UPDATED 04:13 EDT / JANUARY 05 2017

EMERGING TECH

New smartphones debut at CES: ZenFone AR, Galaxy A-series and others

Various smartphone manufacturers have chosen the Consumer Electronics Show, currently underway in Las Vegas, to unveil their latest smartphones due out in the first half of 2017.

CES is normally the place where midrange smartphones are unveiled, while the higher-end flagships are reserved for Mobile World Congress, which takes place next month.

Here’s a look at some of the smartphones that have already made an appearance at CES:

Asus ZenFone AR

AsusTek Computer Inc. has unveiled its Zenfone AR (main image), only the second Google Tango-enabled smartphone and the first smartphone to feature both Tango and Google Daydream VR.

Earlier this week, Qualcomm Inc. accidently revealed the news about the augmented reality smartphone, ahead of Asus’ press conference.

The 5.7-inch ZenFone AR has a 1,440p Super AMOLED display, is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 processor, comes with either 6 gigabytes or 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage, plus a microSD card slot.

The device has a 23MP back-facing camera capable of 4K recording and an 8MP front-facing camera. To deliver the Tango AR features, the ZenFone AR also comes with a motion-tracking camera and a depth-sensing camera.

Other features include a 3,300mAh battery, which has quick charge support, Near Field Communication capability, a 3.5mm headphone jack and Android 7.0 Nougat.

You will have to wait to get your hands on the ZenFone AR, though, as it is only due out in the second quarter of 2017. An exact release date, as well as pricing, is unknown at this stage.

Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom

At its CES press conference, Asus also unveiled its 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Zoom.

The smartphone has a dual-lens camera, which offers a 12MP lens and another 12MP wide-angle lens with f/1.7 aperture, 2.3x optical zoom and Sony Corp’s IMX362 sensor. Both lenses have 1.4nm pixels and the device also includes optical image stabilization, electronic image stabilization and 4K video capture.

asus-zenfone-3-zoom

The 1,080p touchscreen comes with Gorilla Glass 5, has a Snapdragon 625 processor and a 5,000mAh battery, but unfortunately will ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It will also have up to 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The ZenFone 3 Zoom will be available in February, but pricing is unknown at this stage.

Honor 6X

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. announced at CES that its Honor 6X that was announced in China in October will be available in the U.S.

The 5.5-inch Honor 6X’s display has a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution at 403ppi. It has a 12 megapixel and 2 megapixel dual rear cameras and a 9MP front-facing camera. It comes with a HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, plus a microSD card. Its 3,340mAh battery supports fast charging and the device comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The affordable Honor 6X will cost $250 and will be available online from Amazon, Newegg and eBay, as well as instore from Best Buy, Costco and others.

mate-9

Huawei Mate 9

Huawei Mate 9

Huawei has also announced that its Mate 9, announced two months ago, will be arriving in the U.S. on Jan. 6.

The 5.9-inch Mate 9 has a 1,080p display, a dual Leica Camera AG system with a 20MP and 12MP lens. It also has a Kirin 960 chipset, 4GB of RAM, a 4,000mAh battery and Android 7.0 Nougat.

Huawei has worked with Amazon.com Inc. to make the Mate 9 the first smartphone to come pre-installed with Alexa.

The Mate 9 will retail for $599 from Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and B&HPhoto.

Samsung unveils Galaxy A-series

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has unveiled its 2017 Galaxy A-series, which includes the A3, A5 and A7. The updated range has various new features that the company has taken from its Galaxy S7 and Note 7.

The updated Galaxy A-series includes IP68 standard dust and water resistance, the same rating as the Galaxy S7.

All three devices have also received improved cameras. The Galaxy A3 now has a 13MP rear-facing camera and an 8MP front-facing camera. While the A5 and A7 have 16MP front and rear-facing cameras.

Samsung has also upgraded the RAM and the processors in the A-series. The A3 comes with 2GB of RAM and a 1.5GHz octa-core processor. The A5 and A7 now comes with 3GB of RAM and Exynos 7880 processor.

All three devices also come with Samsung Pay, Always On Display, Secure Folders and the ability to backup data and photos using Samsung Cloud.

ZTE Blade V8 Pro

zte-blade-v8-pro

ZTE Corp. has also unveiled a mid-range smartphone called the Blade V8 Pro.

This mid-range smartphone offers dual 13MP rear-facing cameras and the ability to change focus on either the foreground or background when taking photos. It also has an 8MP front-facing camera.

The 5.5-inch Blade V8 Pro also includes an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor,  3GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage, plus a microSD card slot. It is also a dual-SIM device.  

The Blade V8 Pro also includes Android 6.0 Marshmallow, a 3,140mAh battery, a fingerprint sensor, a USB Type-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack.

The ZTE Blade V8 will retail for $230 and is currently available for pre-order, with shipping starting on Jan. 18.

Images via Asus; Huawei; ZTE

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