LeEco announces Le 2 range with premium design and no 3.5mm headphone port

LeEco, the OEM formerly known as LeTV, has announced its new Le 2range, comprising three new devices: the Le 2, Le 2Pro and Le Max2. The metallic phones feature a now-familiar design language we’ve seen echoes of in HUAWEI, HTCand the iPhone, but the biggest surprise is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone port.

LeEco has also announced two pairs of USB Type-C digital headphones with its new Continuous Digital Lossless Audio standard. There’s an in-ear pair of buds and an over-ear pair with noise-cancelling technology. LeEco has also introduced a fully reversible USB Type-A connector for its next generation of fast charging.

But let’s take a look at the phones. The Le 2 has a 5.5-inch Full HD display, MediaTek Helio X20 chipset with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, 16 MP camera and 8 MP front-facing shooter. The Le 2 packs a 3,000 mAh battery.

The Le 2Pro steps things up a notch but keeps the same screen and resolution. It is the world’s first phone powered by the beefy Helio X25 processor and packs 4 GB of RAM with a 21 MP Sony IMX230 sensor. The Le 2Pro also has the same 8 MP front-facing camera, 3,000 mAh battery and 32 GB ROM as the Le 2.

Things ramp up yet again with the Le Max 2, featuring an “optimized for VR” 5.7-inch QHD display and slightly larger 3,100 mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0. The marginal battery bump is a little surprising considering the larger display and resolution, so we can only hope the SD820 is up to the efficient power consumption task.

The Le Max2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and is the first device to feature Qualcomm’s SenseID ultrasonic fingerprint sensor (we were wondering when this might finally show up). The Le Max 2 comes in a 4 GB/32 GB version and a 6 GB/64 GB version. Camera-wise it has the same setup as the Le 2Pro but adds optical image stabilization to the primary camera.

The Le 2 price is 1099 RMB ($170), the Le 2Pro goes for 1499 RMB ($232) and the Le Max2 price is 2099 RMB ($325) for the 4 GB/32 GB version and 2499 RMB ($387) for the 6 GB/64 GB version. You’ll be able to pre-order on April 20 in China and there are plans to bring at least one to the U.S. later this year, most likely the Le Max2.

What do you think of LeEco’s new range? Does China have a new major player?