Upcoming Asus smartwatch with long battery life won’t run Android Wear

The smartwatch with long battery life that Asus is working on does not run on Android Wear and may contain a soc that MediaTek is still developing, the CEO of Asus announced. The smartwatch comes next to a new model in the Zenwatch series, which does run Android Wear.

According to Asus CEO Jerry Shen, battery life is a concern with Android Wear. “We will continue to work with Google on Android Wear, but there will be another smartwatch that is not based on Android Wear and that offers longer battery life,” he said after an investor meeting according to Focus Taiwan. According to the CEO, the non-Android smartwatch may receive a soc from MediaTek, which is still under development.

The statements follow previous announcements from the CEO that a simpler processor and operating system are used for an Asus smartwatch, which lasts seven days on a single battery charge. With the current Zenwatch with Android Wear, that is two days. A successor to that Zenwatch will come in the third quarter, Shen previously released, and that model with Android Wear will, among other things, have the option to make independent calls.

The first generation Asus Zenwatch