Asus to release the Android-powered ZenWatch tomorrow

The field of Android Wear smartwatches is about to grow bigger: Asus will release its ZenWatch on November 9th. Priced at $199, the ZenWatch is one of the more refined products we’ve seen powered by Google’s wrist-worn OS. It’ll be sold at Best Buy to start, with Google Play availability following later. With the ZenWatch, you’re looking at a 1.6-inch, curved Super AMOLED screen with a sleek stainless steel frame that extends across the watch’s rear casing.

The Android Wear smartwatch collection is expanding, with a host of new devices hitting pre-holiday season after their initial debut this summer. The Asus ZenWatch will be the next to go on sale, with a street date of November 9 for Best Buy initially, with a later launch date on Google Play in the U.S., at a price of $199. We first got wind of the Asus Android Wear device at Google’s I/O in June, via an exclusive report right here on TechCrunch, but customers will start getting their actual hands on hardware soon. The Asus project is interesting for a couple of reasons: First, it manages to offer a unique design compared to other rectangular Android Wear watches, and one that might closest resemble the Apple Watch coming next year from everyone’s favorite fruit company, at least on a surface level. Second, it’s the first Android Wear watch to include UI features and more customized software. Google has said that it kept the initial release of Android Wear devices pretty basic and essentially all locked on providing the same experience, but also that manufacturers wouldn’t always be so handcuffed, so it’ll be interesting to see what Asus does with the first taste of a bit more freedom.