We analyzed 703 reviews from verified owners of the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra to understand what they truly think about the phone. Our methodology involves reading each review to identify all comments related to specific aspects, such as its camera, screen, performance, and software.
We then classify these user mentions as positive, negative, or neutral. This process allows us to calculate a percentage-based score for each feature, providing a clear, data-driven view of the phone’s real-world strengths and weaknesses.
💰 Value for Money: Great Now, Not Then
Assessing the Value for Money of the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra reveals a complicated narrative, where a strong initial appeal is met with significant long-term hesitation. The core of its positive story lies in overall satisfaction versus cost, where it scores a solid 83%.
Users feel they are getting a premium experience without paying the exorbitant prices of top-tier flagships. This sentiment is built on a foundation of powerful performance and a feature set that feels complete. As one user summarized:
it “hits all the marks of a high-end smartphone at a more affordable price.”
Another stated plainly:
“For a modest price nowhere close to flagship models by leading competitors, a complete phone with powerful specs and streamlined UI is hard to beat.”
For buyers focused on the here-and-now, the Zenfone 11 Ultra presents itself as an “incredible phone for the price.”
The Upgrade Justification Problem
However, this enthusiasm is severely undercut by a cloud of doubt regarding the phone’s long-term viability. When it comes to Upgrade Justification, the Zenfone 11 Ultra scores a meager 50% positive sentiment, a significant 9 points below the category average of 59%.
This number reflects a deep-seated user anxiety that the phone, while excellent today, is not a wise long-term investment. The primary driver of this concern is Asus’s software update policy. As one owner bluntly explained:
“The one BIG negative I have along with ALL other reviews I have read is it only has 2 years of updates and security.”
This isn’t just a technical complaint; it’s an emotional one rooted in the feeling of being short-changed. The feeling is best captured by this user’s reflection:
“When you spend a large amount of money on a product you want to be able to use it for a long time. So as much as I like the phone it will be the last ASUS phone I will buy.”
Competitive Landscape
This weakness is thrown into sharp relief when the Zenfone 11 Ultra is placed next to its key rivals. The OnePlus 12, a direct competitor, earns an extraordinary 94% positive rating for its cost satisfaction, a full 11 points higher than the Zenfone.
This shows that while the Zenfone is a good deal, the OnePlus is perceived as an exceptional one. More critically, on the question of upgrade justification, both the OnePlus 12 (79%) and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (69%) dramatically outperform the Zenfone’s 50%.
This gap demonstrates that buyers feel more confident in the longevity and sustained value of competitor devices, making the Zenfone a riskier proposition for those who plan to keep their phone for several years.
Trade-Off: Users are getting a powerful device for a fair price, but they must trade future-proofing and a compelling upgrade path for that immediate affordability.
📸 Camera: Gimbal’s Fight, Zoom’s Fail
For the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra, the camera’s story is one of a single, brilliant innovation struggling against a tide of fundamental weaknesses.
While users are genuinely captivated by one specific feature, significant performance gaps in core areas create a frustratingly inconsistent experience.
Revolutionary Gimbal Stabilization
The undisputed star of the show is the Zenfone’s gimbal stabilization system, a feature earning rave reviews for its sheer effectiveness.
With a positive sentiment score of 54% for camera features, users feel this isn’t just a small iterative improvement; it’s a leap forward in video recording.
ASUS… solved the one problem with every single modern phone camera system… a proper no cheating gimbal system.
This translates into tangible, almost magical results, with another owner reporting:
I chased my daughter running and everyone I showed it to thought a drone recorded it.
For users who capture video on the move, this feature is a legitimate game-changer.
Critical Zoom & Quality Flaws
However, this bright spot is almost completely eclipsed by a staggering failure in zoom capabilities.
Earning a positive score of just 8%, the zoom is the camera’s Achilles’ heel, falling an immense 38 percentage points below the category average of 46%. This isn’t just a number; it represents a tangible frustration for users expecting flagship-level versatility.
The disappointment is palpable in reviews, with one user stating:
The camera is very good, but the zoom resolution is disappointing, and the quality of photos taken at night is also low.
This sentiment is echoed by others who complain that the native camera app “over processes everything so that the pictures look garish on a computer monitor or TV,” pointing to broader issues with image quality, which itself scores 13 points below the category average.
