When it comes to Android Wear, for the most part the selection of different watches all hold just about the same features thanks to the software. Most of the watches only hold differences in their looks as some come with silicone bands and plastic casings for the watch face, while others come with genuine leather straps and a metallic case for a more polished and professional look. The ASUS ZenWatch is one such example with its squared metallic case and brown genuine leather band, making it one of the better looking Android Wear devices out there with a square face. It isn’t all about the looks of the watch though, more importantly it’s about the functionality of the device through the software like with the new changes coming in Android Wear 5.1.1.
For owners of the ASUS ZenWatch, updates to Android Wear 5.1.1 started appearing yesterday evening, and those updates are likely still continuing to roll out to users, but the good news is that you can download the update and install it manually if you wish, that is, if you aren’t one to wait for it to come in on its own time. The update is more than likely rolling out to users in stages, but when it does show up on your wrist you can expect a number of new features to come along with it. Sadly, the WiFi support so you could use your watch while connected to WiFi without your smartphone on you is not one of them.
Having said that, every other feature that is part of Android Wear 5.1.1 will be part of the update for the ZenWatch, so that of course means the wrist gestures to scroll and cycle through the notification cards, the capability for emoji support through drawing on screen, the always-on apps etc. In addition to these new functions coming to the watch, the quick settings menu within Android Wear is getting a slight facelift in 5.1.1. For those who may not be familiar with the quick settings on Android Wear, quick settings is the area that appears when you pull down from the top of the watch display revealing the different notification modes. You can grab the OTA download here if you want to update things manually.