Review of the new Asus smart health connected watch smart health innovation

Unveiled at IFA in September, the Asus ZenWatch 3 has raised a lot of expectations with its change of look and many new features. The time has come to deliver our verdict.

Mark : Asus

Category: smart health connected watch

Connection: Bluetooth and WiFi

Compatibility: iOS and Android

Price: € 249.99

Tested with: Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime

Buy Asus ZenWatch 3:

(embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfUYVfMFS1Y (/ embed)

Unboxing of the Asus ZenWatch 3

The watch is sold in a very elegant reinforced cardboard box in navy blue color. The lid lifts smoothly and does not fall back thanks to a small ribbon attaching it to the base of the box. This gives a sophisticated look to the packaging, which goes hand in hand with that of the Asus ZenWatch 3.

Once the cover is open, you can see the watch directly. We will return to its design in the corresponding section. It is placed at the top of what turns out to be a smaller standard cardboard box containing accessories.

First, a small cardboard pocket containing the manual and the warranty for the smart health connected watch. Then, it also contains the adapter that will allow you to plug the charger into a grounded outlet.

This box can be removed from the main box to reveal two last accessories: the charger for the smart health connected watch and a small support that allows you to expose the Asus ZenWatch 3, when you load it for example.

This packaging, coupled with the look of the watch, gives a high-end appearance to the whole. Although the price of the Asus ZenWatch 3 is not that high, it is far from being ridiculous compared to the competition in terms of design.

Design and ergonomics of the Asus ZenWatch 3

The Asus ZenWatch 3 is on the trend for smart health connected watches that bring their design closer to classic watches. It is halfway between a smart health connected watch geared towards use like the Apple Watch and a watch more focused on the look like the Hagen smart health connected or a model Frédérique Constant, which squarely abandons the touch screen for a classic dial.

Asus has therefore taken the step of the round dial with the Asus ZenWatch 3, leaving behind the square dial characteristic of smart health connected watches. Indeed, many people criticize these watches for their “plastic” and unattractive design. It therefore sports a classic and stylized look.

Inspired by classic watches, you could be mistaken with its round dial, its characteristic buttons and its leather strap. Depending on the screen you choose to display the time, the effect will be more or less effective. However, the slightest glance a little extended will easily notice that it is a touch screen.

The different time display screens are, moreover, very diverse and very interesting in their design.. They range from the most classic needles to the strangest psychedelic designs. You can also choose a digital display for easier reading of the time. In both cases, many options are available to suit all tastes.

Application of the Asus ZenWatch 3

Not much to say about it. The Android Wear app will only be used to pair your Asus ZenWatch 3 with your smartphone. The goal is to make the watch as independent as possible.

During the first start-up, you will only have to choose the watch model that you want to add to the application and the rest will follow on its own. Pairing the two devices is quick and automatic, and the updates install themselves.

Once the updates are installed, the watch will launch a tutorial to teach the user the different features available. Once all these steps have been completed, the application will no longer be of much use to you, but will still be necessary for the Asus ZenWatch 3 to function properly.

Using the Asus ZenWatch 3

The smart health connected watch offers many features that are not necessarily revolutionary, but useful and functional. Among the great classics, you will have access to a stopwatch, a timer, a weather service, a schedule, and an alarm. All of these apps work well and nothing surprising.

Among the most interesting applications is Google Maps. The Asus ZenWatch 3 is not geotagged, but it uses the GPS of your smartphone. This allows you to use Google's service directly from your watch without having to take out your phone.

The screen is small to use this type of service, but it works fine. It can be useful to find yourself over a short distance: to know where to go when leaving a metro station, for example.

The watch also offers a fitness app provided by Asus: Asus Zenfit. It only offers a few features such as step calculation, distance traveled or calories burned. Nothing too surprising on this side, the Asus smart health connected watch will not exceed the competition with its sporting side.

Big novelty of the Asus ZenWatch 3: it is possible to take calls directly from the watch. It is, in fact, equipped with a microphone and a loudspeaker which allows you to make or receive calls. Thanks to the Bluetooth connection with your smartphone, the watch collects your contacts.

This is necessary because you cannot type a number on the watch. It’s good to control your phone in a disguised fashion However, this does not make this feature less attractive. Indeed, the sound is not exceptional, but widely acceptable for the purposes of a telephone call.

On the side of what works less well, we encountered two problems during the Review of the watch. First, the voice command in the reminders application did not work. This is supposed to allow you to record little messages that you can listen to again to avoid forgetting certain things. It is, of course, not possible to write reminders with the watch to compensate for this problem.

Otherwise, there is an application to ring your cellphone to find it in case of loss. But just like the voice command in the reminders app, it doesn't work for no reason. Pity…

In another style, we can find a rather useless app called Fit. It is only used for step counting, which seems quite limited when the Asus Zenfit app does more, and is also supplied with the watch.

The Asus ZenWatch 3 facing the competition

The period is complicated for the Asus ZenWatch 3. With the release of the Samsung Gear S3, it will inevitably suffer from the comparison, and it is a heavyweight. Indeed, we were able to get our hands on the new model from the flagship range of Samsung during the launch party dedicated to it on November 28, before testing it in our premises.

In addition to the ability to take calls directly from the watch, it offers geolocation integrated directly into the device, a cardiac sensor, and better ergonomics with its rotary dial.

The Samsung Gear S3 costs 100 € more than the Asus Zenwatch 3, which represents a significant difference. If you have a limited budget, the ZenWatch can be a very good choice with its very elegant design and these basic applications that work very well.However, if you want a watch with the latest innovations, you won't get your money's worth.

In the same idea of ​​functional and stylish watch, but which does not contain the latest technological innovations, you can turn to Withings Steel HR. It doesn't have a touch screen, so you won't be able to view your messages and apps on it. However, a mini-screen allows you to display the notifications received as well as information such as the number of steps taken or the distance traveled. All for the price of € 189.99.

Conclusion