ASUS - ZenWatch Smartwatch 40mm Stainless Steel - Silver/Rose Gold/Brown Leather

Among the few Android Wear watches currently available the ZenWatch stands out. It has the highest screen resolution at 320x320 pixels along with the Samsung Gear Live but a better charging dock than the Gear Live. No wireless charging as the Moto360 has unfortunately. The charging dock connects to the watch with contact pins and to the charger with a micro-USB connector so you can leave the dock always connected to the charger to save a daily step. The dock has a LED to indicate charging. It's my first smart watch so just a couple of comments on Android Wear. I found the voice commands error prone so generally I don't use it. Alternately, accessing the installed apps by the list method is a pain as it takes too many taps/swipes. On day one I installed an Android app launcher (Wear Mini Launcher) which saves the day. ASUS offers three ZenWatch-companion apps for additional features. The only one I installed is ASUS Remote Camera which uses the watch as a remote phone camera viewfinder and shutter release. There are other apps that do the same, still it's very cool. So, after 3 days of use here's my assessment: The design is very nice, not too nerdy. It looks like the recessed charging pins could accumulate dust over time but I would rather clean them than have a cover to remove every night. The Bluetooth connection with my Galaxy S3 phone range is about 20 feet so I don't have to keep the phone on my belt at home or office to keep the connection live. If I step out of range it reconnects when I'm back within range automatically. The build quality is excellent for the watch case, leather band and charging dock. By the end each the day the battery life has been about 15-20%. The watch has so many features that I want to use it often but need to back off if I want the battery to last until I get home from work. Of course for the battery to last more than one day would require an impracticably large watch so I think ASUS struck a good balance for size vs battery life. For daily wearability, I'm a man with small wrists and I find it comfortable enough. It feels just a little heavier than my normal steel case watch. The OLED display is always on and goes to dimmed mode after 3 seconds. Display visibility in sunlight is poor--no getting around that. There is no photocell to sense day or night to adjust the display brightness so to avoid having to adjust it when outside I keep it set for an indoor level to conserve battery life. Indoors the display is very good. To summarize, the functionality, style and engineering are all excellent. It exudes quality and thoughtful design and is at the same time one of the cheapest smart watches available. Great deal. It is one well-designed product.

Let me start off with some assumptions about why I bought this watch: I wanted a watch that coupled with some features that make smartphones convenient, i.e. voice commands to set timers, notifications, read emails, etc. I considered the Pebble Steel as well, but ultimately decided to buy this one due to the touch screen and the visual appeal. Now for the review: This watch out of the box looks very nice. It looks very slick and goes very well with my typical apparel (Polos, button-down shirts, etc). The leather band is very high quality. At first i was not a fan of the golden brown color, but it grew on me, because it looks more formal. I also like how it is a touch screen, like any other android wear watch. I can easily give voice commands to set timers if I am working at home and know I need to leave for somewhere, check on food, laundry, etc. I can also manage my tasks, read texts/email, etc much like I am accustomed to do on a smartphone. The size of watch is slightly large in my opinion, which is something to definitely consider, because while I don't have the biggest wrist circumference, I consider myself to have a larger than average wrist size. The fact that this watch is a touch screen is also a con when it comes to watch face appearance. Most of the watch faces have a very basic appearance when not actively being viewed, which is because the display can burn in. I am a big fan of the "Modern" watch face of the Pebble, which has 12, 3, 6, and 9 listed with ticks for the other hours. Pebble can get away with this, because of its basic black and white screen, so it is largely a trade off between screen quality and overall resting screen display. While active, many of the watch faces look very nice, but this is not the view that is visible most of the time. To prevent display burn in, the ZenWatch shifts the watch face slightly every once in awhile. At first this caught me off guard, but its roughly a 5-10 pixel shift. I only noticed it, because the "silent notifications" bell icon in the top center of my watch face was cut off. The screen returns to its proper center orientation when you look at the watch. I also dislike how the screen automatically brightens and shows more information if it detects certain positions of your wrist. Many times when I am sitting at a table, I notice my screen brighten up, the second hand appear, and the month/day display appear. This was probably because I was always looking at the watch as I sat in meetings and at lunch. Still, I wish there was an option to disable the orientation detection and only show more info if you tap it. The fact that most have the recharge the watch every night is also something to get used to, but I figure most are used to recharging their phones anyway. If this is a bad thing, but still want something to interface with your phone, I have found that muting notifications extends the battery life. I have had my watch on for 24 hours (minus ~6 hours of sleep) and am at 42% battery. If you want a smart watch that can interface with your phone that you don't need to recharge daily of bi-daily, consider a pebble steel, but note that there is a trade off between battery life and screen usability.

