After a hiatus from full Wear OS smartwatches, Motorola is officially making its return with the Moto Watch Ultra. Departing from the iconic Moto 360 name—which was briefly reviving in 2020 under license agreements—Motorola is betting on a fresh start with this flagship Wear OS offering. Previously, the company’s smartwatches ran on proprietary RTOS platforms, which focused more on battery life and health tracking at the cost of notifications and app support.
Premium hardware and Wear OS ecosystem
The Moto Watch Ultra is packed with high-end components. Inside, it runs on a Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip, backed by 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, all powered by Wear OS 6. Alongside Wear OS, Motorola includes its own Qira AI assistant feature. The design centers around a 1.5-inch pOLED display housed in a 46 mm stainless steel frame that’s about 12.1 mm thick. Cosmetic finishes include silver and gunmetal, with physical build completed by Gorilla Glass 3. Bands are standard 22 mm spring pins with four included strap options.
Connectivity, durability, and fitness focus
For daily convenience, the watch supports NFC for Google Wallet, LTE connectivity, and boasts both IP68 and 5 ATM ratings for dust and water resistance. Battery life is class-leading: it packs a 550 mAh battery with Motorola claiming around two days of usage per charge—beating out rivals like the 465 mAh-equipped Pixel Watch 5.
Fitness tracking is designed in partnership with Polar and includes features like activity goals and intensity zones. Wellness tools include monitoring of energy sources, sleep, breathing, and even inactivity alerts to keep wearers aware of their health trends.
Pricing and release details
The Moto Watch Ultra arrives unlocked starting September 10 at a price point of $349. Verizon will get an exclusive launch on September 24, with T-Mobile, Metro, AT&T and others joining shortly after. Alongside the Ultra, Motorola is also releasing a special Swarovski-embellished edition of the 2026 Razr, which features the same technical specs but adds luxury styling and comes at a $100 premium.
Motorola’s reentry into the Wear OS space with the Watch Ultra marks an ambitious shift. It blends high-end hardware, full app ecosystem access, and health-focused features into one package. For users, this means balancing robust battery life against Wear OS’s power demands. Going forward, success will depend on how well Motorola refines its software experience, maintains consistent updates, and delivers meaningful integrations with Wear OS apps. The Watch Ultra signals a bold new chapter—keep an eye on its software polish, ecosystem depth, and real-world performance to see whether it can compete with established leaders in the smartwatch arena.
