Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1: First impressions

ASUS recently announced a partnership with Flipkart to launch ‘Made for India’ smartphones, and the first smartphone from the partnership has just been launched. Yes, I’m talking about the new Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1. This budget smartphone packs some great specifications and features at a price starting from 10,999 yen. Well, I’ve had a chance to play with this device for a while now, so here are my first impressions of the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1.

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 specs

Before we share our thoughts, let’s take a look at the specifications of the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1.

design

The first thing we noticed about the Asus ZenFone Max Pro’s design is its similarity to Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro. In other words, the device looks a lot like popular Xiaomi products, especially when viewed from the front, thanks to its 18:9 display and similarly sized bezels. Comparisons aside, the device looks like a modern smartphone . I don’t like very plain backs, but that’s fine. The back features a dual-camera setup, Asus branding, and a well-placed fingerprint scanner .

The Max Pro M1’s design is decent considering the fact that it’s a budget smartphone, but I wish Asus had included a USB-C port instead of the traditional microUSB port . As for how it feels in the hand, the device feels a bit heavy due to the huge 5,000 mAh battery. Other than that, there’s nothing wrong with the ZenFone Max Pro M1’s design.

screen

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 features a 5.99-inch Full HD+ (2160 x 1080) display with 450 nits maximum brightness, 1500:1 contrast ratio, and 85% NTSC color gamut. So, in theory, the Max Pro M1 has a great display, and from my brief use of the device, the display looks pretty good. Moderate brightness, very good color reproduction, and very sharp.

camera

Note : The 6GB RAM version of ZenFone Max Pro comes with an upgraded 16MP camera on both the back and front. Although we haven’t tested this version of the device yet, these are our camera impressions for the 3GB and 4GB versions of the ZenFone Max Pro.

ZenFone Max Pro M1 comes with a 13 MP f/2.2 primary camera and a 5 MP secondary camera sensor for depth shots . The Max Pro M1 seems to have a decent dual camera setup considering its price. In my short-term use, the Pro M1 takes some decent shots, especially when there’s plenty of light. You can take the best photos in this price range even in dark places. Here are some photos I took.

When it comes to portrait mode, ZenFone Max Pro M1 is quite impressive. Admittedly, I haven’t taken many shots from my phone, but the few I’ve taken look impressive. Edge detection is great, background blur is great, and the camera keeps everything natural.

The ZenFone Max Pro M1 has an 8 MP f/2.0 camera on the front that takes decent photos. The front camera also has a portrait mode, and its edge detection doesn’t seem to be as good as the rear camera’s edge detection, but it’s pretty good.

Overall, it wouldn’t be fair to pass judgment on the Max Pro M1 camera right away, but from the looks of it, the Max Pro M1’s camera seems impressive considering the price it’s being offered . Additionally, ZenFone Max Pro can shoot 4K videos . This is not something many phones in this price range can boast about.

Hardware and performance

Under the hood, ZenFone Max Pro M1 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 636 processor with up to 4GB of RAM and up to 64GB of storage . There is a 3GB/32GB version, and for my usage, the device offers competent performance. So we all know that the new Snapdragon 636 processor is a great chipset, and it shows in the Max Pro M1’s performance. There’s no lag at all, but that’s in my short period of use. We plan to test this device extensively, so stay tuned for our full review. That being said, the ZenFone Max Pro M1 runs on stock Android, so we definitely have high expectations when it comes to performance. Well, it’s pretty much standard Android.

software

Yes, the ZenFone Max Pro M1 is the first Asus phone to run stock Android, and I absolutely love it. You see, I’ve always been a stock Android guy, so I was very happy when I saw that the Max Pro M1 came with stock Android 8.1 Oreo. That said, I said this is “almost” stock Android , and that’s because Asus has included some of its own apps. Well, it’s actually three apps, the Asus Calculator app, the FM Radio app, and the Sound Recorder app. I don’t think you can call these apps bloatware.

Apart from the few Asus apps I mentioned earlier, the Android build comes with a variety of cool gestures, including a double tap to wake or lock your device, and a character gesture to open certain apps . In addition to gestures , Asus has also added “Face unlock” . ZenFone Max Pro M1 features and works well. Admittedly, these are great additions to stock Android.

battery

This is where the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 is most impressive. Max Pro M1 comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery that will last you a long time. According to Asus, the ZenFone Max Pro is one of the slimmest smartphones in the world with a 5000mAh battery, which is commendable. The device easily lasted two days with moderate to heavy use . This is truly amazing. Additionally, the device comes with fast charging support, but the charger bundled with the device is a standard charger.

connectivity

The ZenFone Max Pro comes with all the usual connectivity options you would expect from a modern smartphone. The phone features dual SIM card support and a separate slot for a microSD card . Yes, there are no hybrid slots here. Apart from that, the phone comes with Bluetooth 4.2, 4G support, and more.

ZenFone Max Pro: Pricing and availability

Asus ZenFone Max Pro will be available exclusively on Flipkart from May 3rd . Prices are JPY 10,999 for the 3GB/32GB version, JPY 12,999 for the 4GB/64GB, and JPY 14,999 for the 6GB/64GB with upgraded 16MP cameras on both the front and rear.

It is also the first phone to come with Flipkart’s ‘Complete Mobile Protection’ scheme . This covers liquid damage and screen breakage from a simple pick-up or drop on your doorstep. Flipkart Complete Mobile Protection is available at a special introductory offer of $49 .

SEE ALSO: Asus launches ROG GL503, GX501 (ROG Zephyrus) with 8th generation Intel processors in India

ZenFone Max Pro: the perfect replacement for Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro?

ASUS has released a number of budget smartphones over the past few years, but we’d say the ZenFone Max Pro is one of their best efforts yet. It’s reasonably priced, has great features and specs, and comes with stock Android. Well, the ZenFone Max Pro finally brings some competition to the Redmi Note 5 series.

Our full ZenFone Max Pro M1 review will be published soon, but if you have any questions regarding the device, let us know in the comments section below. We’ll be sure to answer that for you in our ZenFone Max Pro review.