After initially missing its planned rollout of the Android Wear 2.0 to the ZenWatch 3 and ZenWatch 2, ASUS has now confirmed that the ZenWatch 3 is finally set to receive Google’s latest update on July 11. Additionally, the Taiwanese electronics giant also promised to roll out the Android Wear 2.0 update to the ZenWatch 2 in two phases: one in July and another by the end of July or early in August. ASUS’s North American branch said in February this year that its smartwatches were slated to receive the update by the second quarter of 2017, but it did not happen. Then last month, ASUS Germany announced via its Twitter account that the ZenWatch 2 would get the update in July or August, though it did not provide any specific date. The company also said in the announcement that it has already submitted the ZenWatch 3 update to Google for approval, though it was not immediately clear then when the update would become available for users.
Released in December 2016, the ZenWatch 3 is among the popular wearable products of ASUS. The device includes some nifty features like the 1.39-inch AMOLED screen with a 400 x 400 resolution, Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, and 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM. Its connectivity features include Bluetooth v4.1 and WiFi 802.11 b,g or n. The smartwatch also ships with a 341mAh Li-Ion battery, a speaker and a microphone, a Stainless Steel 316L, and an accelerometer and gyro for gesture control and step detection. However, the device does not have a GPS, radio or biometric sensors inside. It also lacks NFC support, a wireless data transfer method that is increasingly growing in popularity among mobile devices nowadays.
It is worth noting that the device was released roughly two months after Google unveiled Android Wear 2.0. But the timetable for the update has since been disappointing for smartwatch users as it left out some of the popular brands in the cold. For example, Sony SmartWatch 3, the original Moto 360 and LG G Watch, and Samsung Gear Live won’t receive the update. Now with only a week until the ZenWatch 3 receives Android Wear 2.0, it’s interesting to see whether ASUS can keep its promise this time.