I received my Zenwatch yesterday and the setup was very easy and straight forward. The Asus phone apps work seamlessly with the watch without hiccups (so far). I have to get used to the heart rate monitor. At the beginning it worked every 3 or 4 tries (holding 2 fingers - one on each side of the side bezel). I noticed that if my fingers are a little moist (yes, I licked my fingers......lol) it works right away. I compared the heart rate results with my Note 4, which according to some real test against a professional heart rate monitor showed that the Note 4 is pretty accurate. Zenwatch and Note 4 results are pretty close. One of the features I really like is that I don’t have to unlock my phone if watch and phone are close together. Or the one where I can mute my ringing phone by covering the watch face with my hand. Google Now (Ok Google) also works great. There are many more features and all are pretty useful I found. Time will tell…………. Now to the part I don’t particular like. You put the watch in a (rubbery) charging cradle and connect the USB cable on the side of the cradle. Since the leather band of the watch is like a loop (can’t lay it flat), you have to lay the watch on the side while the USB cable is pointing to the ceiling and then looping down to the outlet (see picture). Not very elegant I must say. They could have built a little stand with a build in USB receptacle so you just connect the cradle to it and attach the watch into the cradle. Oh well, nothing is perfect. But the watch looks great on my wrist………

I have had this Smartwatch for a few months now and feel comfortable giving it a solid review I had been searching for a SmartWatch ever since I saw the first Sony one (being a lifelong fan of Sony) I stopped myself from making a rash purchase and waited... Seeing 1st and 2nd Gen watches come out, and even seeing the separation between the traditional Android Smartwatches and the new "Fitness Trackers" When the Moto 360 flashed in a commercial I realized I just couldn't wait anymore, but I was VERY disappointed once I "test-drove" one at BestBuy, it felt, clunky, big and even though it had all the Android functionality (with the limited software limitations currently put in place by AndroidWear) It just wasn't what I wanted. I realized that if I wanted a SmartWatch now, I would have to sacrifice looks... but then... 2 new contenders appeared. The LG R and the Asus ZenWatch. I tried both, both and in fact found them both Amazing in their own rights, there had clearly not been any "copying" from either company and they each had the one thing I was looking for. STYLE. In the end it came down to price and the fact I tend to wear more dress shirts and ties than jeans, so I ended up going with the Asus. It is fashionable, functional and the perfect size. The curved glass is unique and gives it a flair that draws attention. The OS is the same as the others, the square screen does tend to make it easier to display and read the messages and notifications. The ONLY complaint I have, (and why it lost 1 star) and I know many others have the same; is the charging "dock"... honestly I really dont know what they where thinking. I've made do with it, and have kept it in a place where it can't possibly be knocked down (I have mischievous cats) Apart from that the only thing I would recommend is getting a screen protector, since it is a curved glass you'd be surprised how often you rub it or just glance it off clothes or objects, my screen protectors have saved me from several scratches already!

I got the watch as a Christmas gift and I love the design. It doesn't feel overdone or flimsy. It has the perfect weight and feel to it. My one complaint is I have an 8 inch wrist and the watch kinda hurts to wear. The part where the strap attaches to the watch is angled awkwardly so the band has a boxed fit on my wrist (just picture putting a rectangle on your wrist and its moving around) and hurts when the watch moves around. I'm trying to stretch out the band make it rounder to see it helps. As far as features go android wear is new, so the features we can use are limited but should suffice for basic use. The asus apps are nice but also limited, especially when compared to the android wear options. If you have a wrist smaller than 8 inches I would recommend for sure or I advise you go to Best Buy and try it on first.

