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ASUS ZenWatch 3 Receiving its Android Wear 2.0 Update

The ASUS ZenWatch 3 is now receiving its much anticipated update to Android Wear 2.0, only five months after it was announced. It was recently reported that the ZenWatch 3 would be getting its update in July, and that appears to be correct now. As many owners of the ZenWatch 3 are reporting that the update is now hitting their devices.

ASUS hasn’t done much to change the operating system in Android Wear 2.0, but then again Google does limit what manufacturers are able to change. The update is a huge one, so users are going to need to get used to the huge differences compared to Android Wear 1.6. This includes an entirely new app drawer, which now scrolls vertically. Google has not only changed the UI with this update to Android Wear 2.0, but it has also added a bunch of functionality. This includes the Google Assistant. Using the Google Assistant, you’ll be able to do most things that you can do on your smartphone, but there are some limits here. It’s great for being able to turn off your smart lights when you’re not home – although most of those have their own apps now for Android Wear, so that’s not a big deal really.

On top of the Google Assistant, Android Pay is also part of Android Wear 2.0. As long as you have a NFC-equipped Android Wear smartwatch, you’ll be able to tap-to-pay your wrist when you checkout. Unfortunately, the ZenWatch 3 does not have NFC included, which means users won’t be able to actually use it on the ZenWatch 3. There’s only a few smartwatches that have NFC, so the ZenWatch 3 isn’t the only one not included. The update is rolling out now to the ZenWatch 3, so you can check for updates now, but be sure that your smartphone is connected to WiFi. Since this is going to be a pretty big update for the ZenWatch 3, you’ll want to make sure you are connected to WiFi so you don’t use up all of your data limit. It’ll also be faster in most cases. There’s no word just yet on how large the update is, but it’s likely fairly large.