CES 2017: Asus Zenfone AR hands-on

Introduction

Asus is one of few manufacturers which had more serious smartphone announcements at CES 2017.

We got our hands on the Zenfone AR and we are eager to share our first impressions. The most important thing you must know is the device is equipped with Tango, the Augmented Reality platform that adds an information layer on top of the physical surroundings in 3D using a set of cameras on the back. Tango is Google's technology and Asus are only the second manufacturer to make a phone with it - the first one was the Lenovo Phab2 Pro, which we reviewed recently.

Asus takes the technology a step further with support of Daydream, Google's Virtual Reality, which is built into Android Nougat. Yes, the Zenfone AR supports both AR and VR. So this actually makes it the first flagship with such combination of features.

The Taiwanese manufacturer is also first on the mobile market with 8GB RAM device. Qualcomm supplied them with Snapdragon 821 in order to run effortlessly.

Zenfone AR at a glance:

• Project Tango Augmented Reality
• Daydream Virtual Reality
• 5.7" Super AMOLED display, 515ppi
• Snapdragon 821 chipset: Quad-Core (2x2.35 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6GHz Kryo) CPU, Adreno 530 GPU
• 4/8GB RAM
• 32/64/128/256GB of built-in storage, expandable via the microSD card slot
• 23MP main camera; OIS (4-axis), depth & motion track sensors, 2160p video capture, 8MP selfie camera
• 3300mAh removable battery, QuickCharge 3.0
• Android 7.0 Nougat OS

As you see, all this hardware makes the Zenfone AR a rather intriguing device so you will understand our curiosity. Join us on the next page as we go into further detail.