Personally I don't just write off any manufacturer just due to especially one bad experience
Even the great iPhone has its share of problems - depend on one luck at times buying such stuffs
My experiences with Asus phones n tablets is nothing to shout about but I still look forward to buy the Ultra model

NO way I can wait for price drop. I'm using crappy Fonepad 7 temporary. My Note 2 already kaput, so waiting is not an option.

Also I only spot Zenfone 3, no Ultra.

Wonder how many of lowyat guys pre order the first 20 available units?

I bought one asus zenfone 3 and I can safely say that it can handle your daily task whatsapp fb Instagram email clash royale need for speed with ease.

Battery life also not bad although I need to charge it at 5pm. Not an issue

The main issue is the normal charging rate. Not used to it anymore. Spoiled by my note 5 that supports quick charging huhu

Type C but no fast charging. False ads by Asus Malaysia since Asus global doesn't mentioned it at all.

Collected my ZF3 Ultra today together with the free 10000mAh powerbank and Asus selfie stick
Immediate impressions of it is very good
Will post more comments in days to come

Where do you collect the 20 preorder unit. They are not send via post?

ASUS Malaysia is gambling to expect Ringgit will go strong"er" against USD by Oct - Dec.... Then, they might reduce the SRP... by that time, most potential buyers already spent/invest on others for X-mas/new-year present....

How's the performance of the "invisible" antenna on the ZF3 Ultra?
On par or weaker or better than other metal phones with normal antenna design.

Here is a very brief experience of me using the Zenfone 3 Ultra ( 64GB version) for past 6 days.
Overall I am very impressed with it . As I don't do gaming on my phones/tablets I am unable to share my experience on gaming with it. However I did test out few games ( Riptide 2, Angry Birds, Asphalt 6 )  and do not faced any significant framedrops or lags at all. As I am an inexperienced gamer I am unable to tell you how good is this phablet for gaming
I would say the only possible negative thing most potential buyers will say is its asking price of RM 2599. This is the price I paid during preorder and with it comes with ASUS 10000 mAh powerbank and an ASUS selfie stick. However I do find the price is reasonable for the features/performance one could get out of it
I will rate each feature at a score of 1-10 ( 10 being the best)

BUILD QUALITY : 9
Its metallic build is simply awesome. It is definitely too big for single handed user.
The only thing I do not quite like is its location of its volume buttons at the back. Using a flipcase with it , it is quite a task accessing it. The volume buttons at the back on the LG V10 is much better as the V10 size is much smaller

UI and in built software: 8
I use Nova as alternative launcher as I am more comfortable with it. I need not take time to setup all my homescreen layout as I could easily restore it from any of my other Android phones. Those supposedly laden bloatware 9/10 are easily uninstalled or disabled. Only issue I don't quite like is its location of its back button on the left. I always prefer it on the right. The MiMax and Mate8 has inbuilt software to change such location
One can double tap on display to shutdown and wakeup - avery good and easy convenient feature

Smoothness and overall performance : 9.5
There is no lag at all and all my daily tasks executed smoothly without any problems. However I can't say that for gaming as explained earlier on
If artificial benchmarks is an important criteria : AnTuTu I got about 78000 and Quadrant 40000
The SD652 chipset I find it more than good enough for me. This chipset performs as well too in my other MiMax and A9 Pro
Operating temperature is good usually in the range of 33 to 38 degree C. You don't really find it warm unlike HTC 10, S6E

Camera shots and Video : 9
The camera shots ( 23MP at rear and 8MP at front)  are good enough to satisfy me. I rate it as above average to good. It however cannot match S7e, Note7, LG V10 quality which I rate a close 10.  The camera is much better than other phablets such as Mi Max and Mate 8. There are several camera modes - Auto, Manual, Auto HDR, HDR Pro, Beautification, Super Resolution, Children, Low Light (5MP), QR code, Night, Depth of Field, Effect, Selfie, GIF Animation, Panorama, Miniature, Time Rewind, Smart Remove, All Smiles, Slow Motion, and Time Lapse.
Anyway I will rarely used it for its camera as this phablet was bought solely as an entertainment gadget
As for shooting video, the Ultra can record at up to 4K resolution at 30fps.

Display quality : 9.5
Very sharp with good contrast. Seriously I couldn't find any flaws with it
the screen can be further tweaked inside Settings.
Some other added features are : Adjustment of the color temperature or select screen color modes. The Blur-Free Motion which simulates high framerates when watching videos. The result is a more fluid and lifelike video quality
You can have a reduced display size by simply pressing the home button twice but I had never like this feature

Multimedia quality : 9.5
Its audio and video quality is simply superb. I would say its audio quality is as good if not even better than HTC 10. Superb gadget for watching videos

Battery life : 9
With mainly internet based stuffs ( browsing, youtube, whatsapp, newsfeed, tweeter, facebook, mail etc) with no gaming my average is about 9-10 hours. It score slight lower than my other MiMax ( 11-12 hours), Mate 8 ( 10-11 hours)

GPS, Call quality, LTE connectivity : 9.5
No issues here at all

Well, depends on the individual. Some may not see the value of the S Pen, Display and Battery, but prefer the RAM, Storage and Processor. In terms of resale value there is no denying that the Note 7 will be miles ahead of the Zenfone 3 Deluxe.