Asus has launched a new smartphone, the ZenFone Ares with a different kind of combination in terms of both the hardware and software. The new phone delivers an emphasis on the augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) spaces.

However, speaking of the specifications, the Zenfone Ares runs on an older version of a Qualcomm processor and is also offering the Android Nougat version while the Oreo is already about a year old and the Beta version of the latest OS Android P is also out.

The display is a reasonable 5.7 inches and the screen resolution is also very impressive at 2560x1440pixels, a QHD Super AMOLED display. The aspect ratio, has however, been retained at 16:9 only. As mentioned, the CPU is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC, undoubtedly a few versions behind the current version 845 that the new flagships are coming fitted with. The RAM is 8GB. The internal storage is 128GB and can be expanded to 2TB by adding a microSD card.

As part of the special features relating to the display and the VR capabilities, the display screen has an additional Tru2life technology that assists with better viewing of VR streaming.

On the camera front, the Asus ZenFone Ares comes with a rear sensor of 23MP and has the in-house high-res PixelMaster 3.0 technology to support motion-tracking and depth sensing. Here’s where the AR effect comes useful. The front camera for selfies is 8MP in size.

There is a fingerprint scanner that has been integrated into the Home button in the front. The connectivity options are complete including the provision for 4G LTE.

As for pricing, Asus is selling this device, the new ZenFone Ares at TWD 9,990. If converted, it would work out to around Rs 22,700. It is however, not certain when Asus will bring the phone to the Indian market.