- Precisely track your running and biking outside and in the gym; wireless upload of your workout data to MOTOACTV.com.
- MOTOACTV 8GB smart music player learns what songs motivate you.
- Set goals and start racing against them; audio coach gives you updates and keeps you going.
- MOTOACTV is sweatproof, rain resistant, scratch resistant with intuitive controls. Touchscreen display adjusts to sunlight.
- Included in the Motorola Retail Packaging: MOTOACTV 8GB, Motorola SF200 Sports Headphones, MOTOACTV Clip, Wall Charger with Data Cable, Quick Start Guide. (Compatible MOTOACTV Heart rate monitor not included.)
So a little about me. I am a recreational runner and not a hardcore running enthusiast. I run anywhere from 12 to 18 miles a week. I run 5k races on occasion for fun with other family members. So I would say I'm probably your typical "trying to stay in shape" recreational runner.
I have tried several other GPS running watches and the MOTOACTV is by far the best experience in my book. The first watch I purchased was the Nike Sportband. It was not very good. The screen went out on me after several months and I was limited to only Nike shoes where I could put the pod into the sole. It was not very sweat resistant and I kept having problems with sweat getting into the USB plug in. The watch did not have GPS so the distance calculations were not as accurate as I would have liked either. Overall not impressed. The MOTOACTV is so much better I almost feel ashamed to compare them.
The next watch I got was the Garmin 305. I felt like I was wearing a toaster oven on my wrist that thing was so big! It seemed like it took quite some time to acquire satellites as I was always waiting for it to lock on with the GPS. It was also not very comfortable to wear. The included software was pretty bare bones and, while it provides good info, was not all that user friendly or "immersive". It was nice to have the heart rate monitor but being a recreational runner I never felt like I needed it or really was making any good use out of it. Overall the Garmin performs basic functions well but the MOTOACTV really just out-classes the Garmin with all the functions at it's disposal including the more user friendly experience, small size, awesome screen, music playing ability, etc.
This brings me to my most recent purchase prior to the MOTOACTV....the Nike Sportwatch GPS. This is Nike's big entry into the GPS running watch world. It looks cool, but is bulky compared to the MOTOACTV. It picks up GPS signals reasonably fast but the MOTOACTV was just as fast if not faster. The Nike has a "touchscreen" but I would call it more of a "mash my finger into the screen hard until something happens" screen. There are times when I literally had to poke much harder than I should have to get the screen to recognize my tap. That's not much fun when you're out running at night and you are concentrating more on trying to mash your finger into the screen so it lights up than you are on the road ahead. The MOTOACTV touch screen has responded quickly and accurately to all my touches without the need to mash my finger into it. While the Nike does have GPS if you are on a treadmill or something similar you still have the little nike pod that goes in the sole of the shoe so that limited my shoe choices somewhat. The nike plus site is probably the best thing going for the Nike watch right now and is aesthetically pleasing and provides good info. The Nike sportwatch GPS is not a bad watch but you get so much more with the MOTOACTV and the actual experience is more immersive due in large part to the awesome screen.
The MOTOACTV has a great little screen.....I know I have mentioned that several other times in the review but it is so nice I wanted to mention it again. The touchscreen works flawlessly. The screen is vibrant and bright (you can actually set the brightness level). You get all the relevant run data you need right on the screen during your run....and how cool is it that you can see a little map of your run as you go. Being able to sync wirelessly is another feature that is awesome....also I'm a big android fan and it is a great app. You can sync your itunes songs and it even has a "smart" music player so it can try to determine what songs motivate you to perform better...seems to pick up my "aggresive" song selections fairly well. The MOTOACTV.COM site provides a lot of great info and training planning. I still like the Nike site a little better, mainly from an aesthetic perspective, but I fully expect the MOTOACTV site to blossom and get better as Motorola really seems to take user feedback into consideration for things like this. There are a nice selction of accessories either available now or coming soon including a pair of wireless headphones that have a heartrate monitor built in! It will be nice to have the option to track my heartrate without having to wear one of those godawful heart beat bands around my chest. Another thing that may not matter to some is the audio quality....it's pretty darn impressive. I'm not an audiophile by any means but the same song played on this sounds just as good as on my ipod touch. Also, the watch and arm bands are very comfortable and should not be an issue for longer runs....although I usually only do a 5k at most.
