Asus Zenwatch 3
Asus unveiled the
next generation in its Zenwatch family. The Zenwatch 3 marks a departure from
the rectangular shape of the previous two iterations and adopts a more classic
circular design.
The Zenwatch 3 will be available in three case colors -
Gunmetal, Silver, and Rose Gold, but the rose gold ring around the watch face
is a permanent fixture on all three. Regardless of the color all of the models
are made of grade 316L stainless steel and also carry IP67 certification - good
for immersion in water up to 1m deep for up to 30 minutes.
Three also happens to be the number of
buttons on the right side of the Zenwatch 3, which is not something you can say
about other Android Wear smartwatches. Asus says that this configuration should
bring more intuitive interaction with the device. The lugs are rather unorthodox too,
fluidly angled to wrap around the wrist, but with some sharp edges for
contrast. A choice of leather and rubber straps will be available, but there
are no stainless steel options for the wrist strap, not yet at least.
The display is a 1.39-inch AMOLED affair
with 400 x 400 pixel resolution - very similar to the Huawei Watch. Doing the
number crunching is the Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, paired with half a gig of
RAM, while internal storage is 4 GB. Battery capacity is 341 mAh, which could be enough for two days of use. Fret not though, because
thanks to Asus' HyperCharge tech you'd be able to go from 0 to 60% in 15 min.
The Zenwatch 3 will carry a price tag of
€ 229 in Europe, though the launch date is yet to be announced.
