With the smartphone being such an integral part of our day to day lives, there is always the need for more power, bigger batteries, and killer performance. Normally this means we as the users need to be buying the latest and greatest flagships, dropping upwards of $1000 on a device that we will MAYBE use for 2 years. Maybe. This is not always going to work, and we all know it.
LeEco clearly feels the same way with the release of their new Pro3 phone, available today to be purchased direct. I was sent the phone early for review, and after a week of using it as my daily device, I’ve got a few opinions.
Fit and Finish
My first impressions of this phone was ‘oh shit’. The build quality so far has proven to be on point, with a great mental body, full top glass, and no gaps, rattles, or anything that makes it feel cheap. The weight in the hand is solid, again giving the feel that this is a premium device.
In my hand, the 5.5” is a perfect fit for one-handed use while still giving plenty of real estate for apps, videos, and photos. Speaking of the screen, the quality of the images is also beautiful with the 1080 x 1920 pixel display. While not as pixel dense as other displays (403ppi), the lines and colors are crisp and clean. I will say the screen is not as bright at its brightest setting, but that is not an issue as it’s not a common setting for me.
The colors are appealing as well, with rose gold, gold, silver, and slate gray all available in a brushed metal finish. The phone has a premium look, backing up the performance, for sure. The design is nothing revolutionary, but LeEco has done the standard very well with quality elements.
Android
LeEco did well with their flavor of Android 6.0 on this phone. The UI is clean and easy to use, and while there are some unique gestures built in, most of the settings are fairly close to stock. With that, there are some issues that I did not like and could not get used to, including the layout of the icons. I felt there was a bit too much space between each icon, especially for the screen size. I also was not able to organize the icons by name, which is a personal preference, but honestly easily changed up with a new launcher.
Performance is incredible with this phone. Packing the same processor as the Pixel, there was little to no lag on launching, running, or working with any application I threw its way. Benchmarking has it landing just below some of the top flagship phones are the market as well.
Battery
Holy crap this battery is incredible. Packing a 4070 mAh battery, I have been using this phone nonstop all day with no need to plug-in. To put this into consideration, with other phones I typically have had to charge up mid-afternoon but with the LeEco Pro3, by the end of the day I still have 20% battery left. And I am running big programs, games, music, and the camera throughout the day. Hands down, this battery and the power management is fantastic.
Camera
After all the glowing on this phone, I hate that the camera is the one point I find a little lacking. While it is packing a 16MP camera, it’s not the greatest in the world. When I was asked about it before, the best I can say is “it’s a camera”. I won’t be taking any award-winning shots with it.
With all that in mind, the camera is fast. It loads fast, captures fast, and lets you change a whole variety of settings to work on that better shot. It captures a little darker than others, but that’s a setting I like and prefer in my photos.
Fingerprint Scanner
Finally, a fingerprint scanner that just works incredibly. It’s not a button, it’s just a scanner, and its placed in the perfect spot on the back on the phone. I’m able to pick up the phone, place my finger and be into whatever app I need within seconds. I have not run into any misreads or issues with it, and it has become my sole point of access for the phone.Final
Final Thoughts
This phone is incredible, and for the price of $399 ($299 on sale for the launch), it’s an even more incredible of a buy. This is truly a premium phone with premium performance and a better battery than most of the competition at a price of more than half what others are charging. I would and am buying this phone to replace my personal device, and honestly, recommend it as a top competitor for anyone on the market today.
For full performance specs, please check out our friends at GSMArena.