Motorola's new Moto 360 brings customisation and style to Android Wear

The original Moto 360 is the most successful Android Wear smartwatch to date, and today Motorola have unveiled the second generation. The latest wearable features more personalisation options, much more powerful hardware, and a whole load of style to boot.

Let's start with how it looks. The original Moto 360 was always the best-looking smartwatch around, and it's successor seems to follow on in that tradition.

The new case design features extended lugs to improve fit and comfort, and there are now two sizes, a 46mm and 42mm case diameter. Each Moto 360 is manufactured from aircraft-grade 316L stainless steel and scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass.

There's also a new collection designed specifically with women in mind. The case features smaller, more elegant lugs, the peak-shaped bezel is jewelry-like, and the new double-wrap band creates a very fashion-focused aesthetic.

Bands can be swapped in seconds, and customers will have the option to completely customise their device with the Moto Maker program.

Next up we have hardware. The original Moto 360 was criticised for its low-powered guts, but the new model shouldn't have that problem.

With Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400 chip, with 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU and 512 MB RAM, navigating the Android Wear OS should be a silky smooth experience.

The 42mm watch has a 35mm screen with 263ppi, and the 46mm watch has a 40mm screen with 233ppi. Motorola claim this has the highest screen to case ratio of any smartwatch on the market, there's practically no bezel in sight.

Eagle-eyed readers will notice the infamous flat tyre is still in tact.

Battery life also looks set to improve, with a 300mAh in the 42mm and a 400mAh on the 46mm. This provides around 1.5 or 2 days use respectively, the devices also feature wireless charging similar to the previous model (but chargers are not compatible).

To round things off the smartwatch has two mics, WiFi, an optical heart rate sensor and an IP67 dust and water resistance.

Not content with going after the style market, Motorola has also targetted the fitness-focused consumers with the Moto 360 Sport.

The Sport variation is very similar to the other model, however it features both a heart rate sensor and GPS. It runs Android Wear on a LCD display that combines a traditional backlit transmissive screen with a front lit reflective technology.

Both watches will benefit from the recent Android Wear update that brings iOS support and interactive watch faces.

Motorola has also announced that all devices will be available in the UK later this month, with prices starting at £229.

Has Motorola just taken the smartwatch crown, again?