Asus ZenFone AR unveiled; world's first smartphone with 8GB RAM

dynamitenews.com
Nevada/ 5 January 2017. The Asus ZenFone AR smartphone with 8GB RAM and Tango & DayDream support has been unveiled at the CES 2017 event in Las Vegas. While the Taiwanese company touts the Asus ZenFone AR as the world's first smartphone with 8GB RAM, other variants of the AR+VR handset will also be launched, including a model with 6GB RAM. 

The Asus ZenFone AR sports a fingerprint scanner at the front embedded in the home button. It sports a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED QHD (1440x2560 pixels) display which is likely to play major role in virtual reality. The company adds that the Asus ZenFone AR packs 79 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Asus ZenFone AR has the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor that the company claims has been customized for Tango. With Qualcomm announcing the new Snapdragon 835 SoC, the Snapdragon 821 processor choice for Tango-enabled and Daydream-ready ZenFone AR smartphone looks dated. Asus at the event confirmed that the company will have exclusive Asus ZenUI VR 360 degree app support on PhotoCollage, Gallery, and ZenCircle apps.

The company also confirmed that the Asus ZenFone AR features vapour cooling system to avoid overheating. Asus ZenFone AR's camera sports a 23-megapixel Sony IMX318 module with TriTech+ autofocus system, dual-PDAF, second-gen Laser Focus, and continuous-focus. The rear camera supports 4-axis OIS (optical image stabilisation) as well as 3-axis EIS (electronic image stabilisation) for video recording alongside support for 4K video recording. The company has opted for a 8-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture and an 85-degree wide angle lens.

The Android 7.0 Nougat-based Asus ZenFone AR will be available in the Q2 2017, with the company to announce prices near to market launch. Asus is yet to reveal the entire specifications details for the ZenFone AR. Other specifications revealed include up to 256GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB) in a hybrid dual-SIM (Micro+Nano) configuration; a 3300mAh battery; USB 2.0 Type-C port, as well as Bluetooth v4.2 and Wi-Fi 802.11ac connectivity.