During the past several years I have been using the running watches mentioned above and they have all had their issues. I know this is somewhat of a long review but I have been using running watch type devices like this for several years now and really wanted to at least provide some type of comparison between the other watches I have used and the MOTOACTV. The MOTOACTV comes as close as I have experienced to being the ideal running device, both from a functionality and "fun to use" perspective. Nothing is perfect and some may find issue with some things that don't bother me but I have to say I am really impressed with Motorolas entry into the running device world. While this device may be a little more expensive than some other options you get what you pay for and the added expense is more than worth it in my opinion. It actually makes me want to run just so I can use the cool little features of the MOTOACTV. In this users opinion it's highly recommended.
Buy MOTOACTV 8 GB GPS Fitness Tracker and Music Player Now
I'll admit that I was torn about purchasing the MOTOACTV after reading the reviews on Amazon, but I finally decided to purchase this product a few days ago and I'm glad I did. As an alternative to some of the detailed, product-specific reviews, I thought it might be helpful to walk through my purchase decision:
It is clear that Motorola identified an unmet market need with this product: a small, fitness-specific GPS device with a built-in MP3 player. That was exactly the feature set that I had been searching for. The alternatives on the market fell short for different reasons:
iPod Nano, 7th generation: GOOD: small, clip + watch + armband options, music, Nike+ app; BAD: No GPS
Nike+ Sportwatch, Garmin Watches: GOOD: GPS, small; BAD: No music, watch only
Smartphone apps (e.g. Runkeeper, Endomondo, MapMyRun, Nike+): GOOD: GPS, cheap or free, most offer music; BAD: requires bulky smartphone, varying quality software
Despite having a feature set that separated it from these alternatives, the MOTOACTV is a first-generation device supported by first-generation cloud-based fitness tracking software. As a result, the device shipped with key flaws, not the least of which was poor battery life and inaccurate GPS accuracy. These types of issues should have been fixed before this product hit the market, but my guess is these flaws were a result of the product team being pushed to get the product out before the holiday shopping season. The nice thing is that in this day and age, the concept of "rapid prototyping" is all the rage. It's now okay to ship a half-baked product, solicit tons of input from early adopting customers, and offer frequent firmware updates to fix major and minor flaws.
Which brings me to the reason I purchased this product: I knew the MOTOACTV v1 would not be a flawless device but it had the features I wanted at a price (on Amazon) that I thought was reasonable. I debated waiting until v2, but I decided to buy this model because I recognized that most of the flaws could be fixed with firmware updates and Motorola appears committed to listening to users and releasing frequent updates. They have already released multiple firmware updates over the past few months (with a preference for the 8GB model, so be wary of the 16GB), including one just before I bought it that fixed the battery life issues. Since battery life was one of the primary complaints from early users, it was essential that they corrected that issue. In addition, they have a forum manager named Matt who is trolling all of the comments on this site and others and is frequently responding directly to customers. I appreciate that, even if he can't fix every issue.
In sum, this is not a perfect product, but I love the combination of features and the fact that it's getting better with each firmware update. Using the MOTOACTV is SOOO much better than lugging around my bulky mobile phone on long runs! As long as Motorola continues the level of support that they have shown during the first few months of this product's life cycle, I would definitely recommend purchasing this device.
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January 14, 2012 Update
I've been running with the MOTOACTV for over two weeks and have logged ~80 miles with it. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the device itself. The website that stores workout data and other features, on the other hand, is decent but needs additional focus. For instance, the site does not integrate "planned" and "actual" workouts into the same calendar interface. That's a clear miss that I imagine most customers would want.
As I mentioned in my review above, this is a v1 website and thus I would not expect it to be perfect. Motorola appears committed to listening to customers and rapidly updating the product, so I trust that they are working behind the scenes to improve the online experience. At this point, I'd give the entire MOTOACTV ecosystem (device + website) 4.5 stars. Because I care more about the device than the website, however, I left my rating at 5 stars.
Read Best Reviews of MOTOACTV 8 GB GPS Fitness Tracker and Music Player Here
I run between 50 80 miles per week year round. I've currently got 4 GPS watches. Garmin 305 & 610. Nike+ GPS Watch And now the Motorola MotoActv. This is my review having been using it for the past 3 weeks.
Pros
The screen is gorgeous. Color. Good definition. Much better than the garmin 610 and the Nike+ GPS Watch. It's bright too. If you're running at night it's almost like having a light on your wrist (although it does dim itself to conserve battery). No need to press the light button (garmin or nike) you can see your metrics in the dark.
