The Asus Zenfone AR is coming to Malaysia this July. Here’s what you need to know
The ZenFone AR has already been launched in Taiwan though the Malaysian launch of their flagship is extremely likely within a span of days. Asus Malaysia has issued invites for the launch of their next range of phones that strongly hint to the launch of their ZenFone AR. First glimpsed at CES, the ZenFone AR is the world’s first phone to support both Tango and Daydream by Google virtual reality platforms onto one device. Externally, the Zenfone AR has been seen sporting a matte black finish and a textured faux leather backplate akin to their earlier generation ZenFone Zoom though in a much slimmer form factor.
The rear of the ZenFone AR is where all the magic is at as it has a 23-MP camera with an F/2.0 aperture on its 6P lens beefed up by their TriTech autofocus for fast subject acquisition at 0.03 seconds along with optical and electronic image stabilisation. This is on top of a plethora of motion sensors and a depth-sensing camera for Tango which enables the ZenFone AR to interact with a host of augmented reality applications; ergo the name of the phone.
These applications run the gamut from whimsical games to experiential offerings that let you, for example, see a three dimensional depiction of a car up close in every way in a virtual fashion or to plonk virtual furniture in your room to see how it looks like. On the other hand, Daydream VR is where you plonk the phone into a virtual reality headset before placing the whole contraption on your bonce to experience a selection of VR apps. As far as virtual and augmented reality goes, this is the full monty on one device, making it one of the most powerful phones you can acquire for AR and VR applications in the market.
The rest of the hardware on the ZenFone AR consists of a 5.7-inch WQHD Super AMOLED display sheathed in Corning Gorilla Glass 4, a Snapdragon 821 2.35GHz octacore processor, up to 128GB of onboard storage and up to 8GB RAM. The secondary front camera is a modest 8-MP with an F/2.0 aperture that uses the screen as an ersatz flash. Audio is provided by a 5-magnet speaker that has an NXP Smart Amp and 384kHz Hi-Res audio support. There’s no word on price yet for Malaysia but we’ll keep you posted once details are unveiled at the official launch.