Asus Zenfone AR ZS571KL

• Pros
• • Impressive display
  • Powerful cameras
  • Loaded innards
• Cons
• • Limited practical use-cases for AR and VR
  • Daydream View needs to be purchased separately
  • Average battery life

• Verdict

It’s no doubt that the ASUS ZenFone AR is an ambitious smartphone – and the one that gels with the Taiwanese brand’s philosophy quite well – offering innovative and industry-leading features such as support for both Augmented and Virtual Reality, and 8GB RAM, along with a powerful spec sheet. It’s also able to justify its price tag of Rs 49,999 for this very reason. Having said that, if you discount the AR and VR capabilities – which are still in nascent stages and don’t offer powerful use-... Read Full Verdict  

It’s no doubt that the ASUS ZenFone AR is an ambitious smartphone – and the one that gels with the Taiwanese brand’s philosophy quite well – offering innovative and industry-leading features such as support for both Augmented and Virtual Reality, and 8GB RAM, along with a powerful spec sheet. It’s also able to justify its price tag of Rs 49,999 for this very reason. Having said that, if you discount the AR and VR capabilities – which are still in nascent stages and don’t offer powerful use-cases apart from some options for fun – the ZenFone AR is like any other premium smartphone. That also means that in its price band, it’s up against heavyweights such as the Google Pixel XL (review), Samsung Galaxy S8 (review) and the HTC U11 (review). Then there are upcoming smartphones such as the Nokia 8 (first impressions), which should be priced similarly, and offer a fully-loaded spec sheet.