Asus announced two models of the ZenWatch 2 ahead of this year’s Computex conference in Taipei, at that time there were a few details missing from the announcement.
Sifting through the FCC filings, and other documents, we have filled in a few of the blanks, across the board both models/ sizes will have:
- Snapdragon 400 APQ8026 processor at 1.2 GHz
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 MHz
- Bluetooth
- Android 5.1.1
- Gorilla Glass 3
- IP67 water-resistance rating
- “Metal” crown – read button
- Stainless steel construction
- Bands
- Rubber – Blue, Orange, Red, and Taupe
- Leather – Khaki, Brown, Gray, Blue, and Orange
- Metal – stainless-steel link bracelet in Silver, Gunmetal or Rose Gold
- Magnetic charger
The two variants differ mainly on size and battery capacity, although we did not some peculiar listings for their Bluetooth radios.
- 1.63″ screen (same as original ZenWatch)
- Overall dimensions 49 x 41mm
- 18mm band
- 389 mAh battery
- Bluetooth ?? *
* The FCC filing specifically listed Bluetooth 3.0, it seems unlikely that the larger device would not utilise the power benefits of BT4.0 LE, especially considering both models have the same Bluetooth module listed in their parts list. Additionally the Bluetooth SIG has the WI501Q listed as a 4.1 device.
- 1.45″ screen
- Overall dimensions 45 x 37mm
- 22mm band
- 285 mAh battery
- Bluetooth 4.0 LE
The original ZenWatch used an AMOLED screen with a resolution of 320 x 320, 512 MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. From the documents currently available we can not confirm if these specs will remain unchanged in the ZenWatch 2. There is not a lot of new information – processor, screen size and battery capacity – to be found in the filings. However, the fact that they have recently made their way through the FCC and other bodies would suggest the devices may be launching soon.
It is of note that Asus is the first of two Android Wear manufacturers who appear to be releasing 2 size options in their second gen offerings. The original Android Wear devices received a fair amount of criticism for not having options to cater for those who prefer smaller watches, and with other platforms now offering size options this seems to be the way the SmartWatch category is heading.
What are you looking for in an Android Wear device? Let us know in the comments.
I would like to see GPS in these watches. Is that practical, or would it just chew too much battery?
I’m a happy owner of a ZenWatch and don’t see any need to upgrade in the near future. A little disappointed to see the ZenWatch small with a smaller battery than the current watch and only a marginally larger battery in the large version. It’s also a shame they don’t seem to have reduced the size of the bezels at all. I presume the ‘metal crown’ is just a button (for waking up/re-setting) rather than also being a dial a la Apple Watch. Unless you have stuffed up, it’s strange to see that the overall dimensions of the ZenWatch small… Read more »
yes, the “crown” is reported to be a button like the one on the Moto 360.
Thanks for the heads up, the dimensions were placed against the wrong devices.