Asus had launched its Zenfone Max Pro M1 smartphone in India last month and it went on sale exclusively via Flipkart on May 3. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is one of the phones powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 636 SoC. Apart from this, the other highlights of the phone are 18:9 FHD+ display, stock Android Oreo, dual rear cameras and a 5,000mAh battery.
With this phone, Asus is looking to excel in the below Rs. 15,000 price segment in India where companies like Xiaomi have a stranglehold. The ZenFone Max Pro M1 price in India starts at Rs. 10,999 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant. The 4GB RAM variant costs Rs. 12,999. The phone went out of stock during the first pre-orders and it will be available for next sale on May 10.
Here we are listing some reasons why you should consider this new mid-range phone from Asus and why you shouldn’t.
Reasons to Buy Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1
Metal Unibody Design and 18:9 Display
The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 despite being a budget phone features a good design. The phone comes with a metal unibody design with a metal body at the back and a 2.5D curved glass at the front. The phone despite being a 5.99-inch device is easy to hold because of its sleek design and lightweight.
If we talk about the display, the Zenfone Max Pro M1 features the latest 18:9 display panel. The 5.99-inch IPS LCD display on the Zenfone Max Pro M1 comes with an FHD+ screen resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels and ~403 PPI pixel density. The display looks good from all viewing angles and is clearly visible with rich colors even in daylight.
Dual Rear Cameras
The camera is another USP of the Zenfone Max Pro M1. The dual rear camera setup with a 13MP primary rear camera having LED flash and PDAF and a secondary 5MP camera for depth effect, looks like a good combination. In our testing, the rear cameras seem to offer good results in all lighting conditions. It can record 4K videos as well.
Up front, there is an 8MP selfie camera with features like Softlight LED Flash, portrait or Bokeh mode and beautify mode. The front camera also performs well in all conditions and clicks some good selfies. It can record 1080p videos.
Camera Samples
Powerful Hardware
The phone is powered by the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor which is clocked at 1.8 GHz. The latest chipset from Qualcomm is based on the 14nm process and it has eight Kryo 260 CPUs. Also, it comes with Adreno 509 GPU for graphics rendering. The octa-core CPU is powerful enough for moderate usage including heavy gaming and multitasking.
If we talk about benchmarking, it scored well in AnTuTu benchmarking test and the score is even better than the Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 Pro that comes with a similar hardware.
In terms of memory, the device comes in two variants – 3GB RAM + 32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM + 64GB internal storage. The device comes with a dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansion up to 256GB. The company will also launch a 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage variant soon.
Stock Android Experience
If we talk about software, the Zenfone Max Pro M1 runs the latest stock Android Oreo 8.1. Asus has ditched its ZENUI and you can experience pure Android Oreo which is a good thing. Performance wise, the phone is showing good results and the UI is smooth.
Big Battery
The battery is also the highlight of the Zenfone Max Pro M1 as it comes with a big 5,000mAh Li-ion non-removable battery. As per the company, it can offer 2 days battery life. In our testing, the battery was able to get us through a full day which included videos streaming and some game playing as well. The device comes with a 10W charger and also supports reverse charging.
Reasons not to buy the Zenfone Max Pro M1
Apart from all these above-mentioned good features, there are still a few cons of the Zenfone Max Pro M1.
No Fast Charge
With great battery comes great charging time. The Zenfone Max Pro M1’s 5,000mAh battery takes at least 3 hours to get a full charge and it is one of the cons of the phone. The phone doesn’t support quick charge even though the Snapdragon 636 has the support for it.
No USB Type C
The USB Type-C port has become pretty much a standard these days. So, it would be great to see the Asus Zenofone Max Pro M1 sporting a type C port. Unfortunately, the phone still features the old micro USB port for charging and data transfer.
Overall, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is a great value-for-money phone in the 15K segment with its powerful processor, a bezel-less display, latest stock Android and a good dual camera setup.
