/r/zenwatch

Photograph via snooOG

A subreddit for Asus Zenwatch owners

Useful Links

HOW TO: Replace Asus ZenWatch with 22mm Band

Asus ZenWatch Replacement Bands and Straps

Smartwatch Forum

Other AndroidWear Related Subreddits:

/r/AndroidWear

/r/moto360 - Motorola 360

/r/lggwatchr - LG G Watch R (Circular)

/r/lggwatch - LG G Watch (Square)

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/r/zenwatch

1,330 Subscribers

3

Rip the best watch I ever had

1 Comment
2024/08/01
16:32 UTC

1

New faces for old watch?

I have a zenwatch one and I don't like most of the faces that are on there, I followed how to download more faces through the Android Wear app but it takes me to a no results found page on the Google Play Store.

I am assuming that is because this watch is old and most of the software has been outdated or deleted. For example I can't get the Asus Fitness Tracker app either but I do have the Android Wear app.

Is there another way I can download new watch faces for this watch or am I SOL?

3 Comments
2024/03/30
17:41 UTC

1

Charger old zen watch

If someone wants this. I recall it being a charger for a original zenwatch. If I am right and anyone wants it send me a message. I'll hang onto it for a week or so. I do not have the watch anymore.

0 Comments
2024/01/17
04:12 UTC

1

Does Zenwatch have to be hard reset to be paired with a new phone?

I have a ZW2 and got a new S23. I really don't want to hard reset the watch, but will I have to?

I can't download the Zen app from the play store.

3 Comments
2023/10/26
16:40 UTC

2

[HELP] ASUS ZENWATCH WI500Q NOT WORKING

Hello i always had the ASUS zenwatch but i haven't been using it for a year or two in this pandemic. I updated everything after i turned it on but its so slow that i cannot operate. touch delays are very long. so somehow i hard reset it and connected to my wear OS app (updated) and now i am getting "google play store stopped working message" and "android wear is not working do you want to force close it" also "Process System isnt responding" message. i successfully connected few times. even got notifications but after sometime i get the message again and the watch becomes extremely slow

Things i did--

  1. Went to recovery and factory reset after clearing cache
  2. Uninstalled wear OS and installed again.
  3. Cleared Google play Services data and cache and tried again.

Seems like nothing is working. can anyone please help me to solve this.

I really love this watch and wouldn't want to throw it away.

https://preview.redd.it/kdgyhqfz1pcb1.jpg?width=2153&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4da7c3a7a8536c4e16674157c78fa68d262ad89

https://preview.redd.it/6lx6c2gz1pcb1.jpg?width=1721&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1314d9c31ce16b85f0ee66aabd645c76175b2ace

0 Comments
2023/07/18
09:39 UTC

2

Happy Cakeday, r/zenwatch! Today you're 8

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 2 posts:

0 Comments
2022/11/15
18:11 UTC

6

Asus zenwatch not turning on, keeps vibrating when I charge. Anyway to fix this?

5 Comments
2022/08/09
14:44 UTC

1

Happy Cakeday, r/zenwatch! Today you're 7

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 1 posts:

1 Comment
2021/11/15
18:11 UTC

2

App notifications not working on android wear

I have a few apps mainly Pulse SMS (Text messaging) and Robinhood (stock trading) that have notifications that appear on android phone but not android wear. Is there a workaround for making any notifications from android appear on android wear even if not full functionality?

Running an AsusZenWatch2, not sure if age of this being outdated is an issue?

Thank you!

4 Comments
2020/04/14
13:49 UTC

3

Zenwatch 1 (WI500Q) Original Firmware

By chance does anyone have a twrp backup of their system? I installed AsteroidOS and it's WAY slower than stock, but the backup I took has errors and can't restore.

Thank you!

2 Comments
2020/02/16
07:11 UTC

1

Connection issue

Does anyone know if the connection issues are fixed?

If you have fixed please tell me?

Thanks In advance.

0 Comments
2020/02/08
17:12 UTC

2

Are Zw2/3 straps interchangeable?

Question in title. Are they the same so if say we bought a replacement band for Zw2 it also fits in Zw3?

2 Comments
2020/02/08
01:16 UTC

5

Watchface Recommendations?

