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Motorola ACTV hands on review

This gadget was made for walking. And running. And cycling

Motorola ACTV in the flesh

If you don’t draw an almost instant visual connection with the iPod Nano, you’ve either not been keeping up to date with Apple’s latest music players or you’ve taken your latest endurance run much too seriously. It’s a dead ringer, but for being chunkier and less sexily styled. Still, athletes aren’t supposed to be sexy, are they?

The ACTV fitness advantage

That may sound like bad news, but in reality the Moto’s much more qualified to become your running partner than Apple’s musical square. It wants to know everything – what kind of workout you’re doing, what you’re doing it on, what kind of tunes you want to listen to, where you’re going… it’s no dumb sidekick.

Make the music ACTV

Here’s the clever bit – the ACTV’ll remember what you like to run to and playlist your exercise according to your memories together. It’ll also map your runs and take your heart rate (either via a chest-strap HRM or an IR heart-rate monitor embedded in the right earphone (but only if you stump up an extra £90 for the HRM headphones).

Is the ACTV worth it?

First impressions suggest you can pick up an iPod Nano for half the price (the 8GB ACTV costs £250) and, while it won’t have all the running/cycling/etc measurement data (the ACTV will count your every footstep), it’ll be sleeker and cooler. But if you’re dying to add an HRM and pedometer to your Nano, and would happily pay double for the privilege, the ACTV’ll be available in time for Christmas in the UK.

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Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home

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