GOLF GADGET REVIEW! – Motorola MOTOACTV

Is MOTOACTV The Must-Have Golf Electronic Device?

(Written By: GolfSpy Dave) Bubba Watson endorses the MOTOACTV.  The endorsement of a product by a professional golfer typically imparts some “tour-level” validity to the product.  Something along the lines of “the pro’s can use whatever they want, and they choose this”.  Bubba has definitely proven himself as an amazing golfer and by attaching his name to the MOTOACTV, the legitimacy of the MOTOACTV in the golf arena increases dramatically.  In this case though, I think that having Bubba Watson endorse the MOTOACTV also brings something else to the story, lets call it the Bubba Factor.

What is the Bubba Factor?  I view the Bubba Factor as a willingness to play the game of golf in one’s own unique style.  Your swing is non-traditional, your style is individual, and the gear you play gets course time because it works.  There is a rebel spirit in the Bubba Factor.  I interpret Bubba’s endorsing of the MOTOACTV as an indication that this unit is not your traditional golf GPS unit.  If Bubba Watson uses it, it must be unique enough to separate itself from the other GPS’s in the market, just like Bubba does on the tour.  Needless to say, this little unit had me captivated when it arrived at the house.

Does the Motorola MOTOACTV demonstrate the Bubba Factor, or is it just another golf GPS that will quickly fade into the market with the others?

STYLE

Bubba has his own style and so too does the MOTOACTV.  The unit itself is 1.75” square by about a third of an inch thick.  It has a total of five buttons:  Power, Music, Start, Volume (+), and Volume (-).  The buttons are small and match the overall color scheme of the unit and all sit peripheral to the large touch-screen that dominates the face of the unit.  The size of the display is quite impressive, especially considering the size of the unit overall.  The screen is bright and shows its colors under all but the brightest outdoor conditions.

With the mention of color, we hit on the first indicator of the MOTOACTV’s versatility.  The user is allowed to chose between three different color schemes:  red, blue,or gray.  While having three choices does not seem like much versatility, I will attest that the style of all of the graphics in the MOTOACTV definitely changes when you change color.

Users who want to wear the MOTOACTV as a timepiece can also choose from fourteen different watch faces.  These range from the conservative to the edgy.  My personal favorites are the skull and radioactive symbol faces.  You may prefer other faces, but the ability to set the look to your preference is definitely a bonus.

One word about wearing the unit as a watch though, it is not a dainty timepiece.  The MOTOACTV unit slides easily into the watchband (or belt clip) and then the watch sits securely on the wrist.  Again, as a watch, it is a big-ish unit.  Not too heavy though, and fairly well balanced, but it is like strapping about one third of an iPhone to your wrist.

On its own, the MOTOACTV is a very sleek looking, compact, attractive unit.  These properties are retained when it is used with the belt clip, but its larger footprint as a watch may not fit into everyone’s sense of style.

STYLE SCORE: 18/20

PERFORMANCE

There was a time when a few manufacturers represented the entire golf GPS market.  Then the smart phones and their GPS apps changed the game.  No longer did you need to invest hundreds of dollars in a piece of GPS hardware when a $30 download to you phone could give you similar, sometimes superior results.  The people at Motorola are likely aware of the current GPS market conditions and must believe that the MOTOACTV stands apart from the crowd.  Time to find out…

The MOTOACTV has some things going for it right away that, while not unique, do represent the best features of the competing GPS units and apps.

• 20,000 courses worldwide are included
• Main screen shows distances to front/middle/back of green
• Flick of touch screen shows distances to other points (hazards, & etc.)
• Recharges via USB cable
• Records your round and uploads the data for web-based analysis

I am sure that some of you read through that list and thought, “my phone does all of that”.  I think that your thought is legit.  I have been using my iPhone and a GPS app for the better part of a year, and my initial thought was that there was no real edge gained by using the MOTOACTV.  However, I think that my initial impression was a bit narrow in scope.  The MOTOACTV is a competent performer on the course, but when viewed with a wider lens, the advantages of the unit become more apparent.  For now though, lets look at the pros and cons of the MOTOACTV on the course:

Golf GPS Pros:

• Initial set-up is very simple.  Mine came set to Portuguese for some reason, and I was able to input my info and get it set to English without going online for help.
• Wi-Fi connectivity is a fantastic feature.  The unit itself connects directly to the MOTOACTV mother ship, no PC intermediate needed.  As a Mac user who has had connectivity issues in the past, the Wi-Fi connectivity made me want to kiss the designers.
• The unit is accurate.  My laser verified the distances offered by the MOTOACTV.  After a couple of checks I put away the laser and just trusted the MOTOACTV.
• The screen is bright enough to see, even in full sun.
• The unit charges relatively quickly and holds plenty of charge for a round or two.
• Navigation between green yardages and other hazard yardages requires only a flick of the touch screen.
• Touch screen is more durable than expected.
• Marking ball position on the course only requires you to press the START button.
• The MOTOACTV can learn the details of your game.  You let it know what club you are using for your shots, and it will eventually then make club suggestions as you play.

