The wearable market is still in its infancy. Android Wear watches began hitting store shelves just last year, with the original Asus ZenWatch one of the affordable numbers that added a touch of elegance to the party.

Mostly stainless steel body; plenty of case and strap choices; fast charging; two size options; great value

Plastic back plate; no heart-rate monitoring or GPS; same display as predecessor; thick bezel; stiff leather strap

Back at IFA 2015 in Berlin, Asus announced its latest smartwatch, the ZenWatch 2. It offers more customisation and a spec boost from the first generation ZenWatch, but can it compete with the likes of the Apple Watch and Samsung Gear S2, or does it crash and burn?

Update : The Asus ZenWatch 2 has punched its way into our list of best Android Wear watches . It offers an attractive combination of looks, specs and value to make it an easy choice for those looking to get in on the low end.

In 2016, Android Wear is one of the most versatile smartwatch platforms around, with some going so far as to call it ‘the power of Google on your wrist'. With an ever-growing arsenal of apps, this is the operating system as far as smartwatches go.

The Asus ZenWatch 2 is a great smartwatch, and is definitely a worthy upgrade from its predecessor. Under the hood, the spec boost definitely makes the difference when interacting with the watch, providing a snappy experience and should compete with watches £100-200 more expensive. Visually, its a huge improvement over its predecessor, with more ‘flavours’ of the smartwatch available with a number of specifically designed accessories. The Asus-branded software brings something different to the smartwatch, especially the FaceDesigner app that lets you create your own custom watch face from scratch.

The ASUS ZenWatch was one of the best looking Android Wear smartwatches to be released last year, bringing elegance and class to this category, while also being priced very competitively.

power button more conveniently located on side great battery life fast magnetic charger different sizes amazing low price

large bezels still present

Was very apprehensive buying this since I have an Apple iPhone 6s - but except for not being able to take calls on the watch (which I do not want anyway) - I get notified of calls but have to accept and then use the phone....its really no big deal.

It was very easy to set up and sync to my Samsung S7 Edge, Asus zenwacth manager could be better but it does the job; it has a speaker phone for the price of 139; the gear s2 cost over 300 to get a speaker phone and you need a phone contract.

none

Good reliability for the affordable price on the market. Nice view, easy to set up and connect.

battery charge stays long; easy to set up and connect; very reliable; good looking nice shape and finish

can't answer messages right away when received; wrist gesture feature needs to be refined; needs more compatibility for remote phone control

I love this thing! I work in a place that doesn't allow phones, but we can have MP3 players. Well, I also have a google play sub that I wanted to use. Well that was an issue, as I could not find a plain MP3 that would allow the use of my google play.