Pros
- Superb battery life
- Lightning-fast Snapdragon 821
- Good stereo sound
Cons
- Annoying eui interface
- Camera falls short
- Force-feeding of LeEco services
Key Features
- 5.5-inch IPS 1080p display
- 4,070mAh battery
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
- 4GB RAM
- USB-C for charging and headphones
- Dolby Atmos stereo speakers
- 64GB storage / No microSD
- 16MP rear camera/8MP front camera
- 4K video
- Manufacturer: LeEco
- Review Price: free/subscription
LeEco’s arrival in the USA this autumn
was less of a "pleased to meet you" and more of a full-on party
political broadcast. Rather than edge in with a couple of devices, the
Chinese firm went big.
The company revealed a pair of 4K TVs, a 4K set-top box, a VR headset, a "Super Bike" with a built-in touchscreen display, headphones, speakers and a pair of smartphones: the mid-range LeEco Le S3 and the flagship LeEco Pro 3.
The manufacturer is pitching this latter, pretty-looking phone as a flagship device, and many of the listed specs fit that billing – the processor and the battery life, in particular.
The company revealed a pair of 4K TVs, a 4K set-top box, a VR headset, a "Super Bike" with a built-in touchscreen display, headphones, speakers and a pair of smartphones: the mid-range LeEco Le S3 and the flagship LeEco Pro 3.
The manufacturer is pitching this latter, pretty-looking phone as a flagship device, and many of the listed specs fit that billing – the processor and the battery life, in particular.
There’s a button-less face with
controls handled by capacitive touch. Either side of the earpiece, which
doubles up to create stereo audio, is the selfie camera and the light
sensor.
The handset is charged via USB Type-C and there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack. It has double speaker grilles, but like the new iPhone 7, one of them is just for show. LeEco bundles USB Type-C headphones with the device and there’s also a tiny adapter if you want to use your old wired buds.
On the rear of the device sits a well-positioned – although very reflective – fingerprint sensor, beneath the camera module and flash. Call us paranoid, but it feels like a print could pretty easily be lifted from that sensor. The lens itself protrudes a couple of millimetres from the casing, but it seems well protected. The battery is non-removable.
On top of the device is a microphone and an IR blaster, perhaps in the hope you’ll go all in with the firm’s offerings and buy a TV or set-top box too. Volume keys and the power switch sit on the right side of the device, while the SIM tray is in the upper-left corner.
Unfortunately, there’s no option to boost the 64GB storage through microSD. However, there is a premium version of the handset that offers 128GB and 6GB of RAM, rather than 4GB on the standard edition.
The handset is charged via USB Type-C and there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack. It has double speaker grilles, but like the new iPhone 7, one of them is just for show. LeEco bundles USB Type-C headphones with the device and there’s also a tiny adapter if you want to use your old wired buds.
On the rear of the device sits a well-positioned – although very reflective – fingerprint sensor, beneath the camera module and flash. Call us paranoid, but it feels like a print could pretty easily be lifted from that sensor. The lens itself protrudes a couple of millimetres from the casing, but it seems well protected. The battery is non-removable.
On top of the device is a microphone and an IR blaster, perhaps in the hope you’ll go all in with the firm’s offerings and buy a TV or set-top box too. Volume keys and the power switch sit on the right side of the device, while the SIM tray is in the upper-left corner.
Unfortunately, there’s no option to boost the 64GB storage through microSD. However, there is a premium version of the handset that offers 128GB and 6GB of RAM, rather than 4GB on the standard edition.