LeEco Le Pro 3 AI Edition adds assistant, costs just $260
The Le Pro 3 AI Edition will come in two versions, one with a deca-core processor, and both with a dual camera.
LeEco's Le Pro 3 was a good phone, but not quite on the level of its rival, the OnePlus 3T. The Chinese company, which late last year began selling phones in the US, is hoping a dual camera and AI assistant will make it the new king of inexpensive phones.
On Tuesday, LeEco announced the Le Pro 3 AI Edition. There'll be two different versions of the device, one with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and another, the Eco variant, with 64GB of storage and a better processor, according to GizmoChina. Both will have dual 13-megapixel cameras on the rear.
Last year's Le Pro 3 was powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821, but LeEco has switched to MediaTek for this phone. You'll get a 2.3GHz Helio X23 in the standard AI edition, while the more powerful Eco version gets a deca-core (ten whole cores!) 2.6GHz Helio X27 chipset.
The good news: The phone will cost a mere $260, or $350 for the Eco. The bad news: Those prices are converted from Chinese yuan, because the devices are currently only announced for China. (The Chinese prices convert to £210 or AU$350 and £280 or AU$465.)
LeEco was contacted about if or when the phones would make their way to the US, but did not immediately respond.
Key specs
- 5.5-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel display
- 8-megapixel front camera, dual 13-megapixel cameras on the rear
- 4GB RAM, 32GB storage or 64GB in Eco version
- 2.3GHz Helio X23 processor, deca-core 2.6GHz Helio X27 chipset in Eco version
- 4,000mAh battery
- Voice-activated LeLe AI assistant
As the name suggests, a big part of the phone's sell is its AI assistant. Like most such digital servants, "LeLe" can be voice activated, even when the phone's screen is off, and will learn to better serve you over time. We'll have to see how this pans out, as they're not all as good as Google Assistant or Siri. HTC's Sense Companion in the U Ultra didn't exactly blow us away.
The Le Pro 3 AI Edition will run on EMUI 5.9, a modified version of Marshmallow 6.0, Google's operating system first introduced in 2015.
It'll launch in China on April 14 and, even if it never makes it to the US, will be available internationally through third-party sellers (though likely unsupported with updates).