LeEco Pro 3 is official: Big battery but some things are missing

Some may say LeEco's Pro 3 flagship phone is more about what's missing than what they put in. The successor to the previous generation Le 2 still does not include a headphone jack or a Micro-SD slot. The rumored 8 GB of RAM did not make it into the final version either, apparently. Still, for some, the fact that LeEco was able to pack a flagship phone with an impressive 4.070 mAh battery into a case that only measures 7.5 mm in thickness may be just what they were looking for. During the presentation LeEco compared the battery in the Pro 3 against some of its competitors including the iPhone 7 Plus. (see image below)

Fast Snapdragon 821

The 5.5 inch IPS-display appears almost bezel-less on the sides and features Full-HD resolution. If you were looking for a more VR-compatible QHD-resolution, you will be disappointed. LeEco did go for the fastest processor though and included the Snapdragon 821 with four cores reaching up to 2.4 Ghz. The case is made of brushed metal and will be available in four distinct colors. On the back, the 16 megapixel Sony IMX 298 campera captures images with fast PDAF and an aperture of F/2.0. There is a fingerprint sensor right below the camera. On the front, the selfie shooter can take 8 megapixel shots with an aperture of F/2.2. Various versions up to 6 GB of RAM and 128 of fast UFS 2.0 storage will be available.

USB-C for music and charging

Both charging and listening to music with wired headphones is done via the single USB-C connector on the bottom. Like on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus you cannot do both at the same time without an adapter. Any CDLA compatible headphones will work or you can switch to wireless headphones instead. Stereo speakers, that are able to go up 93 dB are also integrated into the Pro 3 smartphone. The 4.070 mAh battery can be quick charged with any Quick Charge 3.0 charger. Le Eco promised that the battery will not only charge up to 50 percent in about 30 minutes but also, that it will still reach 90 percent of its rated capacity after 500 charges.

Wireless

The Dual-Sim Pro 3 supports Bluetooth 4.2, Dual Band Wifi up to 802.11ac with 866 Mbps (Mu-Mimo and 2-stream capable) and up to 600 Mbps in LTE-Advanced capable LTE-networks. If you were hoping for worldwide LTE-band support like on the iPhone 7, look elsewhere. The Pro 3 only supports local Asian LTE-Bands according to the spec-sheet on the LeEco website. Bands 1, 3, 7 and 38-41 are supported. 

Price and availability

LeEco did not go for Android 7 just yet, they will be releasing the Pro 3 with Android 6 Marshmallow and EUI 5.8 on top. The 4 GB/32 GB version will sell for $270, the 6 GB/64 GB version will be available for $300. There will be two other versions with up to 6 GB/128 GB of storage for $450 but they also include LeEco's local video streaming service and might not be such a good deal in the US. Reservations have started today, LeEco will start shipping on September 28th. So far it is not know, if the Pro 3 will be available officially in the US with local LTE support even though LeEco started expansion into the US this year.

Quelle(n)