Zenfone 11 Ultra review: Asus’ attempt at a large smartphone
25.3.2024
Translation: Elicia Payne
Do they want to change their strategy or offer more choice? The Ultra version of the Zenfone 11 is Asus’ first really large smartphone in a long time. The Zenfone 10 and its predecessors are much more compact.
Until now, the Zenfones from Asus stood out because they were smaller than most other premium devices. This changes with the Zenfone 11 Ultra, which on closer inspection is identical to the ROG Phone 8 from the same company – just without the «gaming gadgetry».
Whether the Zenfone 10 is the last small smartphone from Asus remains unknown. They’ve responded to corresponding questions by pointing out that it’s not even a year old yet. And that’s true. So it’s possible a smaller Zenfone 11 will follow this summer.
Big display, good display
The AMOLED display of the Zenfone 11 Ultra isn’t only 6.78 inches in size, but also looks damn good. It’s got a 2400 × 1080 resolution paired with a 144 hertz refresh rate and 1600 nits of brightness, or 2,500 respectively when displaying HDR content. The whole thing is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, currently the second-strongest glass from manufacturer Corning.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Asus proudly points out that it’s made the Zenfone 11 Ultra’s display edge smaller than the Zenfone 10. The screen-to-body ratio has risen from 90 to 94 per cent in comparison. And yes, the edges are really narrow.
The back of the OnePlus 11 Pro is made of glass, which is matt or shiny depending on the colour. Although my blue test device reflects light, it’s matt. This is one of the reasons why fingerprints are hardly noticeable. The material is easy to grip too.
Three cameras, but the telephoto’s disappointing
The Zenfone 11 Ultra has three cameras on the back. Compared to the small Zenfones, a telephoto camera has been added.
- Main camera: 50 megapixels, Sony IMX890
- Ultra-wide-angle camera: 13 megapixels
- Telephoto camera: 32 megapixels, 3x optical zoom
- Selfie camera: 32 megapixels
Source: Jan Johannsen
Colour and contrast
The colour reproduction of the Zenfone 11 Ultra looks natural and there’s a high level of detail.
Source: Image: Jan Johannsen
The sensor and software can handle the spring sun and hard shadows.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Zoom
However, the additional zoom camera didn’t win me over. On the smartphone, the photos still look good. But as soon as I look at them on a larger screen, I notice the lack of detail. This shouldn’t be the case with a telephoto lens at this resolution.
Source: Jan Johannsen
When I use the digital zoom, everyone’s still recognisable.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Portrait mode
The portrait mode cuts me out of the background well. The only thing is, I forgot to turn off all the beauty filters on this shot – but only two out of five were active, and at the lowest setting. I can only make the bokeh (out-of-focus blur) stronger or weaker afterwards in the gallery app – not before I take the photo.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Night
If you’re snapping at night, it’s worth using night mode. The best results are delivered by the main camera and the ultra-wide-angle camera. The telephoto camera doesn’t do a great job in the dark either.
Selfies
In daylight, the front camera delivers good selfies. I like the natural colour reproduction and the high level of detail.
Source: Jan Johannsen
However, it’s not much fun taking photos of yourself in the dark. Even in night mode, the result is pixelated.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Performance for every demand
In terms of performance, the Zenfone 11 Ultra is up there with the current top smartphones. This is down to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 16 gigabytes of RAM in my test device. The cheaper version only has 12 gigabytes of RAM and is therefore likely to achieve slightly lower scores in benchmark tests. But even its computing power should be more than sufficient for most applications.
The Zenfone’s various performance modes are a special feature. But only in high-performance mode does it achieve similar scores to other smartphones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. In the Dynamic system mode, active by default, the figures for CPU performance are lower, but virtually unchanged for the graphics interfaces. I don’t notice any difference in everyday life. The smartphone recognises potentially power-hungry apps and automatically activates high-performance mode. If this doesn’t work or isn’t necessary, you can find the system modes in Quick Settings. The advantage of power throttling? In dynamic mode, battery life is extended.