In the 3 years i've had the ZW2, I've used almost exclusive the "Glance" face from ZW Manager. But now that ZW MGR is no longer available in the Play Store, I've done some research and found a third party to download the app from, but also found reports of the app causing a huge drain on the watch battery-- so I'd like to try using it for a while without ZWM.

The problem is I no longer have access to my favorite watchface, and I can't find anything really suitable. I dont want a simple analogue watch face. I'd like something digital, akin to Glance, which allowed the display of things watch and phone battery, and things like sunrise/sunset, temp. etc.

Has anyone had any experience with the "watchmaker" app? I'm reluctant to pay for it given the number of bad reviews-- but I'd also much rather pay once for a good watch face/face maker than use something that's going to cause popup ads.

Hopefully someone has some recommendations for me?

3 Comments
2020/01/29
03:03 UTC

3

Unable to connect watch to phone

I inadvertently reset my zenwatch2. Now I'm unable to sync the watch to wear os. It gets to the point of getting your watch details and then hangs. I've forgot the bluetooth connection and re paired the devices. I always have to add a new device even though wear os remembers the watch, but won't pair until I tell it to look for a new watch.

I've also removed and reinstalled wear os and cleared its memory.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

3 Comments
2020/01/23
20:47 UTC

1

are replacement bands avaiable anywhere?

i just got my zenwatch back from poland for repairs because it had a faulty battery.

opened the box excited to have my watch back after 10 days aaaaaand....... the band is destroyed.

does anyone know where i can get a replacement band that i can get in europe.

thanks in advance.

5 Comments
2020/01/22
16:26 UTC

7

Zenwatch 2 DIY battery replacement

I recently swapped the battery in my Zenwatch 2 for a new one and wanted to let you know about my experience.

I bought a Zenwatch 2 just a little under two years ago. Despite occasional frustrations (mainly caused by AW/Wear OS) it's been a decent smartwatch. However, during the summer, I noticed a full charge would barely last me a day. I decided to buy a new Wear OS watch (Huawei Watch 2 4G) to replace it. However, I didn't get on with the Huawei at all and after a few months decided to sell it. I then looked into how much it would cost to replace the battery in my trusty old ZW2. After watching a YT video of the ZW2 be opened, I plucked up the courage to have a crack at replacing the battery myself. I bought a brand new original asus ZW2 replacement battery from eBay and Friday last week it arrived. I fitted the new battery in about ten minutes. Since then, I've been blown away by the difference this new battery has made to both the performance or the watch and its run-time between charges. Of the latter, I can now go two days without recharging the watch with moderate use. By moderate use, I mean:

  • Always-on display set to off (I wake the screen to see the time or notification)

  • Wifi off

  • All notifications on

  • Health tracking on

  • Interact with the watch only when I need something from it (time, notification, assistant)

I am by no means a confident hardware DIY'er – quite the opposite in fact – but fitting the new battery was easy. The new battery cost me £15 and it was shipped from China. I bet £15 that would probably be about US$15. The four screws at the rear of the ZW2 require a special security screwdriver, but fortunately, the seller of the battery also included a semi-disposable screwdriver with the battery.

I also get the impression the ZW2 is one of the easier watches to tear down and fix compared to some of the newer watches.

So all you ZW2 owners out there that haven't had enough of their trusty old ZW2 yet, but are finding it wasn't what it once was, I'd highly recommend looking into replacing the battery yourself. It's certainly breathed new life into mine and I'll be happy to do the same again in a few years, providing Wear OS is still with us then ;-)

19 Comments
2019/11/19
00:20 UTC

25

ZenWatch 3 root and upgrade guide

I came at this as nearly a newbie, so here is the step by step guide to how I rooted my ZW3, flashed a custom ROM, and adjusted it to run smoother and faster with all-day battery. I wish I'd done it sooner.

Disclaimer: I'm just an idiot who pieced together how to get this done. If it turns out different for you, I am not responsible. If you have the same success, I am wholly responsible.

You'll need a working adb connection to your computer and the original charging/data cable. I'll assume you know how to start adb and send commands using it.

Start by unlocking the bootloader and installing TWRP: https://forum.xda-developers.com/smartwatch/zenwatch-3/guide-reboot-recovery-fastboot-unlock-t3546743

Then download and install the Swift ROM from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/smartwatch/zenwatch-3/rom-asus-zenwatch-3-swift-t3537340 following the instructions. I went with the ODEXED version. I can't remember why. (Newbie!)

