LeEco Le Pro3 and Le S3 now available at Target, buyer beware

LeEco’s low-cost but relatively high-end Android smartphone, the Le Pro3, is now available at Target retail stores in the US. It’s joined by the even lower-cost and mid-range Le S3.

The Le Pro3 and Le S3 are most attractive because of LeEco’s pairing of premium hardware with low prices. The $399.99 Le Pro3, for example, sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a metal body and a Snapdragon 821 processor, the latter component usually reserved for smartphones more than twice the price. The S3 swaps the Snapdragon 821 for a Snapdragon 625 and costs just $249.99.

Buyer beware

While I like the design of the Pro3, I’ve been turned off by several key factors. For one, there’s been news that LeEco’s running out of cash, which makes its future a bit too uncertain for me to invest in its products. I’m also not a fan of the company’s EUI user interface, which tries to jam unattractive streaming movie and TV content down your throat. You’ll need to pay for more premium services, and even then there’s not much worth watching.

For those reasons, most folks are better served by a OnePlus smartphone, which offers similar specs but a much better user experience.