Asus recently showcased its ZenWatch in India. Everyone is trying to nail the perfect smartwatch, but with low cost expected on smartwatches and other limitations, none is outright appealing. Asus tries to fix this with its own Android Wear based ZenWatch which promises to combine style and functionality for a relatively affordable price. Let’s take a look.
Asus ZenWatch Quick Specs
- Display Size: 1.63 Inch Super AMOLED, 320 X 320, Gorilla Glass 3
- Processor: 1.2 GHz Quad Core
- RAM: 512 MB
- Software Version: Android Wear
- Camera: No
- Internal Storage: 4 GB
- External Storage: No
- Battery: 360 mAh
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, Micro USB on Charging Cradle
- Weight: Body – 50 g; Strap – 25g
Asus Zenwatch Hands on Review, Unboxing, Features and Overview[Video]
Design, Build and Display
The Asus ZenWatch design is indeed impressive. No, it’s not circular like Moto 360 or LG G Watch R, but Asus has paid due attention to details which shows. There are no buttons around the edges and the bottom surface is gently curved to make it fit smoothly on your hands.
Asus is using standard 22mm brown strap, which also means you can always replace the strap in case it doesn’t work for you. The watch is also water resistance (IP55) certified. The watch weighs 50 grams and the strap adds another 25 grams.
The display is 1.63 inches in size with 320 x 320 pixels spread across it, amounting to 278 ppi. Asus has used a Super AMOLED display panel which in our opinion blends well with wearable devices. The display is also protected by scratch resistant curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top. On the whole, we like he design and display in ZenWatch. We would still like to test how usable it would be in sunlight.
Processor and RAM
Asus ZenWatch is powered by Snapdragon 400 quad core chipset with 512 MB RAM. This is good enough to smoothly fuel Android wear OS and we didn’t notice any lag with UI transitions in our initial time with the device. ZenWatch also features 9 Axis sensor and a microphone to receive voice commands.
User Interface and Storage
Software is Google’s Android Wear, compatible with all Android 4.3+ Jelly bean smartphones. Asus has added several features along with its ZenWatch Manager App like Asus ZenUI integration, Watch Unlock, etc. You can choose from numerous watch faces to keep things lively.
Asus has provided with 4 GB native nand flash storage, which is not expandable. Since it’s a smartwatch, this should be good enough for most users in our opinion.
Battery and Other Features
The battery capacity is 360 mAh. This is similar to other Android Wear smartwatches and you can expect the same around one day battery backup from the ZenWatch as well with Always On display option disabled.
The watch will connect to your Android 4.3+ Jelly Bean smartphone using Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity within a range of 30 meters. You cannot attend calls via ZenWatch, but can accept or reject them. You can also measure your heart rate by placing you fingers along the steel side edges.
Asus ZenWatch Photo Gallery
Conclusion
Asus ZenWatch improves on other Android Wear smartwatches by providing decent looks, style and Android Wear functionality at just the right price. In India, this is expected to be less expensive than other Android Wear watches that we have seen so far. If you are willing to purchase a Smartwatch at this stage of their evolution, Asus ZenWatch won’t disappoint you.