Then download and update the kernel from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/smartwatch/zenwatch-3/kernel-asus-zenwatch-3-wi503q-29-t3742217 Here's an important point. If I knew html, this part would be large and/or red. The kernel must be installed by running an adb shell from the extracted kernel folder on your computer where the boot.img file resides. Send this command:

adb reboot bootloader

Then this one:

fastboot flash boot boot.img

Installing the kernel by pushing it to the watch and running the installer in TWRP doesn't install the proper kernel. You've trusted me this far. Trust me here.

Next, you'll root, but I never had success using the suggested rooting package, android_wear_1.5_2.0_root.zip. It made the watch impossibly slow and unresponsive. Instead, root using SuperSU-2.79-wear, which ends with error 2, but works. Somehow. The link to the right SuperSU is in the fourth post here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/wear-os/development/how-to-install-twrp-recovery-achieve-t3781502

Once rooted, your phone and watch will want to re-pair. This gets weird, so follow these steps. Turn off your phone's bluetooth, connect the watch for adb, and from the adb prompt, send:

adb shell “pm clear com.google.android.gms && reboot”

Then, after it reboots:

adb shell “am start -a android.bluetooth.adapter.action.REQUEST_DISCOVERABLE”

Now turn on the phone bluetooth and run the Wear app to connect as a new device. This will take a while and annoy you.

Then you'll install BusyBox, which I think I did using the linked file for ROOT AND BUSYBOX_1.5_AND_2.0 on the Swift ROM page. (If someone has a direct link to BusyBox that works here, please share it.) Open it on the watch (it's actually the installer), and install BusyBox. I chose the latest version.

Next, install and run Kernel Adiutor for Wear, from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/wear-os/development/app-kernel-audiutor-4-wear-t3126122 It's not a typo, rather, it means "helper" in Latin and is a terrible choice for the name of a piece of software, but I'm not complaining because this app is great. If it's blank for CPU governors, try rebooting. You want to set the governor to Darkness (with default 533 min and 1267 max) with apply on boot. If after rebooting, it still defaults to two cores (instead of four) and "ondemand" instead of Darkness, do this: Read the instructions here: https://androidforums.com/threads/fix-for-cpu-governors-not-sticking.510543/ I used adb to pull the file from the watch and then edit it thusly: I deleted every instance of

echo "ondemand" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

then every instance of

echo "ondemand" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/cpufreq/scaling_governor

then

echo "ondemand" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/cpufreq/scaling_governor

and finally

echo "ondemand" > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Then I pushed the edited file back and rebooted. Now you should be able to run Kernel Adiutor (holding my tongue, great app) and set all four cores to Darkness. (Remember, default 533 min and 1267 max, and apply on boot.) You may find it takes a minute after a reboot for it to activate, but after a while, you'll stop checking it obsessively.

In my experience, I get my best battery life with Tilt to Wake on, Always On Display off, and screen brightness at Auto. I have WiFi turned off, even while charging, and Fit location permission denied. You can now start installing your apps and customizing.

I have found no drawbacks once everything was up and running. There will be an annoying delay when booting once you've unlocked the bootloader while you wait for an Android warning to close. That's about it. The watch is fast and responsive, and battery drain is much lighter than it used to be.

In TWRP, there's an option to fully backup the watch. I recommend doing this and keeping one backup on the watch. In an emergency (e.g. you followed some chump's online how-to and now it's bricked), get into TWRP by holding the middle and bottom buttons until it loads and Restore from there.

Also, you can replace the battery. Teardown here https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Asus+ZenWatch+3+Teardown/76229 But once the screws are out, pry open by inserting tip where the halves meet above the screws. For a new battery, search for C11N1609. I got mine on Amazon. I found this made a difference, even though the original was 320mA and the replacement is 300.

You may now upvote me.

5 Comments
2019/10/25
23:57 UTC

5

I still think the ZW3 is the best looking.