It’s my first Android Wear device. Actually, it’s my first smart watch. It’s been around for a little while and I’m sure I probably read reviews about it. But, you haven’t read a review from Tech Life Guru about the ZenWatch. Let’s get into it! It’s not the best wearable out there and it’s not the worst. It’s in-between the high class and low class margin. The watch features a nice AMOLED screen sized at 1.63″ with a screen resolution of 320 x 320 all packed under Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Not bad at all for a screen this size. It’s viewable in all lighting conditions and can be adjusted to your liking. The storage is pretty good for my needs with 4 GB of internal memory and  512 mb of RAM. So far the battery life has been good to me. As with any electronic device, the more used, the faster the drain. Some apps will suck the life out of the wearable like a episode of True Blood! That’s where blocking certain notifications and linked apps comes in handy. Google Maps is one of the first apps you’ll wanna block if you use Google Maps on your Android phone. Using the ZenWatch as a typical watch while receiving notifications, controlling music, and snapping shots with the remote viewfinder will give you a full days usage at around 15 hours. But that also depends on the user’s settings. The main connecting point is Bluetooth 4.0. and it stays connected to my Galaxy S6 only disconnecting if I walk away from the phone. Another neat feature it the alert given when disconnected from the watch.  What’s powering this sleek piece of shiny wrist wear? The battery obviously! Lol, just kidding. Under the metal housing Asus stuck a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz inside, given life with the 369 mAh battery. It has froze on me twice during customizing and I realized that it takes a few seconds for downloaded apps to appear on the ZenWatch. While pressing this and swiping that all over the place during an installation, it’ll get a bit confused and freeze up. It’s expected for a device with these specs. Moves pretty fast to be a such little piece of tech nonetheless. In the box you’ll find the Asus ZenWatch, a charging cradle and micro USB cable along with some reading materials. I think they were instructions, but who reads those things? I bought it from Best Buy for $149 and I’m not disappointed at all. Setting it up was simple enough and if you’re like me, you wish these things come completely charged out if the box. It was at 37% when I took it out of the box and of course I played with it until it died instead of charging it first. It gave me 2 updates right away. I didn’t even get a chance to check the version of Android before the updates. When all was said and done I ended up with Android OS 5.1.1!  For the first day I tinkered around, messed with some settings, installed a few apps and customized to my liking. Watch faces!!! So many faces! It’s such a convenient companion for my Galaxy S6. Just being able to look at my wrist and see who’s calling or messaging me is pretty cool. With “Ok Google” integrated it makes it even easier to give commands to the ZenWatch. You might look like James Bond asking your watch where the closest spot for some grub is located, but you’ll get your results! There’s a plethora of apps and watch faces available for the ZenWatch thanks to the Android Wear platform. While it may not be a standalone mobile device, there’s a few apps that almost gives it that feeling. There’s some phone and messaging apps out there for everyone’s individual needs and style. There’s even a few games available. Invaders is pretty fun. If you’re into fitness, then they’ve got you covered on that too. The built in Wellness app does its job. It’s not super accurate, but it works. I don’t think any of the mobile fitness apps and devices are completely accurate anyway. There’s also Google Fit that can be utilized with the ZenWatch. There’s tons of places online to make your Android Wear device the watch that truly describes you. I can’t really tell you the difference between this wearable and others, but I can tell you that it’s worth it for the price tag.  If you ever wanted to see what all the fuss about smart watches is about and you don’t want to pay an arm and leg….. I recommend giving it a try. You get what you pay for!

All current Android Wear function nearly identical, what sets the Asus ZenWatch apart from the other Android Wear crown is it's looks and lower price. I'm my opinion the ZenWatch is the best looking watch of the bunch. Yes the roundness the the Moto 360 is nice, but it very thick while to ZenWatch is svelte by comparison. The ZenWatch has the more expensive Moto 360 beat in: 1. Processor 2. AMOLED screen (with Gorilla Glass 3) 3. Battery life The batter life of the ZenWatch last me through a day easily, and I could probably make it into the next day if needed. I owned a Samsung Gear Live and the Zenwatch is not only much better looking it battery last longer as well. The Gear Live charging clip broke, apparently a common problem, but worse of all is one of the aluminum arms that hold the spring pins in place broke and now I can't wear it any more. The stainless steal body of the ZenWatch is much superior. Despite the ZenWatch only having an IP rating of 55, I think it the best Smartwatch (Android Wear) for a more elegant dressed up look. I don't plan on going swimming with it or a raging sand storm. It more than rugged enough for day to day wear (and not break as easily as the IP67 rated Gear Live). For fitness enthusiast I recommend the Sony Smartwatch 3. It IP68 rating is the best so far and it's rubber wrist band (stainless steal will soon be an option) is perfect for working out. It is also the only Android Wear watch to include a built in GPS at the time of this review (also has NFC for easy pairing and built in WiFi for future implementation).

This was my 2nd smart watch with the first being the Samsung Galaxy (version 1). First it is the nicest of the current crop of smart watches on the market with a great looking screen. I chose the option to keep the watch screen off unless I make the motion to look at the screen or tap it, and I easily would get 3 days of use on 1 charge, which is great! Why did I return it? I really disliked how Google implemented what shows up on the watch. You must use Google Now, and true to the Google form, now wants you to tell it your interests and it will decide what to show you, and it decides when. Example I put my work and home address into now, and in the morning it would push a navigation 'card' to the watch so you can see how long it will take to get to work. Sounds good right? Well, since now decides what you see and when (from sports scores to stock quotes to navigation, etc), one time it may be 3 swipes to see the stock quotes, next time 1 swipe, it depends on what now decided to push to the watch, and you cannot choose the order. Also because I use an app for my calendar (not default Google calendar), even though I have notification turned off on default calendar tool on my phone, the watch would notify me twice on each calendar event. My phone only ever shows 1, but the watch always did it twice. So the Zenwatch is nice, the implementation of Google wear still has a way to go for me to stick with it, and by then a new device will be out and I will try it on that one.