ASUS ZenWatch review
ASUS is one of those companies that surprises us every now and then. For as nondescript as some of its tablets and computers have been, it also comes out with some real gems from time to time.
And the ZenWatch definitely is a diamond in the rough.
Meet the best-looking square(ish) Android smartwatch.While the watch face is square â€" with the corners rounded off â€" the body is all kinds of curvy. The glass on the face is ever so slightly rounded. The chrome edge bezel is beautiful with the rounded corners, and the way it transitions into the rose gold-colored mid-section shows some real attention to design and detail.
The ZenWatch has some pretty profound lugs where the leather strap attaches to the body. But even these are nicely designed, even if they do stand out quite a bit. (More on that in a bit.)
The ZenWatch's 320x320 display isn't all that much to write home about, and that's a shame considering how great the body looks. That disparity isn't all that surprising given where we're at in the world of Android Wear, but it's still a letdown. Individual pixels are apparent, and the bezel immediately surrounding the 1.63-inch AMOLED panel is a sore spot. The body of the ZenWatch is begging for a more edge-to-edge display like in the Moto 360. (Yes, we're ignoring the physical ramifications of doing something like that.)
The underside of the watch deserves a few words â€" mainly because the heart-rate sensor that we still don't really want or need has been moved from there to the front of the watch, hidden in the lower bezel. It's actually not a horrible way to check your heart rate, though it doesn't make us want to do it any more than before.
The back also has a sort of emergency power button that you'll probably never actually use, and you'll find the gold contacts for the charging dock here back there as well. There's also a reminder that the ZenWatch is water-resistant â€" IP55 to be precise.
Speaking of the charging dock, you'll be needing it once a day, at least. Usage from the 360 mAh isn't any more than a single day, about par for the course. (You might be able to eke out a little more if you turn off the dimmed always-on mode and lower the brightness, but even then don't expect to extend things too much.) The dock itself is pretty slim and connects via microUSB (which also means you can use it for some Android Wear hacking, if you so desire), and it feeds in your pocket easily enough. As of the time of this writing you can't yet buy a spare dock, so you might well want to carry it with you.
ASUS has used some gorgeous leather on the ZenWatch. And it's made it easy for fans of metal to swap in a bracelet.Back to the leather straps and those lugs for a minute. ASUS has included a really nice leather strap. It's a natural brown color with a deployment clasp and a little bit of ASUS branding, with stitching down the sides. It's right up there in quality with the Horween leather on the Moto 360, but it's also thicker.
If you want to change it out for another 22mm bracelet or strap, you're welcome to do so, and the ASUS leather strap has quick-release pins, making removal easy. I've opted for a metal bracelet instead, and it pretty much looks like it came with the ZenWatch, a testament to the design of the lugs.
It's real tempting to call the ZenWatch the best looking Android Wear smart watch so far. And truth be told we've been struggling with that internally. There's still something about the (nearly) full face of the Moto 360 that makes it more of a complete experience, whereas the bezels on the ZenWatch make it look and feel more like a display on your wrist. Some of that has do to with the touch points, I think, and that your brain subconsciously knows that you're aiming for a display within the watch, and not just for the watch itself.
Regardless, this is still one gorgeous first-generation product for ASUS.
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