Competitive Comparison
When placed next to its direct competitors, the Zenfone’s weaknesses become even more pronounced.
The gulf in zoom performance is chasmic: the Zenfone’s 8% positive score is dwarfed by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra‘s 75% and the OnePlus 12‘s perfect 100%. This isn’t a race Asus is even running in.
The disparity in general image and video quality is just as stark. The Zenfone’s 65% positive rating looks weak against the solid 88% achieved by both the S24 Ultra and the OnePlus 12.
This gap is not lost on customers, who explicitly note the shortcomings:
camera images rendering is not as good as other competitors out there
the camera is not really as good as the competition from Samsung or Apple.
Dealbreaker: Despite its revolutionary gimbal stabilization, the camera’s abysmal zoom performance and uncompetitive image quality make it a non-starter for anyone who views photography as a critical smartphone feature.
📱 Screen: Pretty Glitches, Painful Touches
The screen experience on the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra is a deeply divided story of aesthetic pleasure undermined by functional frustration.
While the display offers moments of quality, its performance in crucial interactive areas reveals significant weaknesses that leave users wanting more, especially when compared to its peers.
Visual Quality is a High Point
The high point for users is undoubtedly the screen’s visual quality. With a 75% positive sentiment score for display quality and vibrancy, it is the screen’s strongest attribute.
Owners appreciate the visual appeal for media, noting how the display has a satisfying and immersive experience.
the display is lovely and sharp with a nice depth to natural tones and colour.
This positive sentiment is echoed by another user who described it simply as a…
beautiful bright AMOLED screen and HDR 10+.
A Critical Lack of Responsiveness
However, this visual satisfaction is severely compromised by the screen’s profound lack of responsiveness. With a dismal 25% positive rating for touchscreen accuracy, it falls a staggering 18 percentage points below the category average.
This isn’t a minor lag; it’s a fundamental failure that cripples daily use. Users report infuriating experiences where basic interactions fail, with one person describing how their phone becomes completely unusable:
UI crashes routinely on lock screen. Fingerprint scanner stuck shining like the moon, phone is unresponsive for 3 minutes.
This transforms the primary way a user interacts with their device from a seamless action into a frequent source of helplessness and anger.
How it Compares to Competitors
This interactive failure is thrown into even sharper relief when placed against key competitors. The Zenfone’s 25% score for responsiveness is utterly dwarfed by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra‘s 72% and, most notably, the OnePlus 12‘s perfect 100% score.
This chasm in performance represents a night-and-day difference in the real world. Zenfone users are left with an unreliable and often unusable interface, while owners of competing phones enjoy a flawless, dependable experience.
For any potential buyer, this disparity in such a core function is a powerful reason to look elsewhere.
Dealbreaker: While the display offers moments of visual pleasure, its profoundly unreliable responsiveness makes everyday interaction a frustrating gamble that most users will be unwilling to take.
📐 Design: Betrayal of Size
The design of the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra tells a complex story of a brand at a crossroads, caught between its celebrated past and an uncertain future.
While users once championed the Zenfone line for its rare commitment to compact, single-hand-friendly phones, the 11 Ultra’s pivot to a large-screen format has left many feeling a sense of betrayal, creating a deep divide in how the phone’s design is perceived.
Legacy Size and Handling
The most celebrated aspect of the Zenfone’s design remains its size and handling, earning a 75% positive sentiment score—a figure that impressively beats the category average of 71%.
This is where the legacy of its smaller predecessors continues to cast a long, favorable shadow. Users recall the line’s unique appeal, with one fondly remembering its predecessor as offering the
“best experience of one handed handling.”
This sentiment highlights the core appeal that built the Zenfone’s reputation:
“finally being able to get a compact phone with some of the latest hardware.”
However, this praise is now tinged with disappointment, as the 11 Ultra abandons this philosophy. As one long-time fan lamented,
“Pity the next ZenFone is getting bigger.”
This high score is less a celebration of the 11 Ultra’s current form and more a nostalgic tribute to what has been lost.
A Drop in Build Quality
This departure from its niche creates new problems, most pointedly with its build quality. Scoring just 65% positive sentiment, this factor falls a significant 11 points below the category average of 76%.
