Taiwanese tech company Asus has announced that its flagship smartwatch--the Asus Zenwatch 3--is now available for pre-order in the United States. Asus unveiled the Zenwatch 3 at the IFA conference in August and announced the official price of the device last month. Now, the smartwatch is available for preorder via B&H.
The Asus Zenwatch 3 costs $229.99. Asus said that customers who pre-ordered the smartwatch would receive the device by mid-November. Asus is yet to confirm when the company plans to release the Zenwatch 3 to the general public.
Unlike the Apple Watch, the Asus Zenwatch 3 sports a rounded face which makes it look like a traditional watch rather than a sophisticated piece of hardware. Although the Zenwatch 3 received mostly positive reviews, one of the most common criticisms about the smartwatch is its lack of a heart rate sensor, a feature that is present in almost all new smart wearable product.
The Asus Zenwatch 3 sports a 1.39-inch AMOLED round display with a resolution of 400x400, according to GSM Arena. The touchscreen display of the device is protected by a Gorilla Glass 3 panel. At the heart of this high-tech timepiece is a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset. It has 512MB of memory and 4GB of storage space.
The Zenwatch 3 has a 6-axis sensor, and ambient light sensor as well. In terms of connectivity, it supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The smartwatch has an IP67 certification which means it is dust resistant, and also water resistant up to a certain depth.
Powering the smartwatch is a 324mAh battery pack with quick charging capabilities. Asus claims that the battery can charge from zero to 60 percent in as little as 15 minutes.
The Asus Zenwatch 3 runs on the latest version of Android Wear operating system. According to Asus' official website, the smartwatch is available in three color options: gunmetal, rose gold, and silver.