This week at Computex, Asus showed off their new ZenWatch 2 smartwatch. The original ZenWatch was released last fall and was easily one of the best looking smartwatches that had been released at the point. It featured a beautiful, slightly curved, square screen and impressive detailing along the sides. The Android Wear device’s biggest issue, stylistically, was its large size and the giant ugly bezel surrounding the screen. Our hope at the time was the when version 2 hit, Asus would trim down the size and the bezel.
Well, we got one of our wishes; the ZenWatch 2 now comes in two sizes, 45mm and 49mm, both of which are smaller than the original’s 51mm size. Considering that a lot of people felt the 38mm Apple Watch was too large, these sizes will not work for everyone. Also, we are left wondering who the person is that feels like a 45mm watch is just not large enough for them. The bezel, on the other hand seems, to only have gotten bigger. And, man is it ugly. In fact, the whole watch seems to have got uglier. Gone are the beautiful recessed metal side, replaced by a disproportioned “digital-crown” knock off that makes the whole watch look cheap. With the ZenWatch 2, Asus seems to have only emphasized the things we disliked about the original. That combined with the knock off product video of watch bands connecting while floating in a white space and rumored near-identical tech-specs, we are left with a bad taste in our mouths. Head past the break to see the video: (UPDATE: someone must of agreed that the product launch video seemed a little too copycat; it has been removed from YouTube. Thankfully someone has reposted it. Video is now working again after the break)
