The $150 Moto Watch is designed for work and training and will be available for pre-order starting January 22.
Vanessa Main Orellana Senior Editor
Vanessa is a senior editor at CNET, reviewing and writing about the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers. She first joined the brand as an on-camera reporter for CNET’s Spanish-language site, then moved to the English side to host and produce some of CNET’s YouTube videos and series. When she’s not testing smartwatches or dropping a phone, you can catch her hiking or trail running with her family.
Skill Consumer technology, smart home, family, apps, wearables
Motorola is adding more muscle to its smartwatch lineup. Unveiled at CES 2026, the $150 Moto Watch combines a refined design with Polar-backed health tracking, bringing the insights of a sports watch to a smartwatch that’s equally suitable for the gym or the office.
Instead of going for a rugged sports watch look, the Moto Watch is designed to feel like a jack-of-all-trades, with advanced features like dual-band GPS and battery life that lasts more than a week, putting other flagships to shame.
But the Moto Watch doesn’t really try to tackle Android Smart Watches either. Like recent Motorola watches, the Moto Watch doesn’t run Google’s Wear operating system. Instead, it relies on Motorola’s own software, with support limited to Android phones. This brings it closer in spirit to brands like Amazfit or Withings, paving its own path between fitness-focused wearables and full-fledged smartwatches.
Motorola’s new Moto Watch features advanced health and fitness metrics backed by Polar.
MotorolaPolar partnership brings impact on health
One of the biggest shake-ups to come from this announcement is Motorola’s partnership with Polar, a veteran of the fitness world. Polar is known for its highly accurate heart rate chest straps used by professional and serious athletes, as well as its dedicated sports watches that compete more directly with Garmin than consumer smartwatches.
By partnering with Polar, Motorola is clearly showing that it takes health tracking seriously and the partnership instantly brings the credibility and expertise of a trusted name in the field. Motorola says the watch supports more nuanced fitness information, such as heart rate variability, sleep stages, and recovery. It will also support dual-frequency GPS for more precise location tracking, a feature usually reserved for dedicated sports watches or high-end models like the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Pixel Watch 4, and new Galaxy Watches.
The Moto Watch can last almost two weeks on a charge.
MotorolaEasy on the eyes, heavy on battery life
The Moto Watch looks like a mix of rugged sports watch and refined analog, and that’s no coincidence. Motorola designed it to be both stylish and durable, designed to transition easily from sweaty gym sessions to formal evening wear.
It has an aluminum frame, a stainless steel crown, and a 47mm (1.43-inch) round OLED display covered in Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3. The watch straps are meant to be interchangeable, with stainless steel, silicone and leather options. It is also compatible with third-party watch straps. The watch has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, which means it can be submerged under one meter of water for 30 minutes.
Battery life is another major selling point for Motorola. The company claims the Moto Watch can last up to 13 days on a charge in wake mode, or up to seven days with the always-on display enabled. If these claims hold, the Moto Watch would leave most Android devices smart watches Samsung and Google lag behind with their typical two-day battery life. Motorola also claims that the Moto Watch supports fast charging, adding about a day’s worth of charge in just 5 minutes.
Part of a broader Motorola ecosystem
Rather than positioning the Moto Watch as a standalone product, Motorola has repeatedly presented it as part of its expansion. Moto Things Ecosystem. The watch integrates with Smart Connect, Motorola’s app for managing experiences across phones, tablets and accessories.
Motorola also announced its future alignment with its upcoming Qira AI platform, designed to run on Lenovo PCs, Motorola phones, tablets and wearables. While there’s no mention of watch-specific AI features, Motorola says future updates could allow notifications, reminders, and tasks to flow more seamlessly between devices.
Too early to give a verdict
Time will tell how the Moto Watch holds up to real-world testing. The watch will be available for pre-order starting January 22 on the Motorola website and will officially go on sale on January 28.
For now, the Moto Watch offers a glimpse into Motorola’s vision for wearables, aiming to create an ecosystem of products that work together seamlessly. It’s not trying to pick up where it left off with its Moto 360 smartwatch (discontinued in 2019), but rather carving out a new lifestyle-focused niche, backed by credible fitness tracking and long battery life.
For more announcements and a first look at CES 2026, check out CNET’s complete CES coverage.
