ZenWatch 2
Let's get to the headliner: the big news with the ZenWatch 2 is that it now comes in two sizes - 37mm and 41mm (width). The smaller 37mm sports an 18mm strap, with the 41mm having a larger 22mm band. Both have AMOLED dipslays with Gorilla Glass 3, IP67 dust and water resistance, magnetic charging cables, and use unspecified Qualcomm processors (likely still a Snapdragon 400). The ZenWatch 2 has a crown now, too, which ASUS says adds functionality, but isn't exactly specifying how just yet. It's also not clear if the smaller ZenWatch 2 has a smaller screen, or if the case is simply shrunk down a bit.
There will be a variety of first-party straps to choose from, with rubber ones in blue, orange, red, and taupe, leather in khaki, brown, gray, blue, and orange, and a stainless steel band in silver, gunmetal, and rose gold. There will also be a Swarovski Professional leather strap with embossed diamond pattern and, you guessed it, Swarovski crystals. I'm guessing availability of all these bands with vary a lot depending on where you live. The watches themselves will be offered in three finishes matching the stainless steel bands (silver, gray, rose gold).
The new magnetic charger allegedly offers drastically improved charge times and "effortlessly attaches" to the ZenWatch 2, not that we have any illustrations just yet. The remote camera app has been updated, too, and there's a new "next-gen" Wellness app to track your activity. Availability and pricing were not announced.
ZenFone Selfie
The next product on the block was ZenFone Selfie which, you guessed it, is basically a ZenFone 2 with a big fat front-facing camera for maximumselfitude. Aside from the camera, the major difference here seems to be the chipset, with ASUS having moved to the increasingly popular Snapdragon 615 octa-core chip on this device, as opposed to the Intel Atom in the ZenFone 2. The front-facing camera has an f/2.2 aperture and 88-degree field of view with 13MP of resolution.
The same 5.5" 1080p IPS display is on board, and the phone will come in seven colors (which, again: availability will vary by market). Release date and pricing were, again, unannounced.
ZenPads
ZenPad S 8.0 rounded out ASUS' Android announcements at the event, and it actually seems pretty decent (even if the looks are... interesting). A quad-core 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 (also found in the ZenFone 2) with 4GB of RAM, a 2K IPS display, and a rather impressive 6.6mm thinness. Other details include 16 and 32GB storage models, 5MP front and 8MP rear cameras, GPS, USB Type C connector (!), 15.2Wh battery, and a weight of 299g. Apart from a mention of a "Z Stylus," an accessory that will do stylus things, there was also a battery-boosting ZenCase and a predictably large color selection. A "normal" ZenPad 8.0 and ZenPad 7.0 were also announced, but technical details were scant. If you want to do some digging, the model numbers are: Z370C/CG/CL (7"), Z380C/KL (8" non-S), and Z580C/CA (8" S). Android 5.0 with ZenUI will be on all three. Oh, and there's also a 10.1" version that we have basically no details on other than it will have a detachable keyboard, presumably Transformer Book-style.
Models with and without LTE/mobile data connectivity are expected, and for the third time, still nothing on pricing or availability. The images above depict the standard ZenPad 8.0 (Z380C) on the left, and the ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580C) on the right.
Quite a set of announcements from ASUS this evening, or rather, this afternoon at Computex.
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