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ASUS showed up at Computex 2015 as they always do (considering it’s the premier tech event in their own backyard of Taiwan), and they didn’t disappoint with a few nice announcements. One of the devices on tap was a new smart watch.
It’s the ASUS ZenWatch 2, and the rumors were true. ASUS cooked up 2 different sizes, one for those who prefer a little bulk and the more petite option that most women might prefer. The company is still going with a square watch face, though the chassis isn’t without a round nature.
The ZenWatch 2 features a physical dial (which we imagine can be used to navigate the system), an OLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Gorilla Glass 3 and IP67 specification for dust and water resistance. You get a magnetic mechanism for charging the device, which is a great feature as no one wants to have to clasp their smart watch into a bothersome cradle every night.
On the presentation side, there will be a wide range of wrist bands available post-launch — some in rubber, leather and even a special edition Swarovski set featuring actual Swarovski crystyals — though the device comes with stainless steel straps as standard.
For software, you can expect the latest version of Android Wear and improved wellness and remote camera apps, though ASUS didn’t go into detail about what, exactly, was different. We’re not sure if the watch will support Android Wear’s new WiFi support (the initial spec list doesn’t mention one) so we’ll have to dig for more to see if this thing can offer the same level of connectivity as LG’s Watch Urbane.
And that’s about all we know. ASUS didn’t have pricing or availability to mention, which makes us feel as if we won’t be seeing a product ready to buy until late Q3 at best. Let’s hope we’re wrong, though, because the ZenWatch 2 doesn’t look half bad.
Holy bezels batman.
Yes, you’d think they would’ve learned from complaints about megabezel on last watch. Tis a shame as is best looking of square smartwatches otherwise.
Bezels and I did not see any sensors on the rear of the device… :-(
Agreed. The space on a watches’ face is precious. Too precious to be taken up by bezel.
Is this an LTE watch or does it pair up with a phone and play the phone’s alerts?
What about Battery life? I remember them saying last year they thought battery life should be about 5-7 days. If they can pull off 4 days with a price of $250 or less, I can forgive the bezels…
This thing could cook and clean my house and I still wouldn’t pick it up because it’s made by ASUS.
The nightmare service I experienced with my Transformer T101 will not be forgotten.
I still have and use my Transformer Prime…
Oh, they make great products, until something goes wrong.
The TF101 developed issues for many users after a firmware update that rendered the device unstable – I sent my unit in no less than 5 times (with at least 10 hours of phone calls) an each time it would come back with a new problem. I was even in contact with one of their suits from corporate and they couldn’t help me get it fixed. Once my warranty ran out, I was screwed, so 6 months of “repairs” and no working device.
I’ll never go back to ASUS.
There are several stories about ASUS on the consumerist, including one for a TF101 (7 RMA’s later) that sounds very similar to my experience.
By comparison – HP had sent me a few replacement Touchpads (at various times) next day and without me having to send in my tablet until after I revived the replacement unit.
The tf201 had problems right out the gate, they used cheap memory and wireless chips, so a bunch of force closes due to I/O problems and the GPS/WiFi were unpreductable. Instead of giving everyone a refund they just sent them a donel that ataches to the bottom of the tablet lol.
Doesn’t seem like much off an upgrade at all. Hopefully they fixed the Bluetooth strength. My disconnects a lot compared to my Pebble.
Yeah, there are new watch chipsets from Intel and Mediatek (smaller, lower power, cheaper) yet they went with Qualcomm, which only has last year model chipsets and designed for smartphones, not smartwatches. Odd choice.
Finally the watch I’ve been waiting for ! As l ok mg as it had the latest updates
I like! Too bad I bought the first gen 4 months ago