Sorry, Apple, the Moto 360 is still the prettiest-looking smartwatch we’ve seen. Just when we were willing to concede that the Apple Watch deserved second spot, though, this gorgeous ASUS ZenWatch showed up to make it an even tougher call. Yeah, this thing looks sweet.
Running Android Wear, it can do all the things other smartwatches using Google’s wearable platform can do, all while looking way less geeky than the limited choices currently in the market. Seriously, it looks like a real watch, with smaller dimensions and even less bulk than the ones we’ve seen so far.
The ASUS ZenWatch is powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU, paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. Display is a 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen with 320 x 320 resolution that’s covered by a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass layer. Features include the usual 9-axis sensor, a vitals-tracking bio sensor, Bluetooth LE connectivity, built-in mic, IP55 water resistance, and a watch case that measures 50.6 x 39.8 x 7.9 mm.
No word on the construction of the watch case, but ASUS claims it’s exquisitely crafted using only premium materials. It comes with silver/gold color layering and a brown stitched leather wristband with a quick-release clasp, both of which really help raise the traditional watch appearance. If there’s anything that destroys the illusion, though, it has to be the wide bezels, which just don’t seem fitting on a real timepiece (but probably necessary for a device like this).
To up the “fashion” ante, the ASUS ZenWatch will only be produced in a limited edition of 300 units. Price is $260.