The ASUS ZenWatch 2 and ZenWatch 3 are some of the few Android Wear smartwatches that have yet to receive the Android Wear 2.0 update, and it appears that these two might be waiting a bit longer. According to the ASUS Germany Twitter account, the ZenWatch 2 update is slated to be available in July or August (depending on the model) and the ZenWatch 3 update has already been pushed to Google for approval, so that update should be available in the next few days as long as everything goes well.
The ZenWatch 2 was released in 2015 and the ZenWatch 3 in 2016. They are some of the more popular Android Wear smartwatches on the market, largely because of how cheap they are. They are some of the cheaper smartwatches around, but they still look pretty stunning. With the ZenWatch 3, ASUS opted to ditch the square display and move to a round display. It also opted to get the watch ready for Android Wear 2.0 by adding three buttons to the side of the watch, instead of just one. These are both under $300, and in fact the ZenWatch 2 can be found for closer to $100 right now, which makes them both some pretty great buys for anyone looking for a cheap smartwatch with Android Wear.
Android Wear 2.0 was slated to be available last fall, but that timing slipped a bit and Google released it in the Spring. Most smartwatches are slated to get the update to Android Wear 2.0, except for the very first round of smartwatches – like the Moto 360, Gear Live and the LG G Watch. It’s a pretty big update for the platform, which is likely why a number of companies have been struggling to push out the update. There are very few smartwatches that have gotten the update so far, and those from actual watchmakers have not gotten them either (they likely have a smaller team for working on the update). The update does bring in Android Pay support, as well as Google Assistant and much more. It’s perhaps the biggest update to ever land on your wrist, at least when it comes to Android Wear, and it’s going to be interesting to see how much longer these updates take.
Buy the ASUS ZenWatch 3