If it only had the missing features and guts of the Gen5 it would be the perfect watch (as in I wish there would have been a ZW4). The design (besides the band attachment) was by far the best. Clean look, generous screen with no bezel, has the buttons, just not the dial. If I did not have the ZW3, I probably would have been really impressed with the Fossil Gen5. But likewise after using the Gen5, I wish the ZW3 was always like this, smooth responsive. If the battery of the ZW3 was not getting flaky, I probably would have stuck with it longer. The OS was working ok (not too sluggish), the battery still lasted a day when I turned off ambient and used only tilt to wake. Its not like I am going to get rid of it, but why cant there be the "perfect watch".

https://preview.redd.it/ksssyo6moju31.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=032678b7b34395c0b02fe63371f2089181189e93

https://preview.redd.it/lkh2ma6moju31.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a64b398c16fdb489802db44ecc58536bd27d37dd

9 Comments
2019/10/24
20:41 UTC

1

Any OEM Zenwatch 2 cables still available?

I had one aftermarket that rusted after a few months. I can't seem to find any OEM.

0 Comments
2019/10/18
00:38 UTC

0

Zw2

My zw has been in storage for a while. I have an î phone seven plus and a Samsung tab a 8 with cell tower internet. What's the most practical way to set things up until I replace the POS, errrr, iOS with an Android?

0 Comments
2019/09/30
21:54 UTC

7

Zenwatch 3 charging problems

My Zenwatch 3 has charged down and when I connect the charging ring, it vibrates and the battery with the lighting bolt appears on the screen with a low batter red indicator. However, after sitting for hours, it doesn't fully charge enough to come on. It will occasionally vibrate and reboot, then go to the battery/lightning bolt screen again. Has anyone ever encountered this before, and if so, what was your solution, if any?

4 Comments
2019/09/30
00:07 UTC

2

Is My ZW3 Fully Updated WearOS wise?

Hey my buddy gave me his old ZW3 as my ZW2 battery just would not hold a charge. I ran one update from 1.5 to 2.0.0.15xxxxx was this the final version of WearOS that the watch received? Every time I do an update check it says the system is up to date. Just wanted to make sure. Thanks to anyone who replies.

7 Comments
2019/09/16
14:30 UTC

21

Easy & cheap solution to the charging problem

13 Comments
2019/08/20
13:16 UTC

3

Replace vibration motor ZW2

Does anyone know where to find the exact vibration motor that goes into the ZW2?

I bought one I thought would work on Amazon but no luck.

0 Comments
2019/08/18
14:03 UTC

18

I designed an alternate charging cradle for the Zenwatch 3 to help connection issues. 3D Print and instructions provided!

https://imgur.com/V2ZLJ4f

The irritating charging problems with this watch are really unfortunate. This design allowed me to put more pressure on the contacts with contact tips that actually have tiny sharp claws on them. (There is room for tuning I suppose..!)

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3780474

6 Comments
2019/07/30
21:29 UTC

3

ZW2 Battery replacement - to stick/tape or not?

I finally received the replacement battery I needed for my ZW2 (shipped from China).

So far, I've determined that the battery works, and closed up the case so it'll charge without much attention.

Just curious if I should bother opening the case again to add double-stick tape or something behind the new battery. The old one (puffer-fish that it had become) did have a small adhesive strip holding it in place, but is it a big deal if I don't have one for the new?

Putting the screws back is the most annoying part of opening this watch, but while I'd like to avoid needing to do it again, I also don't want to wear a small time bomb in case a loose battery is dangerous. (Cue comments about it being much safer than the puffed-up original battery. 😆)

Edit, next day (aside): Wow, less than 50% battery used in 24 hours. Damn, that's better than when I first got this thing!

2 Comments
2019/07/19
20:34 UTC

8

Since ZW4 isn't happening: which next to buy?

I've had my Zenwatch 3 since it came out and it's still working fine, except the charger is too sensitive now. It's time to buy a new smartwatch however still today most smartwatches are too thick, too ugly (sport watch-style), have gigantic bezels, or don't have Wear OS. I'm impressed how Zenwatch 3 still looks stylish after three years but it's time to move on, so which smartwatch would you switch to that has been released/will be released?

15 Comments
2019/07/17
09:17 UTC

4

Notifications Issues with Pixel 3a

Ever since I switched to a Pixel 3a my ZW2 no longer vibrates when I get text messages or phone calls.

I have reset and unpaired the watch and still having this issue.

Any ideas?

2 Comments
2019/06/28
19:00 UTC

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