Motorola’s 2nd Gen Moto 360 has been leaked more than a few times over the last three to four weeks, and with the removal of the original Moto 360 from the Moto Maker website it’s being speculated that the launch could be just around the corner. Motorola is also expected to show off their second Android Wear smartwatch during IFA this week so an announcement could be even closer, which likely has many consumers excited. For all it’s popularity the Moto 360 has had one glaring “flaw” with it according to many consumers looking to pick up a smartwatch, and that’s the black bar which houses the location of the ambient light sensors within the watch display, know to most as the infamous “flat tire.”
Most consumers seem to hate this particular part of the watch design, some more than others, but surely the little black bar at the bottom of the screen which keeps the display from being truly and completely round, has some purpose and gives reason to why Motorola chose to implement the design to include it the way that they did. According to the most recent leak surrounding the new version of the watch, Motorola chose to keep this design because the screen to body ratio was better and allowed them to offer more screen real estate percentage wise than any other Android Wear smartwatch on the market.
This certainly won’t change everyone’s tune, but for some that may not have been aware of this fact it might mean they’ll take less issue with the design choices Motorola has made and chosen to keep. The image displayed shows off the Moto 360 design (potentially this year’s or last year’s model) having more than 20% screen real estate than the Samsung Gear Live, LG G Watch R, the LG G Watch, and the Apple Watch. With more screen compared to body this should be plenty to convince consumers that the “flat tire” is a useful design aspect, but some simply want the completely round display. This particular representation if it is the new Moto 360, would likely be referring to the larger sized model known as the Moto 360L, as the screen is a little smaller on the Moto 360S variant, or perhaps the display-to-0body ratio could be the same for either model.