Moto 360 durability test: water, scratches and impact resistance

While no longer the newest member of the Android Wear family, the Moto 360 is still one of the best Android Wear smartwatches you can get your hands on. Being the first smartwatch to feature a circular display, the Moto 360 comes with a sleek brushed metal build that only looks great, but makes you feel like it could take a beating.

How much it can really withstand is exactly what we’re going to find out today as we put the Moto 360 through a series of tests to check its water resistance, scratch resistance, and impact resistance. Here’s a quick look at our Moto 360 Durability Test!

Water Resistance

The Moto 360 comes with an IP67 rating for resistance against dust and water, which means that it can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for as long as 30 minutes, without a negative impact on performance. To test out its water resistance capabilities, I placed the smartwatch in a bowl of water for 40 minutes, while checking functionality in 10 minute intervals.

There were no surprises here, as the Moto 360 worked just fine whenever it was taken out of the water. While this was expected up to the 30 minute mark, it was nice to see it continue to function after going beyond this limit. Obviously, the watch is very wet, and while it still works, it’ll be interesting to see what the leather watch band looks like after it dries up.

Scratch Resistance

The Moto 360 comes with a screen that is slightly raised, which does make it more prone to unwanted scratches. To test how it may survive against scratches, I rubbed the screen of the device on a rough metal railing, as well as a rough concrete floor. Surprisingly, the metal railing caused absolutely no damage, while the concrete surface did result in a lot of scuff marks and scratches across the surface. It certainly fared a lot better against the railing, and overall, the screen should do quite a good job of keeping the display protected.

Impact Resistance

To test impact resistance, I dropped a large brick on the face of the Moto 360 to see what would happen. The result is of course obvious, as dropping a brick on anything will more often than not lead it to shatter. That is exactly what happened here, with the screen being rendered completely unusable, and more importantly, the device itself not working or even turning on.

So there you have it – the Moto 360 durability test! The smartwatch proved extremely capable in what it was expected to do in terms of water resistance, and to some extent, preventing scratches. Understandably, the impact resistance test went exactly the way it was supposed to, but only extreme circumstances would lead to a brick falling on the smartwatch in that fashion, and if it did happen at a time when you were wearing the watch, I’m sure a broken hand will be given more priority in any case.