By entering the large-phone arena, Asus invites direct comparison with rivals that excel in premium feel, and for many users, the Zenfone 11 Ultra falls short.
The materials are a source of clear frustration, with owners complaining that
“the back cover of the phone… does not make the phone look premium.”
Another user was even more direct, stating the included case feels
“very plastic-y and cheap.”
This perceived lack of quality is a major drawback for a device in this price bracket.
Falling Behind Competitors
The gap becomes a chasm when placed next to its primary competitors. The Zenfone’s 65% score for build quality is dwarfed by the much higher ratings of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (79%) and the OnePlus 12 (80%).
This 15-point deficit is not just a number; it’s a tangible difference in feel and confidence that buyers notice.
For users who chose Asus for its thoughtful engineering, the perception is that
“the finish is not quite what I expect from ASUS, which is quality,”
a statement that underscores how the move to a larger size has exposed a critical weakness in its premium execution.
While the phone’s minimalist aesthetics are still appreciated, the underwhelming materials prevent it from feeling like a true flagship.
Trade-Off: Users are asked to sacrifice the beloved compact form factor that defined the Zenfone line, only to receive a larger phone with a build quality that fails to compete with other flagships in its class.
🔥 Performance: Speed vs. Heat
In the realm of performance, the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra presents a compelling, yet deeply divided, narrative. Its raw processing power and speed are a significant highlight, earning a 91% positive sentiment score—a full 8 points above the category average. Users don’t just notice this speed; they feel it viscerally.
The experience is described in glowing terms, with one user exclaiming:
Performance… this phone go brrrrrrrrrrrrrr….. holy smokes this thing flies.
This sentiment is echoed by others who praise its ability to handle any task effortlessly, calling it a “powerhouse of a phone” that “delivers whatever I threw at it.”
For many, this fluid, responsive operation makes the phone feel like a true flagship, handling demanding apps and multitasking with a smoothness that upgrades their entire experience.
A Powerhouse with a Hot Temper
However, this raw power comes at a steep, and uncomfortably warm, price. The phone’s thermal management is a significant pain point, registering a staggeringly low 20% positive sentiment. This score isn’t just poor; it’s a stark 13 points below the category average, indicating a severe flaw.
The real-world impact is a constant source of frustration for owners, who find the device overheating during surprisingly light use. As one user bluntly put it, the phone “gets really hot under mild use,” while another expressed shock that it overheats “even when I’m just listening to Spotify on Bluetooth earbuds.”
The problem becomes extreme during intensive tasks. One person lamented:
When I [am] playing [a] game, it heats up like a preproduction test device and I can make [an] egg omelet on the phone.
This issue transforms the phone from a high-performance tool into a source of physical discomfort.
Against The Competition
This critical weakness is thrown into sharp relief when placed beside its direct competitors. While the Zenfone’s processing speed (91%) is competitive with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (94%) and the OnePlus 12 (96%), its ability to manage heat is in a different, and much worse, league.
Both competitors boast a 63% positive rating for thermal management, a massive 43-point advantage over the Zenfone’s 20%. For a potential buyer, this number represents a fundamental difference in daily use.
The S24 Ultra and OnePlus 12 are far more likely to remain comfortable in the hand during extended gaming, video calls, or even just charging—precisely the scenarios where Zenfone users report their device becoming unpleasantly hot.
This isn’t a minor difference; it’s a crucial advantage for the competition that defines a user’s long-term satisfaction.
Trade-Off: Buyers are getting a phone with formidable raw power but must accept the significant compromise of poor thermal management that frequently disrupts the user experience.
💻 Software: Clean, Yet Buggy
The software experience on the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra tells a story of conflicting identities. On one hand, users are drawn to its clean, almost pure Android interface, a refreshing escape from the heavily modified systems common elsewhere. On the other hand, this promise of simplicity is critically undermined by a foundation riddled with bugs and stability issues.
User Experience and UI Smoothness
The phone’s most celebrated software quality is its User Experience and UI Smoothness, which garners 61% positive sentiment from users. While this lags behind the more refined polish of competitors like the Samsung S24 Ultra (85%), the appeal for Zenfone users isn’t about flashy features, but about freedom and control.
