The first Android ar 2.0 watches from aren’t even on shelves yet, but the first competitor has already been announced. But it’s not from Huawei, Moto, or Asus. It’s from Verizon.
Yes, you’ve read that right: Big Red is getting into the watch business. Called ar24, presumably a reference to its all-day connectivity, the wearable competes directly with the tch Sport, currently the top-of-the-line Android ar 2.0 watch. According to CNet, the Quanta-manufactured watch features a slightly bigger screen (1.39 inches vs. 1.38 inches) battery (450mAh vs. 440mAh). It also includes I7 water resistance, NFC, E, ticking off enough boxes to be taken seriously. It’s even a little thinner than the Sport (13.5mm vs. 14.2mm), has a slimmer bezel. And based on a single render (seen at left in the image above), it looks good.
Hardware products are rare from Verizon, but this wouldn’t be the first Android device made by the carrier. In addition to its line of budget-minded Ellipsis tablets, it recently began selling the GizmoTab, an 8-inch tablet geared specifically toward kids, loaded with 300 educational apps like Crayola Color Nat Geo zzle Explorer.
However, the ar24 is most certainly a premium device designed to compete at the upper end of the market. ke the Sport, the ar24 will sell for $300 with a 2-year contract $350 without one, though it will cost existing Verizon customers $5 a month to add it to their plan.
A little friendly competition: Releasing a product designed to compete with a new, highly anticipated launch is certainly an interesting move for Verizon, but it’s especially curious in light of the exclusive partnership the two companies have with the xel. Verizon hasn’t released any availability for the new watch, but the timing of the announcement, right before start selling their own wearables, is clearly designed to take some of the luster away from the Sport’s launch. Of course, we’ll have to wait to see how the watches stack up in daily use, but on paper, already has some serious competition.
