ASUS ZENFONE MAX PRO M1 REVIEW: A WORTH FOR MONEY BUDGET SMARTPHONE

ASUS ZENFONE MAX PRO M1 REVIEW: A WORTH FOR MONEY BUDGET SMARTPHONE

It has been a short time since Asus created any kind of impact within the budget segment and to try to to so, after a bevy of leaks, it finally unveiled the ZenFone Max Pro M1, partnering with Flipkart. The intent from Asus was very clear, it wanted to beat Xiaomi at its own game of creating a phone that ticks all the proper boxes but at a reasonable price.

It has been a short time since Asus created any kind of impact within the budget segment and to try to to so, after a bevy of leaks, it finally unveiled the ZenFone Max Pro M1, partnering with Flipkart. The intent from Asus was very clear, it wanted to beat Xiaomi at its own game of creating a phone that ticks all the proper boxes but at a reasonable price.

Despite being priced less than most of the opposite mid-rangers within the segment, the ZenFone Max Pro M1 was definitely made with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro in mind. In fact, when it boils right down to specifications, the 2 phone's go almost neck-to-neck. At first, you would possibly think Asus is being a touch too optimistic here, but with Xiaomi browsing supply woes, this might be the right time for Asus to steal the budget mid-range crown faraway from Xiaomi.

Build and Design: 7/10

The ZenFone Max Pro M1 may look dull and subdued on first glance, but considering the dimensions of the display and therefore the package overall, it feels well-built and comfortable within the hand. The buttons are well positioned and are slightly on the stiffer side but it feels fine given the worth of the phone.

Asus even managed to cram during a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery into this package which can leave you baffled considering the phone is simply 8.5 mm thick. The phone isn't all metal, with the frame of the phone being made from polycarbonate but it does feel sturdy enough to affect a couple of knocks without a drag.

The no-frills design outlook may be a additionally followed by a really curvy build overall which is a breakaway from Asus' general design language. It helps with the grip in some ways. It’s not the lightest phone at 180 grams but the larger battery does justify the load a good bit. The rear of the phone comes with the Asus branding within the middle and therefore the fingerprint scanner on top of it. Kudos to Asus for leaving a camera bump out for a pleasant typing experience when left lying on the table.

Features: 8/10

The Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 features a 5.99-inch FHD+ display with a facet ratio of 18:9. Under the hood, the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 636 SoC, which incorporates an Adreno 509 GPU. The phone has been launched in three variants which are 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage, a 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and eventually, a 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage. In terms of software, the phone runs on Android Oreo 8.1.

In the camera department, the phone features a dual-camera setup featuring a 13 MP sensor and a 5 MP one. The front camera is an 8 MP unit. There’s also a rear placed fingerprint sensor just above the Asus logo. In terms of connectivity, the phone has dual-SIM slots, a minimum of one among which supports 4G VoLTE.

Thankfully, you get three slots, so you'll use two SIM cards also as a microSD card. The whole setup is powered by a huge 5,000 mAh battery, which supports fast charging. Asus also throws during a software-enabled face-unlocking feature additionally to the fingerprint scanner.

Display: 8/10

The display is certainly one among the most important plus points of the ZenFone Max Pro M1. It's sharp, adequately bright even under direct sunlight and is simply wonderful to observe videos on or play games. The 5.99-inch IPS LCD doesn't shift much colour when viewed at different angles and there also are no visible signs of backlight bleeding either. On paper, Asus says the display features a pixel density of 403 PPI but in my experience, it's even as sharp as the other good LCD display that there's within the market. Reading long articles isn't painful on the eyes either.

Contrast levels are good, colours are vibrant and therefore the saturation levels also are not too over the highest. It's never like an OLED panel except for the worth, it's certainly nearly as good because it gets. Asus does contribute the power to regulate the white balance if you wish.

Compared to the Redmi Note 5 and even the Note 5 Pro, the ZenFone features a display that's at par, if not better, and that I could continue to mention that it certainly trumps every other display under the Rs 15,000 bracket.

Software: 8/10

After years of indecision and continuous experimenting, Asus has possibly made its biggest departure from a feature-heavy, animation laden, bloat-heavy Zen UI to a clean, almost stock-like experience. What has changed you'll ask? Well, almost everything from the last we saw of Zen UI on the ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro.

At first glance, you'd almost think its running on Android One. The house screen, lock screen, animations, icons, settings menu, the app drawer to even the notification shade is just like that on any phone running on Android One or stock Android.

Asus has also kept all of Android One’s stock animations making everything feel as smooth because it gets. There’s is additionally little or no pre-installed bloatware, though I did have Messenger, Facebook, Instagram and a wallet service named Go2Pay pre-installed.

