We now know that LG, Samsung and Motorola are all making Android Wear smart watches, and they all seem to be priced at around the $250 mark. Not to be left out, Asus is now rumoured to be producing an Android Wear watch as well, with a more wallet-friendly price between $99 and $150.
The rumour, reported by TechCrunch, has Asus’s watch sporting an AMOLED display like Samsung’s Gear Live, and aiming for a release window of September.
That release window is interesting – Asus apparently didn’t want to rush the release of their first Android Wear offering, while LG has admitted that it didn’t include a heart rate monitor because it ran out of time for a Google I/O launch.
Little else is known about Asus’ product, but hopefully they’ll follow on from their Nexus 7 tablets with another great product. The company has shown that it can produce quality hardware at a low price with the Nexus tablets, and to a lesser extent and their own Memo tablets. Hopefully they won’t scrimp on hardware and features in aiming for this price.
With Android Wear one of the hottest new products in the tech market at the moment you can bet we’ll see offerings from all the big manufacturers before too long. They won’t want to wait too long otherwise they may get left behind.
The current price of Android Wear products can be prohibitive for many users to jump on board a new range of products. A smartwatch at this lower price would be a lot more attractive to the general public. If Asus can deliver a quality product at the rumoured price, they stand a good chance of getting their device onto the wrists of Joe Public.
Are you interested in a cheap Asus smartwatch, or do you think they’ll cut too many corners to reach the lower price? Have your say in the comments.
You had me at Asus. The lower price is just icing. My Transformer is years old, and still has better specs than the latest ipad. I’m happy to wait and see what they have to offer.
As long as it’s not overly handicapped compared to the others. A fairly sizable battery with a good power friendly screen that allows it to last several days and I might be seduced. Heart rate monitor not needed! :p
I agree.. not sure I need the super specs in a watch but battery life is a must. I love how my pebble lasts for about a week.. but it needs to be stylish imo.
I hope it’s round!
I’m not so sure on this now- I didn’t realise that the round Moto 360 has dead space at the bottom- a bezel i suppose you could call it. It think this really subtracts from the look of the watch… we’ll have to wait and see one IRL.