Motorola is reportedly bringing the Moto 360 Watch back this year with this familiar design
Motorola’s iconic round smartwatch might return for 2025, but the OS choice remains a mystery
What feels like a throwback to the early days of Android smartwatches is now shaping up to what might be one of Motorola’s most surprising moves of the year. The company is reportedly preparing to relaunch the Moto 360 in 2025, and newly leaked images offer an early look at the refreshed design.
Originally launched in 2014, the Moto 360 was the first circular smartwatch to run Android Wear, though it had a distinctive "flat tire" cutout at the bottom of the screen. Motorola followed up with a second generation in 2015 before shelving the series in 2017. A third model appeared in 2021, but it was developed by eBuyNow, a Canadian company that licensed the Moto brand. That model ran Wear OS and offered updated internals in a familiar shell, as we previously reported.
Now, the Moto 360 name is back again, and this time it looks like Motorola is handling the relaunch in-house. The 2025 version keeps the round display but adopts a more refined frame with a rotating crown at the 2 o’clock position and a secondary button at 4 o’clock. It’s a setup that closely resembles the OnePlus Watch 3.
Interestingly, it also appears that Motorola is moving ahead with five color variants for this new model. The case appears to have a brushed metal finish and flatter lugs than the older eBuyNow version. That said, many questions remain—particularly around software.
As with the Moto Watch Fit earlier this year, the new Moto 360 may not use Google’s Wear OS at all. Instead, Motorola could be relying on its in-house Moto Watch OS, a real-time operating system (RTOS) designed for better efficiency and longer battery life. The company has used this approach before and could be considering a dual-OS setup, pairing Moto Watch OS with a light version of Wear OS for specific features.
That said, the UI shown in the leaked images bears a close resemblance to Wear OS, which raises the possibility that Motorola may still be aiming for some level of compatibility with Google’s ecosystem. While no launch date has been confirmed, the name suggests it could arrive later this year. If Motorola does bring the Moto 360 back with meaningful upgrades and thoughtful software integration, it may find a niche among users nostalgic for classic smartwatch designs.
We will, of course, be keeping a close eye on how this model develops and whether it signals a broader return to form for Motorola’s wearable lineup. I have noticed there seems to be quite a bit of interest in classic-looking watches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, signaling this could be a good move on Motorola's part to provide some competition in this space.
Originally launched in 2014, the Moto 360 was the first circular smartwatch to run Android Wear, though it had a distinctive "flat tire" cutout at the bottom of the screen. Motorola followed up with a second generation in 2015 before shelving the series in 2017. A third model appeared in 2021, but it was developed by eBuyNow, a Canadian company that licensed the Moto brand. That model ran Wear OS and offered updated internals in a familiar shell, as we previously reported.
Leaked renders of the 2025 version of the rumored Moto 360 watch. | Images credit — Android Headlines
As with the Moto Watch Fit earlier this year, the new Moto 360 may not use Google’s Wear OS at all. Instead, Motorola could be relying on its in-house Moto Watch OS, a real-time operating system (RTOS) designed for better efficiency and longer battery life. The company has used this approach before and could be considering a dual-OS setup, pairing Moto Watch OS with a light version of Wear OS for specific features.
That said, the UI shown in the leaked images bears a close resemblance to Wear OS, which raises the possibility that Motorola may still be aiming for some level of compatibility with Google’s ecosystem. While no launch date has been confirmed, the name suggests it could arrive later this year. If Motorola does bring the Moto 360 back with meaningful upgrades and thoughtful software integration, it may find a niche among users nostalgic for classic smartwatch designs.
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