Whenever a new piece of tech hits the market we often find we’ve got a few questions about the device. Typically we make our way down to one of our favourite electronic retailers and look it over. When the ZenWatch 3 was announced as coming to Australia I immediately wanted to know how the watch band worked, for instance.
However, at this stage, Asus has only announced Australian distribution via their online site, this makes getting up close and personal with the device almost impossible, unless you’re lucky enough to know someone who has the device. While we can’t let you hold our review unit, unless you want to track me down in Brisbane, we can at least answer all of your questions.
As such, we’re holding an AMA starting today Monday 28 November. If you want to know about an element or function of the device we’ll be happy to answer, grab some images or generally test out what we can. So jump on down below and Ask Me Anything, about the ZenWatch 3.
We will keep checking back to the questions until they seem to ‘dry up’. We’ve also only got the device for a limited time so if you have a question I’d get in quick.
Any news on when it would be available in the UK, i really want one and its annoying hearing nothing from Asus.
Hi Tom, I’ll Ask Asus Australia but if Asus works like other multi nationals regional teams won’t know what is happening in other areas, and to be honest if they did they wouldn’t tell me!But I’ll ask.
Does anyone know if you can assign the extra buttons to perform any other action(s) or function(s)?
Hi Sammy, yes you can. There is a button settings app than let’s you set any app as the function for that button. Unfortunately, system functions like theatre mode or Max brightness aren’t options
Asus Australia had no information on the UK launch as expected. Sorry Mate.
Thats unfortunate, you’d have thought they’d release it by Christmas in the UK. Any news on wether it has an NFC chip?
No NFC according to Asus Australia
Damn…hmmm
How’s the speaker quality when it comes to making calls? Usually they’re too quiet and low in volume just like in Apple Watch.
In a normal environment it’s fine, Chis and I just had a conversation in the car and then walking into the office. Call quality was fine in both ends.
Hi Duncan, does the zw3 have a speaker for calls/music?
Yes it does.
Calls yes, I can’t select it as a music destination
Hi Duncan, any word from Asus when they will actually start shipping the zenwatch out to people? I preordered from the Asus Australia website when they originally had a release date of the 25th Nov however last week they sent an email pushing the date back to the 4th Dec. What are the chances the release date will be pushed back even further?
Hey Mark,
Reading between the lines/ tea leaves I’d say the 7th of December, let me ask for an official answer.
D
still waiting for an answer mate
Pre-order ZenWatch 3’s will ship from December 2nd, the should be arriving early next week.
I believe Asus made some claims about the accuracy of exercise monitoring, even though there’s no GPS. Do you have any comment on that having used it? Is it able to accurately measure how far you ran or cycled, for example?
I’ll try and test this, it hasn’t come up as yet.
How is the raise to wake?
I didn’t think it was very good on the ZW2 (it pretty much had to be held up vertical to your face for it to come on)
Im very tempted to get one (but ill look at somewhere like amazon where I know I can return it)
I find it great, furthermore with the always on display I often don’t even need it to turn on
How does the Snapdragon Wear 2100 perform on the Zenwatch 3? This is one of the first smartwatches to feature this processor, and I was wondering how it does in everyday tasks (i.e. replying to notifications, opening apps, etc.).
Unfortunately my Moto 360 (1st Gen) has a worn out band, and every action I take on the watch feels very sluggish with the slow processor. I am looking to upgrade soon.
Hi Henry,
compared to my OG Moto 360 this feels like a Porsche, and the battery life with screen on is fantastic. The device is far more responsive, but it is still a wearable processor, you can get it to stutter if you do actions quickly. That said, I’m happy with it
Thank you for the prompt reply Duncan, and have a nice day.
I agree. Went from the OG 360 to ZW3 myself.
Does it have inbuilt speaker for taking calls on the watch via Bluetooth tethered to the phone?
If so what’s the speaker quality like?
Hey Yianni,
It does have a speaker but thus far it has only been for notifications and alarms. It doesn’t pair as a phone device (but does as a media device for some reason).
For notifications and alarms etc the speaker is more than loud enough. Unfortunately, I cant find a way to load custom tones, that would be awesome.
Perhaps Android Wear 2.0 will bring phone call support? Amusing it get it (which we think it will).
Yes, we can take and make calls in the watch when it is connected to phone’s bluetooth..also we can play media in it..the sound is loud enough..using from it from last 3 weeks..I love it
Yep. I’ve made & taken calls on mine several times. The caller say I sound pretty good and I have no problem hearing people.
Hey Yianni
I fiddled with it and turned off phonecalls. All working now. Call quality isn’t bad
Does the Zenwatch 3 have Nfc?
We have asked Asus for comment on if NFC is included in the hardware. We’ve also asked fro comment on the upgrade path to Android Wear 2.0. I’ll update when we find out.
NO. According to Asus Australia the ZenWatch 3 does not have NFC hardware inside the unit. As such it will not support any potential NFC use cases, eg the rumored NFC Android Wear Payments.
bummer, not the end of the world but still going to get it.
Tell me about band replacement? Can I get a standard aftermarket band for it? If not do you know if Asus will be selling any?
The watch band is 100% proprietary, the end of the band has a plactic locating piece and a custom quick release pin.
Asus have announced a 1st party rubber strap but that is currently not planned for release in Australia.
There is no announcements thus far about other aftermarket bands or partners to make them, if the ZenWatch had an Achilles heel this would be it.
Here are some shots of the band attachment.
So let me get this right, Asus are selling a watch in Australia but they are not selling replacement bands? Isn’t that like selling a car in Australia but not making spare parts available. What happens if your band breaks or you want to change it? They certainly don’t make it easy…
Well said.
My original 360 battery died on me and I was thinking about replacing it. Proprietary watch band is a no go for me, better to not bother and wait to see what Google has on offer next year.
At this stage it seems this is the way of it. Yes no after market charger have poped up anywhere, not yet here, I’m reminded of the story of the puppy and the chromebox cord!
Hehe, yeah but the Chromebox was purchased from Amazon USA, not here in Australia???
my point was cables get damaged, we need replacement parts easily available.
How bright is the display outside? I can hardly see the display of my LG Urbane outside even on an overcast day on full brightness
I’ve not had an issue thus far, when in full direct sunlight ther eis also the brightness boost mode in the swipe down menu.
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