Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra review
Display
As mentioned, the display on the Zenfone 11 Ultra has grown significantly from the previous Zenfone 10 generation. It now measures 6.78 inches in diagonal, the same as the one on the ROG Phone 8. The resolution is the same, too - 1080 x 2400 pixels. However, despite these similarities, the two don't appear to share the exact same panel since the Zenfone 11 Ultra is capped at 144Hz instead of 165 Hz. The Zenfone 11 Ultra uses an 8-bit E6 Samsung Flexible AMOLED panel.
As per official spec, the display should be able to reach 2,500 nits (1,600 nits HBM) of maximum brightness.
In our standardized testing, we measured 831 nits by maxing out the slider. The phone managed an impressive 1773 nits in auto mode, with a bright light source in the vicinity.
The minimum brightness at point white is 5.8 nits in regular mode, but there is an "Extra Dim" toggle that brings that down to just 3 nits.
Max display brightness test
White test pattern, 75% fill (nits)
- Manual mode
- Auto mode
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Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra
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The Zenfone 11 Ultra has a 144Hz maximum refresh rate. However, that maximum mode is only available for games and apps through Game Genie on a per-app basis. For regular everyday operation, the refresh rate cap is actually 120Hz.
The phone has a total of three refresh rate modes to choose from in settings. 60Hz mode is self-explanatory. The other two modes are 120Hz and Auto. Both incorporate automatic switching logic through LTPO tech down to 5Hz when the phone is idle for a few seconds. The 60Hz mode also drops down to 5Hz. The difference is that in Auto mode, the Zenfone 11 Ultra also switches down to 60Hz on occasion for things like video playback, which is not the case in 120Hz.
The Zenfone 11 Ultra has the highest possible Widevine L1 certification, allowing apps like Netflix and other streaming services to offer up FullHD content. The phone has hardware decoding support for HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG. Everything except for Dolby Vision.
Battery life
The Zenfone 11 Ultra has a pretty large 5,500 mAh battery on board. That's kind of surprising, given the phone's reasonable weight and thickness.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is not exactly the most efficient chip around. Even so, the Zenfone 11 Ultra managed a great Active Use Score of 16:28 hours in our proprietary testing.
Charging speed
The Zenfone 11 Ultra supports 65W charging. Asus has its own HyperCharge standard, which, as far as we can tell, is based on PD and PPS. The phone also officially advertises up to 65W charging via PD and PPS. So, given that there is no charger in the box, you may want to get yourself a good PD + PPS charger to pair with the phone. You can also charge wirelessly via Qi at up to 15W.
We tested charging with the charger from the ROG Phone 8 Pro and a Baseus 65W PD charger and got basically the same results either way. That's with a good 5A USB Type-C to Type-C cable. Using the 3A cable included in the box did harm charging time, but only by about 6 minutes for a full charge.
As expected, the Zenfone 11 Ultra basically charges at the same rate as the ROG Phone 8 Pro. Asus' charging solution offers very competitive charging speeds. Obviously, you're not going to get the same rates as Oppo's or OnePlus 100W solutions, but in absolute terms, the zero to full times aren't that drastically different.
Charging speed
- in 15 min
- in 30 min
- Time to full charge (from 0%)
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Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra
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Speakers - loudness and quality
The Zenfone 11 Ultra has a stereo speaker setup. The top speaker doubles as the earpiece, which does, however, mean that it is facing forward, while the bottom speaker is facing down or to the side, depending on how you hold the phone. This intrinsically leads to some unbalanced output. Even so, the Zenfone 11 Ultra manages a pretty convincing stereo effect with a wide and rich sound stage.
Sound quality is relatively high with nice, well-developed mids, clear highs, and even some bass. Asus says that its stereo speakers are now 25.2% larger (11*15mm super linear bottom speaker and 12*16mm super linear top speaker).
The Zenfone 11 Ultra managed a GOOD loudness score in our testing.
In keeping with Asus tradition, the Zenfone 11 Ultra has a dedicated AudioWizard menu where the DIRAC-powered equalizer resides. There are multiple presents as well as manual sliders. There is also support for Dirac Virtual surround sound with headphones, plus Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive/HD/Lossless and Snapdragon Sound, Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Connectivity
The Zenfone 11 Ultra is a dual-SIM 5G device. It simultaneously supports SA/NSA Sub-6 connectivity on both nano SIM slots. The phone has GPS (L1+L5), GNSS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS and NavIC for positioning. Local connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7/be with triple-band support, which means you can use the fresh 6GHz band.
There is also Bluetooth 5.4 with LE support and aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless. High-res wireless audio is also supported. There is also NFC on board, but no FM radio receiver. There is a 3.5mm audio jack on board, though, with Hi-Res audio support.
A 5Gbps data connection backs up the USB port and supports USB Host/OTG. Unfortunately, unlike the ROG Phone 8 line, the Zenfone 11 Ultra does not support video output via the Type-C port. You are stuck using wireless display casting.
The Zenfone 11 Ultra has a pretty full set of sensors on board. There is a TDK-InvenSense icm4x6xx accelerometer and gyroscope combo, Asus-branded light and Asus-branded hardware proximity sensors. Also on board is a Voltafield AF6837 magnetometer and compass combo. There is a hall sensor on board but no barometer.
Reader comments
- Jim
- 18 hours ago
- 7F$
I bought the Zephone 11 Ultra on April 3 and it has been just long enough that I can't trade the phone or send it back. It has been a nightmare in the last few days since the speaker just continuously makes a popping sound making it impossible t...
- unxpctd
- 07 May 2024
- 45a
Lenovorola. Chinese brands if you have them available will always be competitive hardware wise, depends how much you like skins.
- Anonymous
- 06 May 2024
- pkT
Who is looking at this phone. People who no longer want Samsungs which are bloated and overhyped. One plus are also going down the pan. Whose left ?