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.
- Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra Review
- Asus Zenfone 3 Review
- Asus Zenfone 3 Series 2016 Philippine Pricing, Release Dates
Table of Contents
Unboxing 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.
Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra Hands-on
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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Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra Full specs, Official price, Release date in the Philippines
- Display: 6.8-inch Full HD 1080p IPS LCD, 323 ppi
- Design: Metal body, Gorilla Glass 4
- CPU: Snapdragon 652 chip, octa-core processor 1.8GHz clock speed
- GPU: Adreno 510 graphics
- RAM: 4GB
- Memory: 64GB/128GB internal storage, microSD up to 256GB
- Camera: 23MP PixelMaster, f2.0 aperture, 4K video, dual-LED flash, laser focus, phase detection, Optical Image Stabilization or OIS
- Selfie: 8MP f2.0 front-facing, wide-angle, 1080p video
- Connectivity: 4G LTE dual-SIM, GPS, WiFi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC
- Ports: USB type-C, USB 2.0 speed, USB OTG
- Audio: High-res 24bit, NXP smart amp drive loudspeaker, dual speakers with 5 magnet system, Dolby Surround 7.1
- Security: Fingerprint scanner
- Battery: 4600mAh, Quick Charge 2.0, Reverse charging or external charging
- OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Zen UI 3.0
- Colors: Glacier Silver, Titanium Gray, Rose Pink
- Release date: August 2016 availability in the Philippines
- Price: P32,995 ($680) for 64GB/4GB RAM model of ZUK680KL
