While this may sound as a strange call, Asus CEO Jerry Shen said the decision to ditch Android Wear was made achieve longer battery life. This does not mean that Asus will abandon Android Wear, as the company intends to launch more ZenWatch models based on Google’s platform, reports Focus Taiwan.

"We will continue to work with Google on Android Wear,” said Shen.

He said the major concern is saving power, so Asus decided to design an alternative, without Android Wear support. http://focustaiwan.tw/news/ast/201502130030.aspx

Unlike most Android Wear watches, the new device will not be powered by a Snapdragon 400 SoC, but rather by a MediaTek SoC. Shen did say much about the chip, although he said the SoC was still under development.

A MediaTek Aster chip is one frugal alternative, and it has already made its way to a few smartwatches. However, Shen hinted at an upcoming SoC, not a currently available model like the Aster MT2502.