Ten Things You Need to Know About the New Moto 360 and Gear S2

The Moto 360 from Motorola and Gear S2 from Samsung are the freshest and latest smartwatches that were introduced during the IFA fair that took place in Berlin last September, 2015. If you're planning to get your hands on one of these latest wearable techs, it's good to find out a little bit more about each of them. So here are some facts you may want to know:

Do these smartwatches have different models?

Samsung and Motorola are providing more choices to its buyers. Motorola is offering four new variants of the Android Wear-based Moto 360: it has two case sizes, a Sport version with onboard GPS, and the other is for women. It also has onboard Wi-Fi. While Samsung's new line-up of smartwatches is Tizen-based and includes the Wi-Fi versions of the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic, as well as the 3G version of the Gear S2.

Can you customize these watches?

Yes you can, but Motorola offers more customization options than Samsung via the Moto Maker tool. With the Moto 360, you have the liberty to choose among different sizes, cases, bezels, and bands. Samsung will offer the Gear S2 with either a dark gray case with a dark gray band or a silver case with a white band.

What are the different resolutions and screen sizes?

All three Samsung models have a 1.2-inch screen with 360 x 360 pixel resolution. The Moto 360, on the other hand, have either a 1.56-inch screen with a 330 x 330 pixel resolution, or a 1.37-inch screen and 360 x 325 pixel resolution.

What's inside?

Inside the Moto 360 smartwatches are 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor from Qualcomm. Samsung's watches have to make do with an unnamed dual-core 1GHz processor. However, Samsung's Tizen OS shows to give good performance despite of the processor setback. The storage and RAM are the same for all Motorola and Samsung models: 512MB and 4GB, respectively.

Do they have improved battery life?

According to documentations, Samsung promises battery life of up to three days while Motorola claims that the large Moto 360 has a battery life of up to two days. Those claims have yet to be proven.

What kind of sensor features do they have?

The Samsung and Motorola smartwatches both tout an Accelerometer, Ambient Light, and Gyro. However, the Gear S2's 3G variant also has GPS support. The Samsung watch also supports Barometer and HTM, whereas the Moto 360 support Vibrations/Haptic engine.

What's the good thing about the Moto 360 Sport?

The Moto 360 Sport watch is developed to enable users to run without the need of bringing their smartphone because of its integrated GPS and a music player. The smartwatch also has an LCD display, combining a traditional backlit transmissive screen with a front-lit reflective technology. It has the ability to switch between the two as lighting conditions change.

What are the low points of getting the 3G version of the Gear S2?

Constant connectivity is gold, but in this case, it comes with a price. The 3G version of the Gear S2 has a shorter battery life, and it's bigger and heavier than the Wi-Fi version. As for the price, there is a big possibility that the price is higher; though this can be a good investment for people who don't have a smartphone.

How much will these smartwatches cost?

For the Moto 360, base prices range from US$299 to $429. If you want to get the bigger version, it cost $50 as does choosing a metal band. The rose gold or gold version of the Moto 360 variant for women has an extra $30 cost, while a double leather wrap costs an additional $10. The Moto 360 Sport will also have the same cost of $299. However, Samsung hasn't released the final pricing for its watches yet.

When is the shipping date?

The new Moto 360 models will be shipped starting this month, except for the Sport model, and can now be pre-ordered in the US with more countries to be followed soon. Also, there's still no announcement from Samsung as to when their Gear S2 smartwatches will start shipping.