It didn’t take the Taiwanese manufacturer long to start expanding, quite literally, into the phablet category as we were greeted by a behemoth of a Zenfone 3 variation this week, the Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra.
You can already tell from the packaging itself that Asus meant to make this unit stand out, pun intended, from its other offerings.
From the get-go, the entire box is constructed from hardboard held close by magnet flaps. The first thing that will greet you is the unit itself surrounded by Asus concentric circle design on the backdrop.
The rest of the contents can be found in a drawer right below that sits the power brick with quick charge, the ZenEar earphones, a USB type C cable and the standard paperwork and quick-start guide.
We don’t think we need to mention how large this phone really is. Measuring at 6.8 inches, this phablet will almost always require 2 hands to use – risking a drop otherwise.
This giant feels heavy and premium clad in aluminum that tapers off to meet the front glass. Chamfered edges together with the rounded form provide some grip albeit minimal.
Taking a step away from Asus design language, the home button now doubles as a fingerprint scanner flanked by backlit capacitive keys which are not as accessible should the security feature been have placed at the back like older Zenfones. The usual bells and whistles can be found up top from the front-facing camera, ambient light and proximity sensors plus the LED notification light. All of which, together with the wieldy 6.8inch display panel with thin side bezels, is being protected by Gorilla Glass 4.
The right panel houses the hybrid dual SIM tray along with the power button. Down below is where you can find the dual speakers, USB type C port, and a microphone pinhole. The top panel is where you can locate the 3.5mm audio jack and a noise cancelling microphone.
Present on the flat back panel is the volume rocker underneath the 23MP main camera and the two-tone flash with the Asus and Zenfone branding.
The whole shebang will still be running Android 6.0 Marshmallow underneath ZenUI 3.0 that does very little in maximizing the use of the screen real estate aside from adding extra columns and rows more apps.
With a P32,000 Philippine price tag or roughly 700 USD will the Asus Zenfone Ultra be a compelling deal for media hungry users? Check that out on our full review.
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