The watch looks quite stylish but it lacks any real innovative features

Sep 3, 2014 12:07 GMT  ·  By

If your heart is fueled by the love of smartwatches, this is the moment you have been waiting for. Present at IFA 2014, ASUS did exactly what we have expected it to do for a few weeks now.

The company has taken the wraps off its highly anticipated ZenWatch, which will be enjoying the advantages of the Android Wear platform.

Aesthetically speaking, the ZenWatch seems to be quite reminiscent of Samsung’s latest Gear S, because both boast a stylish curved display. The company has also opted for stainless steel, a splash of rose gold and a fashionable brown leather strap which is interchangeable.

It’s also worth noting that Sammy chose to put the Tizen platform on the watch, so if this was an aspect that didn't really appeal to you, the ZenWatch might be an interesting alternative to behold.

The intelligent timepiece comes with a 1.63-inch AMOLED display with 320 x 320 pixel resolution (with 278ppi) which is quite swell for a smartwatch.

However, the wearable is said to be water resistant rather than waterproof, so it will handle a few splashes of liquid but nothing too serious.

The watch’s powerhouse is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor fitted with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage.

Like with the Android Wear smartwatches we have seen arrive, the ZenWatch relies of voice controls, so there are no physical buttons to behold. Nevertheless, ASUS has decided to include a panic / emergency button on the back in case you need to go back to the home screen or something goes wrong and the watch becomes unresponsive for some reason.

In the fitness department, the watch arrives with a heart rate monitor that will become active by virtue of tapping with your finger on the glass and activating the Wellness app.

The application can do lots of things, including counting how many steps you've taken, calories burned, monitoring your activity cycle and figuring out intensity and relaxation levels.

ASUS also throws in a bunch of its own apps like Cover to Mute, a Find My Phone app, a Remote camera remote app, a presentation control feature plus an SOS app in case you get lost in the woods at some point. Last but not least, the watch also takes advantage of a 9-axis sensor.

Sadly, it appears not to come with gesture controls, a feat rumored at some point in the past.

To conclude, ASUS mentioned the watch would be priced at €199 / $199, which is on par with what the Samsung Gear 2 Neo sells for. We're a little disappointed, as we had hoped the ZenWatch would arrive with a more competitive tag.

ASUS ZenWatch with Android Wear (3 Images)

ASUS launches the ZenWatch
ASUS launches the ZenWatchASUS launches the ZenWatch
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