Do we need a cheaper Galaxy S24 Ultra made by… Asus?

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is simply awesome! But do you know what would be even better? If it didn't cost $1,300! Phones have become incredibly expensive over the past decade, with flagship devices breaking the $1,000 threshold without any hesitation.

Well, there is a phone with “Ultra” in its name and it only costs $899. Interested? There is good news and bad news. Yes, today we are going to talk a little about the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra and whether or not such a model is relevant in today's smartphone climate.

Plus, Pro, Max, Ultra, Hyper? What does all this mean?

Not a lot. There was a time when Pro really meant “professional,” but that ship sailed a long time ago, and in the smartphone realm, “Pro” just means the slightly better flagship model. If you want the best of the best, you can get the “Pro Max” version for maximum professionalism… or something like that? Other companies chose the “Ultra” moniker.

Wikipedia lists over 40 different meanings and uses of the word “ultra” in a modern context, so it's clearly a popular idea that people like. The Britannica Dictionary defines “ultra” as: beyond; extremely; more than usual.

I would argue that calling a smartphone “Ultra” repeatedly over four or five generations defeats the purpose of the word, because it's nothing more than “the usual”, but that's a completely discussion different.

Back to the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra. That's more than we usually expected for the Zenfone range, but is it enough to challenge the other 'Ultra' phones? Where is it hitting the market? And more importantly, do we need a cheaper system Galaxy S24 Ultramade by Asus?

A ROG phone in disguise!

Oddly enough, the Zenfone 11 Ultra isn't “more than usual.” Rather the opposite; that's less than a ROG Phone 8. I know many of you might turn on your torches and dust off your pitchforks, but before you start walking, hear me out.

How come a phone called an “Ultra” is cheaper and offers less than a phone that is only a “Pro”? That alone deserves a separate rant. It does not mean anything. And we haven't yet brought up the fact that Asus has somehow decided to remove the ROG Phone 8 of its gaming outfit and will sell it to the general public under the name Zenfone. Lazy.

This excites me because I've been covering Asus devices for over five years now, and I remember the Zenfone 6, 7 Pro, and 8 Flip, all very interesting phones and very different from anything in the Zenfone. or ROG range.

The real problem with the Zenfone 11 Ultra

Well, apart from the name, obviously. I would have been perfectly happy to rework the ROG and turn it into a Zenfone if Asus had upgraded the camera system. I can justify a mediocre camera system on a gaming phone even though gamers deserve good cameras too, but using pretty much the same hardware for three years straight isn't enough. There's nothing “ultra” about it.

Everything else is perfectly fine, and some would say even better than what you get from the latest popular flagships. The screen of Zenfone 11 Ultra is exquisite, very bright, responsive and fast. The chipset scores higher than other Android flagships, even those with “Ultra” in the name. The battery is excellent and the fast charging is what it really should have been on all flagships years ago.

And yet, no periscope zoom lens, no big 1-inch sensor with stacked pixels, no fancy 3D facial recognition on the front. A real upgrade in the camera department would have made this phone a true “Ultra”, and that's why I'm so furious about it.

Do we need the Zenfone 11 Ultra?

Surprisingly – yes. We need the device, but we just don't need the name. The marketing logic behind this is solid. The execution and morals, not so much, at least for me, but it is what it is. I admit that more people will probably buy a Zenfone 11 Ultra instead of a ROG Phone 8.

Will this phone dethrone the Galaxy S24 Ultra or the iPhone 15 Pro Max? Not likely. Even if the phone had the best camera system to date, it would have been a tough sell.

Back to the good news and the bad news. The bad news is that the Zenfone 11 Ultra won't be able to compete with other high-end flagship phones. The OnePlus 12 will eat it for breakfast, for example.

But the good news is that, judging by the timing of this launch, we might still get a classic Zenfone 11, and it might be a completely different phone. Reviewers and tech enthusiasts alike have truly fallen in love with the Zenfone 9 and 10. These two models have filled a gap that no one knew existed. The cute but powerful little flagship for not a ton of money.

Final Thoughts

I wish companies would stop playing on words and instead make real innovations. Put a solid 10,000 mAh battery in a slim flagship, then call it “Ultra.” For example, invent a smartphone camera with real Vario and variable aperture on a full-frame sensor.

The Zenfone 11 Ultra isn't a bad phone, but its name works against it in many ways. And it encourages a tendency to rehash old ideas and sell them as new ones. How long until every new model comes with the next Snapdragon chipset and a set of software features, unlocked specifically for it? But enough chatter; I'm sure I've made my point clear. What do you think about it? Do these hyperbolized names bother you? Do you think hardware innovation will eventually stop and just be about software features? Let us know in the comment section below.