The Asus Zenfone series was the favorite relatively small Android smartphones of many, except this year: the Asus Zenfone 11 became Ultra.
Taking the word “Ultra” seriously.
Asus has adapted its gaming smartphone, the ROG Phone 8, into a regular phone. The Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra is big, chunky, and costs as much as a flagship phone. That's not bad if you like big phones, but after a week of testing, I don't see any compelling reason to choose it over other big, heavy phones already on the market.
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It is possible that Asus will release a smaller Zenfone 11 later in the year, but the company neither confirms nor denies it. The last truly good small Android phone may no longer exist, or it might still exist. In the meantime, another large Android phone has been released – and it is a good device.
The charm of a large mobile is its screen! The farther the eye can see! So the Zenfone 11 Ultra – like the ROG Phone 8 Pro – offers a 6.7” OLED . It can reach 144Hz, but only in game mode. The rest of the time, it goes up to 120Hz or, since it is an LTPO, it can go down to 1Hz to save battery. However, it only has a resolution of 1080p, so it is not as sharp as the Android competition with 1440p screens, such as the OnePlus 12 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus.
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Bigger phones mean bigger batteries, and Asus has no intention of leaving any complaints about the Zenfone 11 Ultra's massive 5,500mAh . It'll last all day without dropping below 50%, and could even last two days of use. It also supports wireless charging - not Qi2, but plain Qi 15W.
However, the Zenfone is IP68 certified and this is a positive element.
The Zenfone 11 Ultra uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the top processor for Android manufacturers, and the base model has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The device may be pushing the limits of its gaming capabilities with games like Pocket City 2. The definition of commercial zones and the setting of the income tax rate are probably not what Republic of Gamers – however, the 11 Ultra handled every task I asked of it comfortably.
The main annoyance someone may face is how heavy and bulky it is.
Design-wise, the Zenfone 11 Ultra is an interesting concept. The nice blue finish and the distinctive camera protrusion look nice but looking at the best you notice that the black edges and the camera protrusion seem not to match the sleek, slightly matte back panel.
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But look, a 3.5mm Audio Jack headphone port ! They still exist!
Asus is keeping up with the trend and including a few AI on the 11 Ultra, such as call translation that seems to work just like Samsung's equivalent. It's useful to have, but the AI noise cancellation for calls seems more generally useful. It works in both directions, improving the sound for both the listener and the speaker - Google's equivalent feature on the Pixel only cancels out noise from the other end of the call, so you can hear better if they're in a noisy environment.
AI features are nice, but something that is more important for most people is the camera.
The most interesting feature of the Zenfone's camera remains the gimbal-style stabilization. When recording video, it smooths out shakes and movements incredibly well – and if you need proof that it actually works, you can closely watch the main camera lens move.
There's even a HyperSteady that corrects for larger movements - violent camera shake back and forth just looks like moderate rocking. It significantly crops the shot and you need plenty of light to use it, but it's interesting.
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If you exclude the impressive video function, the photo of the 11 Ultra appears rather mediocre.
The cuts in portrait mode are amazingly good and the system selects shutters quite quickly to capture many sharp photos. However, the 11 Ultra cameras overall are a bit inconsistent – the automatic white balance (white balance) jumps occasionally and the photos sometimes have a very bright, over‑toned appearance. Other times, though, not! But that's the problem: Inconsistency.
The ASUS Zenfone 11 Ultra is available in Eternal Black, Misty Grey, Skyline Blue and Desert Sand and costs €999 for the 12GB + 256GB model in Europe with a €100 pre-order discount and $899 in the US. There is also a 16GB + 512GB model for €1099.
Hard days for large Android phones.
We are in the era of releases of large Android phones, as the Zenfone 11 Ultra comes after the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, S24 Ultra and OnePlus 12. They all use the same chipset (at least the S24 Plus in the USA) and none has a screen smaller than 6.7″ inches. I can clearly recommend three of the four phones, but I'm not sure about the Zenfone.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the obvious choice for someone who wants the ultimate from their phone. The OnePlus 12 at over 1000 euros is the right choice if you want a large screen and want to spend a little less. For everyone else, there is the Galaxy S24 Plus – the popular choice that is easily available with various offers and upgrade programs. The Zenfone fails to stand out significantly in this category.
Perhaps if it had an excellent camera, or perhaps an innovative design that looks like nothing else on the market. The Zenfone 11 Ultra performs well in many aspects, but it does not stand out in any area. For now, it is just another large phone.
Source: theverge