Average battery
The Zenfone 11 Ultra has a 5,500 mAh battery. You can power this with up to 65 watts, filling the battery in around 40 minutes with a suitable HyperCharge charger – not included in the scope of delivery. The smartphone can receive up to 15 watts wirelessly. It supports the Qi standard, but not the new Qi2 yet.
Asus praises the Zenfone 11 Ultra as its «longest-lasting device». The company’s own tests showed a battery life of 26.4 hours, compared to 19 hours for the Zenfone 10.
My battery dies much sooner. It lasts 7:47 hours at maximum display brightness in the PCMark battery test, an average value for this benchmark. That was in Dynamic system mode. If I activate high-performance mode, the battery life is reduced to 6:39 hours.
Source: Jan Johannsen
If you want a premium smartphone with a 3.5 mm jack for headphones, there’s hardly any way around the Zenfone 11 Ultra. The competition has been doing without this connection for years.
Asus wants extra points for AI
Asus equips the Zenfone 11 Ultra with Android 14 and the Zen UI user interface ex-works. Among other things, it lets you choose the appearance of the quick settings. For example, large tiles like the stock Android or smaller and more buttons. With the Video Genie, you can reduce the number of notifications when watching videos. Plus, the ones displayed are less conspicuous.
Source: Jan Johannsen
This year, Asus is also focusing on the AI functions of its software. These services include:
- An audio recorder that converts speech into text and summarises the content.
- Translations of telephone calls, starting in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Mandarin and Japanese.
- Noise cancellation for both call participants.
- A wallpaper generator.
- A search that takes into account, for example, the date and location of photos and things that have been recognised.
Apart from the summaries of transcripts, all functions should run on the device and won’t send any data to the cloud.
The transcription in the audio recorder works well. There are problems in my sound example. Unfortunately, the software doesn’t manage to differentiate the speakers. This works better with Google’s AI and Samsung, for example.
The summary is still clearly marked as a beta version. It also seems to need a few more updates. German text is summarised in English. This definitely includes content from the conversation, but isn’t a meaningful summary. It’s more like a few points it just picked up.
Source: Jan Johannsen
I can select six styles for the background image generator and then refine them – under Science Fiction, for example, Cosmic City, Interstellar Harbour or Alien World. I can also select a colour tone (cool, warm, etc.) and specify shapes under Inspiration. This results in different images that match the specifications. But so far none have become my new wallpaper.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Background noise cancellation for phone calls is also available and really helps to improve comprehensibility. However, the AI doesn’t make all background noise disappear.
I still have to wait for the live translation of phone calls and search in the gallery.
However, I’m lenient when it comes to AI functions and give all manufacturers some time to optimise them. Apart from that, Zen UI is a usable interface, but visually not my favourite. Fortunately, the appearance can be changed quite easily on Android.
Source: Jan Johannsen
My biggest criticism of Asus’ software is the announced updates. Two major Android updates and four years of security updates aren’t exactly appropriate for a high-end smartphone.
In a nutshell
Too many weak points for a top smartphone
The Zenfone 11 Ultra still has too many weak points to put pressure on the established leading smartphones. The poor image quality of the telephoto camera and the short update period are particularly noticeable in comparison. If they had a unique selling point – such as a small display – I’d be more willing to accept them.
The other cameras are decent, but not outstanding, the battery is good and the display is excellent. But even with that and plenty of performance that I can customise to my needs, the Zenfone 11 Ultra is no threat to a Pixel 8 Pro or a Galaxy S24 model.
Pro
- Elegant display
- Lots of power that can be regulated
- 3.5 mm connection (if it’s important to you)
Contra
- Poor telephoto camera quality
- Only two Android updates
- AI functions not yet fully developed
Header image: Jan Johannsen
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
