Android Wear is in a fragmented state this year, with most OEMs (specifically LG, Motorola, and Huawei) holding off on AW smartwatch announcements for the remainder of this year, it seems as though ASUS is the only Android Wear OEM left standing. The company known for the most inexpensive smartwatches on Google's wearables platform has already announced the ZenWatch 3 at the end of August and, after stopping by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, US approval body), is now ready to release the ZenWatch 3 for sale.
The ZenWatch 3 is scheduled to go on sale early next month, which is a matter of weeks from now. With a price tag of $229, the ZenWatch 3 brings to the table a 1.4-inch, AMOLED display with a 400 x 400p screen resolution, runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 Wear processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 340mAh battery, and IP67 water and dust resistance.
The ZenWatch 3 has a slightly larger display than the Samsung Gear S2 (1.2-inch display), a slightly better screen resolution, and Qualcomm's specially-designed wearables processor (the Gear S2 doesn't have this, and it's likely the Gear S3 will not; it will likely run Exynos), with a number of specs and features that are standard with wearables at this point (such as 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and IP67 water and dust resistance). The battery size, 340mAh, is larger than what you'll find in the Gear S2, though keep in mind that Android Wear (like the smartphone OS) is a battery hog and won't get nearly the same battery life as that of Samsung's Gear S2 and upcoming Gear S3. It's highly doubtful that most ZenWatch 3 customers will see 2 days of battery life with Android Wear (Gear S2 users already see 2 days of battery life, and the new Gear S3 could provide the same time with moderate to heavy use).
Any takers for the ZenWatch 3? Pleased with the price, or dislike that it's more expensive than the ZenWatch 2?