Because of the additional real estate it can get more more metrics on the screen (4, plus time and distance which appear to be default). Like the Garmin, you can have multiple screens and either automatically rotate, or manually swipe as you're running.
Google maps built in. not something you're going to use everyday but it will show you where you are currently on the map. if you're out of town a nice feature to have to stop you getting lost.
Reminder function put workout calendar into their website syncs to watch. It'll tell you you're supposed to do 6 @ 8:00/hour at 8am. Then when you start it tells you how much further you have to go etc
You get vocal feedback when listening to headphones. A computerized female voice tells you fast lap times, how long you have left to run etc. I haven't looked into whether it's possible yet, but I imagine you'll be able to have it speak your mile lap times.
MP3 syncs with itunes for music, podcasts etc. Eliminate that ipod.
Syncs to your motorola phones (and others if you need) so that the watch becomes the caller ID screen and allows you to answer while running piping the sound to the headphones. Obviously you need to run with the phone too, but it could be in a pocket or spiel belt.
Bluetooth with controls for music and phone
Headphones coming out that will monitor your HR from the blood pumping in your ears so no need for a strap !
if you're a biker it'll clip onto your handlebars and work with 'power' devices. a whole cycling mode.
after a workout it's much easier than the garmin to look at the workout the screen is better and you can scroll through the splits in a much easier to read format
there's a FM radio too. It requires the headphone cable which acts as the antenna. Since I use Bluetooth headphones, I don't have the antenna so haven't tried it.
Built in wifi. Set it to connect to your network, and it'll transfer your workouts to the online tool without you needing to do anything
This is essentially a mini android powered computer. On line some people have hacked it and installed angry birds on it...
Same as Garmin
The big thing obviously on a GPS watch is the GPS and the running features. The Nike+ watch in my opinion sucks here. I can't trust it's accuracy it can be all over the place. Despite recent firmware updates it's often off on runs that I either know for sure the distance, or am comparing it with the garmin.
MotoActv is as good as my garmin 610 perhaps better for GPS. The garmin 610 can sometimes go 'haywire' particularly at the start of a run. I haven't had this issue with the MotoActv. I think the MotoActv is more accurate.
Website garmin uses 'garmin connect'. motoactv uses 'motoactv'. As I said before the 'motoactv' site allows you to put in your running schedule and it'll sync to the watch wirelessly. As for looking at the details of workouts that you've done it's very similar to garmin connect you can check your runs maps, elevation, speed, pace etc.
Race yourself like the garmin you can race previous runs from you and I believe other people's runs
Screen tailorability similar to the 610 you can pick and choose your metrics & have multiple screens.
Compatible with ANT+ devices, so for my garmin soft heart monitor and my garmin foot pod both work will work with just the foot pod if you're inside. unlike the garmin, it doesn't appear to allow you to calibrate with GPS but it does allow you to calibrate with the treadmill speed. It also has an elliptical mode too. Like another reviewer I had an issue with it under reporting treadmill miles, but realistically I'll never use it for a treadmill. The treadmill tells you how fast / far you're going. Why do I need the watch to do that too ?! You can manually enter your mileage into the tracking tool anyway.
Cons
battery this is the biggest negative. If you read reviews this is the one they'll mention. However a recent firmware update has given you more options for conserving the battery. I haven't had a true long run yet, but 2+ hours of constant use with music, gps, bluetooth and the battery still shows over 40%. It's not going to last an ultra, but a 3 hour+ marathon hopefully. And then in reality you probably wouldn't be using bluetooth or music so it would last longer.
while the screen is touch sensitive you can't use it with gloves (unlike the 610) however the start, stop, music and volume controls are all 'hard buttons' so this is fairly minimal
I don't have anything to back this up, but the garmin 610 is supposedly able to go into water to a depth of 3 feet. With the USB and headphone jacks for the MotoActv I doubt this watch would be happy if you did that to it
watch function doesn't 'stay on' you need to push a button to display the time. Kind of annoying if it's your `watch'. It does have multiple watch faces you can use. Several digital ones, several 'old fashioned' ones with hands etc. I'd imagine a firmware fix might allow the watch to stay on in future. When you're using it in GPS mode the screen stays on,
the 'watch strap' doesn't come as standard ! in reality it's not just a watch. it's designed for mounting on bike handlebars, to be worn on your wrist, or in an arm band. Each of these are extras (although at the time of writing this you get a watch strap free)
Others Observations
charges with a standard micro USB plug so the same as my kindle, phone, bluetooth ear piece etc so not an extra thing to carry around
Overall
I listen to music when I run so this device allows me to eliminate my ipod. with the bluetooth headphones I eliminate the cords too.
the screen is superior to any other GPS watch I've got
the GPS is as good if not better than the other watches too
For me this has become the single GPS watch I use.
