Beautiful piece of work
Beautiful piece of work
Everyone has a smartwatch, and Asus is no stranger, too, offering a slightly curved display and a whole heap of customisable watch faces. Is this Android Wear at its best, or just more of the same?
Looks and feels a little different to other smart watches; Comfortable; Offers more customisable watch faces than other smart watches; Leather strap is quite nice
Requires an extra app "Asus ZenManager" to work; Crashes fairly frequently; and usually when Bluetooth is used for something else; Screen doesn't always respond when you wave your hand or bring it back from standby; Only one day of battery life
The Asus ZenWatch is the company's first foray into smartwatches, and is another to use Google's Android Wear platform. The ZenWatch stakes a strong claim for being the most stylish smartwatch currently available, and if you're prepared to live with the quirks of Android Wear, it's definitely one of...
One of the best-looking smartwatches so far; Slim; premium build; Battery life among the best for Android Wear
Android Wear still poorly optimised; Lack of buttons hampers use; Screen unreadable in bright sunlight
Taiwanese computer maker Asus has entered the wearables arena with the ZenWatch, a good-looking, mid-priced Android smartwatch . The Asus ZenWatch certainly looks more like a watch than a smartwatch, and that's a good thing.
The ZenWatch is Asus's first venture into the smartwatch industry, and we were hoping for big things. In an industry overpopulated by Android Wear powered smartwatches, how does the ZenWatch stand out? Read our Asus ZenWatch review to find out whether the £199 ZenWatch is worth buying.
The Asus ZenWatch isn’t the most impressive smartwatch we’ve ever used, but it’s not the worst either. It’s a very good-looking, stylish smartwatch – something that’s a rarity in the smartwatch industry. The lack of buttons is definitely an issue, especially with the touchscreen input being as frustrating as it currently is. It does however boast a decent battery life and enough sensors for you to shake a stick at. Ultimately though, when you put this up against similarly priced smartwatches like the Moto 360, it can’t compete. The Moto 360 has a button disguised as a crown which is used to turn the display on and off, as well an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts screen brightness dependent on your lighting conditions. Ambient light sensors are a feature that smartwatches need, but very few have. It also has an optical heart rate monitor that periodically checks your pulse in the background without being prompted to, and without a need to physically interact with the watch. With an almost identical RRP, we’d rather go for the Moto 360.
Of all the Android Wear devices out there, we think the ZenWatch is the most elegant. It has a design that looks like a watch and using a quality strap makes a difference. Ok, so it might not be a Jaeger-LeCoultre alligator strap, but it looks good, feels good and is nice to wear.
Great design; comfortable strap; good display; some software extras
Charging needs the base; some software duplication; Bluetooth connection issues
Smartwatches have a pretty bad reputation for being ugly, mini computers that prioritize function far above form. Much of that criticism is deserved - just look at the first two Android Wear...
Great looking design; Bright display; Comfortable to wear
Inaccurate step counting; Short battery life; Android Wear still needs work
The Asus ZenWatch is the first smartwatch from the Taiwanese tech maker to run Android Wear, and it comes with a touch of luxury due to its curved display and leather strap, stepping it up in the looks department in the increasingly crowded Android Wear market. At £199, can it stand out though?
This is such a good watch and it has all the bells and whistles too. It is so easy to setup with your android phone. It is light and the watch fave is not as big as you might think yet plenty bug to do what it needs to do. It's bigger than an apple watch and at a fraction if the price too.
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