Asus unveiled a number of mobile and connected products targeting the North American market at CES 2018, including a smartphone and its mixed reality (MR) headset.

ZenFone Max
Leading the way was ZenFone Max Plus (M1), which it said is the first model in its new ZenFone Max series of “high battery capacity smartphones”. It said previous Max models in the ZenFone line – such as ZenFone Max, ZenFone 3 Max, ZenFone 4 Max and ZenFone 4 Max Pro – have become its best-selling smartphones, with combined sales of around 5 million units.

The new series will include different processors and screen sizes, but “the hallmark of the range will be high-capacity, long lasting batteries”. In the case of the new device, this means 4130mAh.

ZenFone Max Plus features a 5.7-inch full HD screen, which Asus said is housed in “an amazingly compact body that’s no longer than many standard 5.2-inch smartphones” (screen to body ratio is 80 per cent). It comes with dual main cameras, with 16MP standard and 8MP wide-angle lenses, and is the first ZenFone to feature face unlock.

The device will be available from February 2018 in silver and black options, with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, priced at $229.

Windows MR headset
Also seeing its North American debut is Asus’ Windows Mixed Reality headset, as previously showcased at IFA 2017 in Berlin.

Again, the company talked-up the fact that the device does not need external sensors, making the initial set-up “incredibly easy”.

It will be available in the first quarter of this year, “with pricing announced at launch”.

NovaGo laptop
On display was the NovaGo laptop previously seen at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit in December 2017.

The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip and is said to offer two key advantages over traditional laptops: long battery life and integrated LTE connectivity.

Lyra Voice
Picking up a CES 2018 Innovation Award, Lyra Voice is an 802.11ac mesh Wi-Fi system combined with connected speakers and Amazon Alexa support. It can be used with other connected Lyra hubs to extend Wi-Fi coverage through the home, while also offering connected speaker features.

Asus also said selected models in its ZenBook and VivoBook laptop lines will feature compatibility with Alexa.