The battery life is the only hesitation that keeps me selling my Garmin 610. I'll need to run a 22 miler in training and see how long it lasts. Hopefully future firmware updates eliminate this concern.
Want MOTOACTV 8 GB GPS Fitness Tracker and Music Player Discount?
UPDATED 2012.08.10, new comments following original review.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
I can provide one of the most critical reviews out there, but I will not lose the big picture. They have combined the best of several different worlds (gps watch for main function, ipod nano on approximate size, form and music) into a single piece of hardware that is cheap when considering the full price of alternatives. No it isn't perfect and there are a few things that will put you off initially, like the wrist strap is separate or the provided headphones are not that great. But what you gain is tremendous. A full touch screen, ready for customization and displaying maps. Automatic synchronization via wifi or bluetooth. A single device that is smaller than all other gps watches and it also plays music, so you don't need an ipod. Audio coaching with your music (smartphone fitness app users know this great feature). Ant+ and BLE (bluetooth low energy) to get data from accurate heart rate monitors, foot pods and cycling sensors. There is a reason there was so much hype, because there is so much potential here. It also lead to excessive expectations. People forgot what is physically possible with hardware. Those that didn't forget physical limits have presented an endless list of things they want software to auto-magically do and become enraged that their idea isn't already implemented (ignoring the tedious and costly process of software engineering).
Current battery life:
There is a lot of misconception about what the device can do currently, mostly with respect to battery life. You control all those different pieces of hardware which consume additional power. So if you want a longer run than 3 hours, use the display only occasionally and don't use bluetooth headphones. I've done my own testing and scoured the internet for what people actually get:
~2.5-3 hours: gps + display always on + ant HRM + music (wired headphones)
~3 hours: gps + bluetooth headphones + music (screen off)
~7.5 hours: gps (marathon mode) + music
~9-10 hours: gps (marathon mode) + audio coaching via wired headphones (no music)
40+ hours: gps + external battery (it functions uninterrupted when plugging in or removing external power)
~140 hours: standby mode
Bugs remaining:
the motocast auto install from motoactv in osx failed (had to download motocast)
it could not connect to my WEP WiFi network, had to change to a WPA2 WiFi
Missing or desired features (some are hackable, and almost all are software based):
non-motorola phones for sync + notifications + phone calls (working on my HTC EVO 4G hacked app off xda forums). UPDATE now all android phones > 2.1 are supported.
no easy gpx or tcx export (there is a csv export for a workout, but conversion is still not simple)
no ability to add additional apps on the motoactv (give me a developer's kit)
no attribution to openstreetmaps for maps (many people think that it is Google maps on the motoactv)
no wireless updating via WiFi (for us Linux users)
no ability to pull data directly from the device
use the gps to set time instead of manually entering time
actual weather app and not just weather notifications (also record the weather with outdoor workouts)
an additional model that is waterproof + bigger battery (it will be bigger, heavier, more expensive and more limited, like no usb jack and resort to inductive charging like powermat or a special cradle for non-inductive charging) call it Motoactv TRI, probably retails for $400+
tons of other pesky things (I cut over 10 things to make the list 'short')
Why many other reviews suck:
Many call it expensive (this doesn't come from runners). Yeah if you compare it to a small android tablet that is the same price (e.g. kindle fire) it seems expensive because it is so small. Compare it to gps watches, and with all the added hardware and features it seems like a bargain.
Low battery life. Many reviews were rightfully critical of the device for battery life when it came out. Most reviews are now outdated, as Motorola has produced updates that help with battery life. Now you can do a slow marathon (walking) and still have some battery left over. While this is arguably still the biggest weakness, I think the current battery size was the right balance between size, weight and battery-life.
Version 2? Some say to wait for the next hardware version. Many based this on the battery life before the December update (see above). The GPS watch world evolves slowly compared to the smart-phone world (Garmin seems to update a product line every 3-4 years). Waiting for the next hardware version of this device (not including a different model from Motorola) would be at least 2 years from release to release (from my guess at the market), and would only come that quick if competitors like Apple entered the field.
