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Asus ZenWatch

Editor's rating (1-5): Where to Buy

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What's Hot: Very attractive, looks like a watch! Nice OLED display, interesting Asus apps. Easy to source 22mm bands.

What's Not: Though not bad among today's smartwatches, battery life still isn't a strong point.
Android Wear is still a work in progress.

Reviewed January 15, 2015 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

If you can't beat 'em, join them. I'm starting to feel that way with the onslaught of smartwatches, particularly Android Wear watches. I've reviewed quite a few in the past several months, and a strange thing has happened: they're growing on me. It's not just that familiarity breeds conformity or acquiescence, rather Android Wear watches, both software and hardware, are evolving and improving that quickly. The Moto 360 was the first good looking smartwatch after a small onslaught of square plastic geeky looking Android and Tizen timepieces. It has that minimalist Movado look, just on a grander scale (the Moto 360 is one of the larger models). Then the slightly smaller LG G Watch R hit not long before the Android Wear 5.0.1 update and it sported a truly nice looking men's diver watch design. The latest is the Asus ZenWatch, and as we know from their ZenBook line, Asus knows how to make some classy looking devices with attractive metal casings at a reasonable price. The ZenWatch has a stainless steel casing in silver, with a sliver of rose gold sandwiched in the middle. It looks simply lovely, and not unlike the Apple Watch (Asus got there first!). The back has a satin finish for comfort and the strap lugs aren't as big and uncomfortable as the LG G Watch R. It's also the least expensive at $199, a price point where I start to feel a little less uncomfortable paying for a device that's largely a second screen for my Android phone. It's also the first watch that I think a woman might wear and it works equally well for dress and casual attire.

Watches are categorized as jewelry, and that's been a challenge for smartwatch makers. Asus has made something that looks as good as a standard timepiece, though it's still on the larger side, with a 1.63" AMOLED touch screen. Simply put, there's no way to fit the CPU, chips and battery in a small watch, and the screen has to be large enough to see easily and operate with a finger. The brown leather band is also nice looking and it isn't as stiff as the LG G Watch R band. It has a very easy to operate clasp that's secure, but if you prefer black leather, sports-friendly synthetics or a metal band, it's interchangeable with 22mm bands. That works nicely as "jewelry" too--no need to suffer with the manufacturer's options if you find a band that tickles your fashion sense.

Most Android Wear watches run on the quad core Snapdragon 400 CPU with 512 megs of RAM and 4 gigs of storage, just like the ZenWatch (the Moto 360 runs on a slower, older platform). The watch is responsive in terms of overall speed and it registers both touch and voice commands quite well. Android Wear is designed for touches and swipes and voice, but I still wonder how many of you are comfortable doing a Dick Tracy and talking to your watch in public places (I'm not). Android Wear 5.0.1 brings new functionality and improvements, and it can do things like act as a standalone music player now. You can install apps on the watch, and just in the past month we've seen quite a few new titles appear like Lyft, Evernote and a variety of popular fitness trackers. The games are still lame, hopefully that will change quickly too.

Mostly, Google's vision of Android Wear is still as a device that's a second screen for your phone. I bet many folks want more, and those downloadable apps will help. Note that some apps actually use your phone for most of the legwork--particularly news apps like NY Times and News Republic. If your watch is out of Bluetooth's 30 foot range from your phone, those apps won't update on your watch. You can get notifications from your phone piped over to your watch, which will display those notifications at the bottom of the watch face, and the watch can vibrate but not make noise since it has no speaker (that's an Android Wear thing). You can also control which apps create watch notifications, so you don't have to be bombarded with unwanted info. The ZenWatch connects via Bluetooth to any Android 4.3 or newer smartphone. Android Wear isn't compatible with the iPhone, Windows Phone or BlackBerry. It doesn't have WiFi or 3G--for that you'll have to get the Samsung Gear S watch running Samsung's Tizen OS. The Gear S also requires a Samsung branded phone, whereas Android Wear works with any phone brand.

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