
    * GPS:GPS,G-Sensor
    * Speedy CPU
    Specifications:
    -Operation System: Android 2.2 OS
    -Color:Black,White,Red,Silver,Pink
    -Memory:8GB
    -Ram:2GB
    -Dimension:60*42*14.5mm
    -2.0 inch TFT LCD with LED back light and QVGA resolution
    -Unlocked Frequency on the 2GSM network:850/900/1800/1900MHz
    -Capacitive Touch screen
    -Keyboard: 4 different side keys
    -GPS: Internal GPS antenna
    -G-Sensor
    -Bluetooth 2.0
    -Wifi IEEE802.11b/g
    -Camera:2.0 MP Pixel
    -Audio formats:AAC,eAAC,AMR,AWB,QCP,MP3,WMA,WAV,MIDI
    -Video formats:WMV,ASF,MP4,3GP,3G2,M4V,AVI
    -Battery life:800 mAh,around 6 days standby time

    Price

    * $279.99

    A Watch-Phone has the following advantages over all cell phones because it’s always on your wrist: 1 - Instantly accessible to answer calls. 2 - Improbable that you may forget it. 3 - Difficult to lose it. 4 - Most unlikely to be dropped. 5 - Difficult to be stolen ==> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_phone<== Pair that with Android and you have a winner!!

    http://www.ibuygou.com/prod/Z1-Smart-Android-2-2-Watch-Phone-GPS-WiFi-Bluetooth.html

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