Waterproof? Look around at phones or at GPS watches. The completely waterproof ones are much bigger and heavier and much more expensive (and for phones, much slower hardware) for a similar device. Maybe Motorola will make an additional model (as suggested above) to quiet these haters who have no idea.
Conclusion:
You are looking at this device because you are interested in a gps or fitness watch, period. If you want less, go elsewhere and you might be happier. If you are an ultra-athlete (ultra-marathons or iron-man sized triathlons) and don't want to deal with an external battery pack to get more than 7-10 hours out of the device, go elsewhere and you may be happier. If you are a sedentary person wanting to be healthier, just use your smartphone for now (I think it is a bad idea to buy a device just to motivate you). But if you don't want a huge beast of a gps watch, this is your answer. If you want a gps and music device that is watch sized, this is the only device that does both. If you want what is in my opinion the best gps watch, this is the one and it is a bargain for the hardware. I put my money where my mouth is and bought this and I am loving it (despite all the improvements that I think it needs).
.
UPDATED COMMENTS (2012.08.10) after 155 miles running and 334.61 miles total
software updates -
As of now, 9 months after the device came out, there have been 15 firmware updates for the device itself, and the current rate is one or two times per month. Almost as many updates have been applied to the website 'portal.' Updates for the device have been great and it has improved the device, but there are still a lot of things missing. The website has gotten better, but it also still has missing functionality, and some of the website updates broke things (I couldn't plot elevation for over a month). If you are picky about post-analysis, you might need to use some other software / website (admittedly that would defeat some of the convenience of the device).
rain and sweat -
I have run in the rain several times (this is Virginia so it rains often and can be really heavy) and to try it out once, showered with the device (my wife was so annoyed with my geeky-ness because I answered her phone call while in the shower). When there is a fair amount of rainfall I turn the device to the inside of my wrist, so the headphone jack is down, discouraging water ingress. I have run with the provided headphones in a light to moderate rainfall, no problems with device. However, with any moisture (sweat or rain), the headphones cause problems with skipping and pausing audio (headphone control can be disabled though to mitigate this). After a month I got bluetooth headphones and I really love being cordless. Now I always keep the small headphone plug in the hole. I once ran for over an hour in moderate to very heavy rainfall. The 'rainproof' bluetooth headphones didn't last more than 20 minutes but the motoactv had no problem for the drenching hour. One thing to note is that water drops can be detected as finger touches, so keep the display off or locked when wet.
durability -
So I have accidentially dropped the device several times without issue. Once I left it on top of my car and drove off. When I realized it and came back 10 min later, I found it on asphalt but luckily no one had driven over it in the middle of the street. It hasn't been fragile but it will break. One day I was riding, flipped my bike and face planted on cement. Did the motoactv survive being high up on the handle bars? No, the upper right glass was ground to the circuit board and the rest of screen was cracked. It still showed stuff on the screen, but not for long because it was raining and I was drenched. Should it survive a 10 mph crash straight to cement with 30 pounds of mountain bike on it? Now I know to mount devices in a safer place.
final comments -
So now I have no motoactv and am very sad. What will I buy next to go with the 3 ant+ sensors? Definitely my pick is the motoactv, but my wife says I have to wait till Christmas. Now that they are almost half the price I paid, maybe I will get an extra one for her.
I have been using my new MotoActv 8GB GPS-enabled device a lot and enjoyed it very much. I run 4-5 times per week and have found it to be a great tool for my training. However, I'm sorry to say I can no longer endorse the product. In fact, do not buy it! I've had the device for about 6 months and then it started acting strangely. After several weeks, it would no longer charge (the battery would get very hot when charging) and then it just stopped working altogether.
I contacted Motorola customer service and returned the device for repair. To my utter amazement, I've just been informed that it will not be repaired or replaced because it "suffered liquid damage" which voids the warranty. Moto advertises (on their website, no less) that this device is rain resistant and sweat resistant. I have only used the device for running. It has gotten wet from sweat (i.e. wearing it on my wrist) and perhaps once in light rain. I always kept the plugs in place for the headphone jack and mini-USB. In no case was it ever submerged in water. The device is meant for use while exercising if it cannot handle some exposure to moisture, then the DESIGN of the device is defective. I feel I am owed a refund for this product. But, Motorola is refusing to replace the device. This is baffling to me. Their response is the worst example of terrible customer service I have ever experienced.