They feel empowered by what Asus *doesn’t* do. As one user gratefully explains, the key is:
ASUS’s practice of not piling on bloatware apps, or taking your choices away from you. You can use this phone however you want to.
This sentiment is echoed by another who loves that the phone has “No built in apps you can’t even disable,” calling the experience “as close to stock Android as you can get.” For these users, a clean interface is the primary reason for choosing the Zenfone.
Software Stability and Issues
However, this goodwill evaporates when faced with the phone’s alarming lack of reliability. Software Stability and Issues register a mere 15% positive sentiment, a dismal figure that’s just over half the category average of 27%. It is also far behind the more stable OnePlus 12 (37%). These aren’t minor quirks; they are fundamental failures that disrupt daily use and demolish user trust.
One owner describes a deeply frustrating Bluetooth problem:
no matter what I do… it just wont connect to the car for phone calls. Android Auto works perfectly but when it comes to phone calls it doesn’t switch… if a call comes in you will not be able to use speaker phone because it thinks you are on a Bluetooth connection.
Others report equally maddening glitches like videos that un-pause themselves and concerns over a short-sighted update policy, with a user lamenting:
Only two Android updates promised. This is terrible. The phone will still be very powerful when the software support stops.
Dealbreaker: While the promise of a bloat-free Android experience is a powerful draw, the pervasive stability issues and questionable long-term support create a frustrating and unreliable user experience that is impossible to ignore.
🔋 Battery: Long Life, Slow Charge
The story of the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra’s battery is one of thoughtful design clashing with practical frustrations. Users find significant value in features designed for long-term health, with sentiment for battery longevity and health features reaching 70%—a remarkable 26 points above the category average of 44%. This appreciation stems from a feeling that Asus is looking out for the user’s investment.
This provides a sense of control and future-proofing that resonates strongly with owners who plan to keep their device for years.
you can lower the upper charging limit down to 80% – that’s a perfect solution for prolonging battery life.
Charging Methods
However, this forward-thinking approach is soured by frustrations with the basics. The phone’s charging methods are a notable pain point, scoring a low 21% in positive sentiment and lagging 11 points behind the category average.
Users feel let down by missing modern conveniences like wireless charging and even criticize what’s missing from the box. This omission makes a premium device feel incomplete and forces users to seek out essentials that competitors often include.
What is the use of an electrical plug for connecting to a wall outlet if the kit I received with my Zenfone 11 Ultra has no cable that can connect to it?
Rival Comparisons
This sense of falling short is magnified dramatically when placed next to rivals. The Zenfone’s general battery life, with a 67% positive rating, is completely eclipsed by the 91% scores of both the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the OnePlus 12. For users, this 24-point deficit isn’t just a number on a chart; it’s a daily reality of battery anxiety.
I cannot get the phone to last a day in normal performance. Screen on time is very poor, I would say less than 3 hours.
Furthermore, while the Zenfone’s charging speed is average, it feels sluggish compared to the OnePlus 12’s nearly perfect 99% rating, leaving users wishing for more.
I would have liked to see at least 65W from Asus, as it’s real handy being able to fully charge in about half an hour.
Trade-Off: Users must accept significant compromises in daily endurance and charging convenience to gain access to Asus’s excellent, forward-thinking battery longevity features.
Bottom Line
- ✅ Standout Feature: The gimbal stabilization is a legitimate game-changer, with users reporting video so smooth it looks like it was “recorded by a drone.”
- ⚠️ Biggest Flaw: Unreliable software is the key failure, with major stability bugs (only 15% positive score) and a poor 2-year update policy that scores 9 points below the category average.
- 🔻 A Step Back: It betrays loyal users by abandoning its celebrated compact design, while the new larger form’s build quality scores a poor 65%—11 points below average.
- 🏁 Uncompetitive Camera: The zoom is a staggering failure (8% positive score) and is completely outclassed by competitors like the Samsung S24 Ultra (75%) and OnePlus 12 (100%).
- ⚠️ Unusable at Times: Performance is crippled by severe overheating (a low 20% positive score for thermals) and a profoundly unresponsive touchscreen that scores 18 points below the category average.
- 💡 Final Verdict: A powerful phone whose value is crippled by an uncompetitive camera, unreliable software, and a weak long-term support promise, making it a risky investment.