Asus ZenWatch 2 review

Asus ZenWatch Manager

In addition to the day, time and date, you can use Asus’ ZenWatch Manager app to add up to three extra pieces of information to each watch face, such as the weather, your phone or watch’s remaining battery life figure, activity stats, or a second time zone to name just a few. You can also use the app to manage all your different watch faces, download other recommended Asus apps to use with your ZenWatch 2, and configure additional settings such as its Smart Unlock feature and SOS text message service.

With Smart Unlock, your phone will always remain unlocked when it’s in close proximity to your watch, and the SOS message feature lets you send emergency text to select contacts if you’re in danger or need assistance. Another handy feature is the Forgot Phone Warning, which makes your watch vibrate when you step out of range of your smartphone, making sure you never accidentally leave home without it.

Asus’ suite of compatible apps can be a bit hit and miss, however. The Flashlight app, for instance, which makes your watch face flash different colours, was next to useless, as the light simply wasn’t bright enough to be useful in the dark. The Asus Wellness app, however, is well worth downloading, as this health and fitness tracker breaks down your step and sleep count into useful stats such as calories burned, how long you’ve been active for during the day and the quality of your sleep patterns. It can also remind you to stand up if you’ve been inactive for a long time. However, you need to remember to activate its sleep tracking mode on the watch, as it won’t do it automatically.

Conclusion

At just £150, the Asus ZenWatch 2 does a lot of things right. It’s a good-looking smartwatch with a decent battery life that’s much cheaper than the competition, but it’s worth noting that there are also plenty of fitness trackers that do a lot more for less, such as the Garmin Vivosmart HR and the Fitbit Charge HR. They’re obviously not very watch-like in terms of their shape or design, but both of these have displays for telling the time, come with built-in heart rate sensors and can last around seven days on a single charge, making them better value overall. The ZenWatch 2 is still a good choice for those after something a little smarter than a fitness band and don’t want to fork out for the Moto 360, but if design isn’t that important to you, then the Garmin Vivosmart HR remains our top wearable of choice.