LeEco Le 1 Pro Android Smartphone Review
LeEco Global’s Le 1 Pro has been a hit in China, with millions reserved in pre-sales and is coming to the US soon. It has been updated twice since last year and has a sealed 3,000 mAh battery. The premium Chinese smartphone has a bright 5.5” Quad HD screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core CPU and many other impressive specs. It is designed like an HTC One to fit well in the hand, unlocked dual SIMs, 4G LTE and a unique Android skin called EUI.
Overview
LeEco Le 1 Pro 64GB Android Comprehensive Mobile Internet Ecosystem Unboxing
The Le 1 Pro Android smartphone is a marvel of consumer electronics engineering. The model I tested came with dual unlocked SIM slots capable of accessing 4G LTE networks. The Le 1 Pro incorporates premium design materials and a polished Android skin named EUI. It continues to be a highly sought after Android smartphone in China and has been given favorable reviews by US bloggers. I received the all-metal phone with a gold color, a 13MP camera rear facing optically image stabilized camera, a 4 ultra pixel front facing camera and a form fitting plastic case.
Disclosure: I received a Le 1 Pro at no cost for review. I have not been compensation for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Photos are courtesy of LeEco unless otherwise stated.
LeEco Le 1 Pro Back Antenna and Camera
A metallic design requires design elements for antennas. Like on the iPhone 6, the Le 1 Pro has antennas on the top and bottom of the back that span the width of the phone. The included thin clear case is perfect to keep the phone from getting scratched, but also allows the antennas to work, as they should.
LeEco Le 1 Pro Screen Brightness
Screen brightness from the Le 1 Pro is as good as other premium smartphones on the market. The quad HD screen provides an excellent experience to watch videos with. Taking photos in multiple lighting conditions, including subjects that were heavily backlit, was easy. They ended up properly exposed via its HDR mode. Shooting in very low light conditions also came out ok, the OIS worked well.
LeEco Le 1 Pro EUI Android Skin
LeEco continues to update its Android EUI skin on top of Lollipop 5.0. Its pre-installed EUI firmware update app was easily accessible from an alternate home screen. I had several positive upgrade experiences with the app. Each update was about one gigabyte in size.
Under the hood, the Le 1 Pro has an industry leading 2.0 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU with 64-bit access to its 4GB of RAM and 64GB of fixed storage. There is no Micro SD memory card slot on this phone. The large amount of RAM in this smartphone made for a smooth experience between apps and loading websites.
LeEco Le 1 Pro LeTV
LeEco does a good job of keeping the Le 1 Pro fast by not including too many extra apps and I did not find any lag while using the EUI Android skin. The web browser has automatic ad blocking built-in and did a better job of letting me know when sites I visited had security issues.
LeEco Le 1 Pro Smartphone Back With Camera
Smartphone photographers will enjoy its optically stabilized 13MP rear camera and dual LED flash. The Le 1 Pro has a familiar camera app interface, almost exactly to what iPhone users have experienced. Swiping motions made it easy to switch between camera modes.
Premium smartphones like this one can take photos while also recording video. Tap on the screen while recording video to take a photo. The Le 1 Pro can handle taking photos all day, unlike other premium smartphones, where they start to overheat or become nearly unresponsive.
Video streaming through smartphones to social networks like Periscope with 4G LTE and a 13MP camera makes sense. Clear video is what is needed to receive more hearts, likes and positive comments.
LeEco Le 1 Pro LeHi-Fi App
Selfies are a big reason to buy a premium smartphone as they typically have better front facing cameras. The Le 1 Pro has a 4 ultra pixel front camera similar to what HTC installed on their One series of smartphones. LeEco understands that the mobile photographer wants an OIS enabled camera for producing the best photos. It took sharper and more life like photos than my higher priced HTC One M9.
I kept finding new and unique interface improvements during testing with LeEco’s EUI Android skin. While watching YouTube or other streaming videos from their browser, simply drag up or down anywhere within the video to change the volume. I found that menus and key interface options like turning on and off WiFi could be found under a single tap. To do the same in pure Android Lollipop seems like it takes additional taps to complete this step.
Using Google Voice on Android smartphones is fun and can be helpful. The Le 1 Pro comes with Google Now voice command capabilities. Searching for business and checking on weather, with the pre-installed Yahoo Weather app, or traffic is easy. High-end audio is produced from its Sabre Hi-Fi and Dolby Audio enabled speakers.
LeEco Le 1 Pro Front and Back
The LeEco Le 1 Pro comes with 4G LTE network hardware. After multiple speed tests in the Western US, I discovered results from 13.29 Mbps to 18.14Mbps down and 8.63Mbps to 16.51Mbps up. There were a few speed tests with higher and lower results, these are the median range I experienced.
LeEco Le 1 Pro LeTV Shows App
Calls were good in multiple test environments and its noise canceling hardware helped in busy places like airports. Your experience with data speeds and calls will rely on where voice and 4G LTE upgraded towers have been rolled out.
The Le 1 Pro can access most 4G LTE GSM networks worldwide, at a rated maximum of 450Mbps via category 9 radio hardware. This is many times faster than any other phones I have used yet. It has 538 pixels-per-inch and 1440 x 2560 2K resolution screen, 4GB of RAM, Dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz capable WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, triple location chips for GPS and a huge 3,000 mAh battery. Its top of the line features, including a USB Type C wired port and upgraded Android Lollipop 5.0 EUI gives users a premium smartphone experience from LeEco Global.
Final Thoughts
LeEco Le 1 Pro Smartphone Front In Gold
LeEco’s Le 1 Pro will soon be available in the US, at an off contract price. This is a great choice for anyone who wants an Android Lollipop EUI skinned experience and a camera with OIS technology.
The premium quality build and large 3,000 mAh battery kept the smartphone going for the entire day and left enough juice for the next morning. I never experienced a program lag or the phone become slow after all day use. Its octa-core CPU and 4GB of RAM made sure everything kept moving smoothly.
The 2K-screen resolution on this phone is bright and sharp. The photos it takes are clear with a nice contrast boost like those from Samsung smartphones. The photos pop and are great for uploading to Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. The pixels-per-inch and screen resolution of the Le 1 Pro easily beat the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. LeEco’s quality engineering of high-end components paired with their EUI Android Lollipop skin show a strong commitment to making its Le 1 Pro a top “comprehensive mobile internet ecosystem” choice.
Rating: 5/5
Pros:
- 5.5” Quad HD 2K Screen
- 2.0 GHz Octa-core 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU
- USB Type C
- 13MP Camera with Optical Image Stabilization
- 4GB RAM
- Dual Unlocked SIMs Micro & Nano
- Category 9 4G LTE Radio
Cons:
- Non Removable Battery
- No MicroSD Memory Card Slot
- No 4G LTE Band 12 For T-Mobile