The best part, however, is that the incontrovertible fact that the ZenFone Max Pro M1 runs on Android Oreo 8.1 running the April security patch. The software would generally be a problem why most users would refrain from buying Asus phones, but it definitely isn't the case this point. For those worried about updates, I received as many as four software updates in but every week of using this phone. So if Asus is basically this prompt with its software updates then it’s definitely great news for those who’d be trying to find an update to Android P as and when it arrives.

The only thing I longed for was a Gallery app, the shortage of which really makes it difficult to flick through images.

Performance: 8/10

Performance on the ZenFone Max Pro M1 is completely a breeze. The phone sports an equivalent chipset that we saw ease through tasks on the Note 5 Pro and therefore the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 does an equivalent here. Asus’ option to accompany a clean, stock-like UI also helps thereupon because the phone didn't display any hiccups even once I pushed the phone to its limits.

I played mostly titles like Lost Journey, Alto’s Adventure, Tekken, Asphalt 8 and PUBG on the phone and will run all the games at max settings. The sole game where the phone did exhibit issues with was PUBG where the sport was laggy when played at the very best setting.

The audio experience was also decent with good audio output through the three .5 mm earphone jack and an adequately loud single bottom-facing speaker. The speaker does get covered while playing games or watching videos in landscape mode but that’s the case with most phones within the price range anyway. Call quality was excellent also.

Camera: 7/10

If there had to be one category where you actually could pick faults with the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1, then it's to be the camera. The ZenFone Max Pro M1 sports a dual-camera setup on the rear with a 13 MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture, supported by a 5 MP camera with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, you get an 8 MP selfie camera. Shots in daylight are decent when shot in adequate amount of sunshine, but there's a bent to oversaturate the colors which end in slightly darker shots than expected. The images are otherwise pleasant to seem at and therefore the sharpness levels also are quite like those of the Redmi Note 5 Pro which still are best in school at the sub-Rs 15,000 price range.

The camera interface is otherwise easy to select abreast of and begin shooting. Asus has thrown during a number of dedicated shooting modes which include — HDR, portrait, landscape, sports, flowers, candlelight, sunset, beach and even an evening mode. While most of those are modes you'll not end up using, the HDR and night modes are those which still seem to figure. While daylight shots are more or less comparable, it is the low-light shots where the ZenFone really loses bent the Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro. There’s noticeable noise in most of the shots and a clear loss in clarity and colour. The night mode holds the shutter for a touch longer but you'd still struggle to urge any decent shots.

The 8 MP front camera improved a good bit after the last software update, but it still fails to click impressive selfies. The photographs are average, at best, even under bright lighting conditions. The portrait mode does an honest job in separating the topic when shooting through the rear also because the front camera, so you are doing get decent shots there. But again, in comparison to photos crazy the Redmi Note 5 Pro, the ZenFone Max Pro M1 just falls flat. the pictures are like that of the respect 9 Lite in most cases, but if you're a shutterbug then definitely try the Note 5 Pro before making a choice .

In terms of video, the phone is capable of shooting at a maximum resolution of 4K at 30 fps. However, shooting at that setting, you are doing tend to lose out on tons of details due to the shortage of any stability. Asus also allows you to mute the audio while shooting which might be handy in certain conditions.

Battery: 9/10

It is quite amazing that Asus managed to cram during a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery into the phone. With a 14 nm chipset inside it, the ZenFone Max Pro lasted me two days with a minimum of 35 percent juice left. This was with the brightness set to auto and performing daily tasks like email, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Instagram and roughly two hours of gaming and video consumption.

The battery also lasted us a powerful 11 hours and 13 minutes on our standard PC Mark Work 2.0 Battery Life test. With the supplied charger, it took me a touch under 1 hour and 50 minutes hours to charge the phone up completely from 4 percent. That too is sort of impressive considering you'd typically got to charge the phone less than thrice every week.

Verdict and Price in India

Going by specifications, the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 ticked all the boxes to form for a worthy competitor to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro also because the Honor 9 Lite. Well, it doesn't beat the respect 9 Lite in terms of sheer looks, neither does it give the camera prowess of the Note 5 Pro a run its money.

But for a phone that's priced at Rs 12,999 for the variant we had for review, there just is not any beating Asus in terms of overall value. You get an excellent 18:9 display, great gaming performance, a breezy no-frills software experience and a two-day battery life. The sole area where it does come short of great is that the camera performance and a dull overall look. But if you're someone who can look past these two qualms, then there just is not any looking past the ZenFone Max Pro M1.

In the end, the selection is sort of simple, if you're trying to find a Redmi Note 5 Pro alternative for whatever reason, the ZenFone Pro Max M1 definitely does come recommended. If you continue to need a phone with the simplest looks under Rs 15,000, the respect 9 Lite remains your pick. If you are looking for an honest performer and a phone with long-lasting battery, the professional Max M1 is that the one to travel for under Rs 15,000.