Golf GPS Cons:

• Acquiring satellites takes a few minutes.  Quite a bit longer than my iPhone GPS but on par with other hardware GPS units.
• While marking the ball position is simple, the lack of a straightforward “undo” feature makes it a bit irritating as you learn to use the unit.  You can fix your score for a hole, but your shot tracking online will be off.  It seems that there should be a way to do this type of “do over”.
• The “Intro/How To” golf GPS screens continue to show up, even after using the unit for the first time.
• The scoring system combines the pressing of the START button for shots, and then entering putts to get the total.  Again, getting the right combination took a little practice as I was initially hitting START to record putts as well.
• The scoring system does allow you to record penalty strokes, but not sand shots or direction of miss off the tee.
• Review of your round on the unit is limited to the overall score and the score for the individual holes.
• As one who doesn’t play wearing a watch, I was not comfortable playing with the MOTOACTV on my wrist.  It wasn’t too heavy, just a bit too large.  Belt clip did work great though.

As a stand-alone GPS unit, I would give MOTOACTV a solid “Good” rating.  MOTOACTV performed on par, or maybe a little better than other dedicated GPS units that I have used in the past.  My initial impression was that Motorola had made a solid GPS unit, but not really a unit that gives it a dominant edge in the marketplace.  However, once I got home and checked out the uploaded (via Wi-Fi) round I started to understand more of the unique nature of the unit.

After syncing your round, you can check it out in the “Online Clubhouse”.  The scorecard reporting is again, average compared to smart phone GPS apps, but the tracking of your progress around the course is amazing!  I did not realize that in addition to tracking shots around the course, the MOTOACTV would also be tracking me around the course.  Look at the screen capture below.  The golf shots are shown in yellow, with my path being shown in red.

How cool is that?  One of my favorite things to do after a round with my iPhone GPS is to go back through the scorecard and replay the round in my head.  I do this to try and figure out where I could have scored better.  The phone app lets me input left/right off the tee and so on so I can imagine the round.  With the MOTOACTV system, there is no imagination required.  You can see how you put the ball to the left off the 8^th tee and then searched for it.  You can even see that I hit the restroom after the 6th.

This archiving of the rounds of golf that you play is amazing, and I believe unmatched in the market.  Imagine that you go and play Pebble Beach.  A paper scorecard from the course makes a great souvenir, but the image produced by MOTOACTV will allow you to replay that round over and over amazing detail.  Even on your home course, the MOTOACTV data allows you to study where you are losing shots on the course.  If you drive into the same cluster of trees on the 3^rd hole, you’ll see it, and hopefully do something to change it.

The MOTOACTV also records fitness info while you play; distance walked, time elapsed, calories burned, and so on.  While I don’t care about how many calories I burn during a round, I am interested in how many I burn on the bike, or when I am out for a run (OK maybe a fast walk).  The MOTOACTV can do all of this.  It is a fitness system that includes golf as a possible activity.  The MOTOACTV website lists a bunch of accessories that can expand the range of the unit’s use.  It’ll sync with a heart rate sensor, mount on your bike’s handlebars, and even give you cadence info as you pedal.  All the while, it will be recording your workout path as that red line as well.  Boring if you are running on a treadmill, but awesome if you are out running or cycling in nature.

Did I mention that it plays music as well?  This unit has 16G of storage and comes with a wired pair of headphones.  The unit is small enough in belt-clip mode that it makes a great replacement for the gym MP3 player.  It also does something that I don’t really quite understand.  It is able to record your physical performance during various songs, learning which ones motivate you most effectively.  Amazing.  This thing will even monitor the weather and sync with your phone to let you know who is calling.  Oh, it also works quite well as a watch, stopwatch, alarm, and so on.

MOTOACTV wireless headphones are also available from Motorola.  The Bluetooth connecting, wireless headphones are definitely worth mentioning.  These headphones are a fantastic addition to the base unit.  When you put them on, a voice guides you through syncing them to your MOTOACTV, letting you know when you are successful.  These headphones have taken the MOTOACTV into the “Must Have” category for my range sessions.  The MOTOACTV can sit attached to my golf bag while playing its music wirelessly through the headphones.  No longer do I have to figure out how to run the cord under my shirt to the unit on my belt.

So the performance of the MOTOACTV as a standalone GPS is above average, but when you couple it to the other things it can do, including the awesome round tracking, the MOTOACTV does indeed demonstrate the Bubba Factor.

PERFORMANCE SCORE: 56/60

VALUE

The MOTOACTV Golf Edition retails for $299.  This is right in the ballpark of the other higher end GPS units.  If you are going to utilize the online clubhouse and also use the unit as a part of your other physical activities, this is a great deal.  Is it better than a free GPS app for your phone?  That one is tougher to quantify.  Remember, at some point, you had to pay for the phone as well.  It’s not just the app cost.  Remember, the MOTOACTV gives you a golf GPS+Watch+MP3 Player+Fitness Tracker+More.  If you are going to use all of the features, the price of the unit becomes very competitive.  The in-addition-to-golf capabilities of the MOTOACTV may make this the must have electronic fitness gadget of 2012.

VALUE SCORE: 18/20

SUMMARY

The Motorola MOTOACTV is a strong performing golf GPS unit that becomes amazing when paired with the online interface and additional possible activities.  If you are into fitness off of the golf course (and you should be) then the MOTOACTV may be the device that bridges all your exercise.  If nothing else, the Motorola MOTOACTV makes a pretty good case that the golf GPS hardware still has a fighting chance against the GPS app.

TOTAL SCORE: 92/100