I'd argue AR via a phone in your hand is entirely useless and a gimmick. The phone has a much smaller viewing area than even hololens and walking around staring

I'd argue AR via a phone in your hand is entirely useless and a gimmick. The phone has a much smaller viewing area than even hololens and walking around staring through it is not just annoying it's dangerous. That is not to say that on your face AR is any good yet, only that phone AR is mostly pointless IMO. I did get to use a Magic Leap at GDC this year to shoot aliens coming out of portals in a physical living room stage. The graphics were PS2 level but the attachment to the real world in that contrived setup was rock solid as was the virtual gun projected in my hand. As I ran about the living room the portals with aliens coming through mapped to the walls of the living room worked well. It at least shows a step toward real AR.