Asus ZenFone Max Review – ‘Powerhouse in a Smartphone’

This is a great smartphone that comes with large power backup – giving you max value for money and max performance

As a lot of smartphone vendors try their best to answer the issue of supplying the right battery power that can last over one day of rigorous usage – we have seen an increasing focus by a number of vendors on delivering large battery size.

Addressing this segment, smartphones such as the Lenovo Vibe P1 or Gionee Marathon M5 have delivered more than usual battery power at the hands of users - with 4900mAh and 6020 mAh batteries respectively. However, these smartphones come with a premium price point.

On the other hand, keeping the affordability of smartphones in mind while at the same time delivering a large battery power – Asus has launched the ZenFone Max smartphone. This lower mid-range smartphone costs INR 9,999 and is distinguishable by its large 5000mAh battery.

This smartphone holds special significance as this is the first smartphone from Asus that is officially directed towards the offline retail channel community.

This smartphone comes as a great relief for those who strive for greater battery power and it is considerably cheaper than the Marathon M5 from Gionee or Vibe P1 from Lenovo. While reviewing this smartphone, we realized that this smartphone not only comes with great battery power but also is a great device that achieves maximum power efficiency.

Simple Looks, Feels Great!

This smartphone carries a unique stamp of Asus Zenfone. The ZenFone range of smartphone from Asus has created its own super niche and its own identity that comes with uniformity of design and the ZenFone Max sticks to the basic design formula of ZenFone. This design philosophy is easy and simple to implement and hence can create a positive impact on user buying decisions.

This smartphone is available in two colour variants: black and white. The white variant comes with a smooth finish at the back, while the black variant comes with a leather-like surface. We found it extremely grip-friendly and hence simple tasks such as playing a game or taking a picture becomes super easy with this.

This comes with a 3.5mm socket and Micro-USB port that are at the top and bottom of this smartphone, while the notification light is at the front, just next to the earpiece of ZenFone Max.

Specifications and Software

This smartphone comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and dual-SIM connectivity – these specifications place this smartphone in an ideal position to deliver great user experience. So when we reviewed this device – we experienced no lag in performance while playing games or running movies on the device for longer periods.

The primary SIM slot supports 4G connectivity, while the secondary SIM slot supports 3G connectivity. The expandable storage slot supports microSD cards up to 64GB, and the phone also supports USB OTG. The Asus ZenFone Max runs on Android Lollipop 5.0.

Feature-Rich Camera Performance

ZenFone Max uses the same 13-megapixel camera and laser autofocus system, it has a 5-megapixel front camera and both cameras are capable of recording 1080p video. The rear camera comes with a dual-tone LED flash as well.

This smartphone comes with a number of camera features, modes and manual settings for both still and video photography. With this smartphone in your hand it is quite easy to implement effects such as slow motion, HDR, time lapse, panorama and beautification of pictures. All this enables great camera experience coming from this smartphone.

Max Performance with Greater Efficiency

While this phone is positioned as a device to deliver maximum power to its users, its specifications are designed to achieve greater energy efficiency as well. We found this device to deliver great performance, especially in this price point. And hence while playing games such as Asphalt – we found this device to be quite energy efficient.

Also, as a test we charged this device completely once – and used it for upto four days without charging. This is possible with the help of Snapdragon 410 SoC, which has helped this smartphone do more with less. However on the low side of this device, we do find it a little heavy when compared to other devices.

Final Verdict

At a time when there is a growing demand for greater battery powered smartphones - the ZenFone Max is designed around delivering just that while at the same time, optimizing energy usage of the smartphone.

We found this phone to be delivering a simple, yet effective design, great performance for the price point and also comes with a decent primary camera. In our opinion, the Asus ZenFone Max can be your powerhouse in a smartphone.

Asus ZenFone Max

Price - INR 9,999

Display

(5.5) 1280 X 720 HD resolution, with ASUS TrueVivid Full Screen Lamination technology, 10-finger capacitive Touch screen with Anti-fingerprint technology

Processor

Qualcomm 64-bit Quad Core Processor Snapdragon 410

GPU

Adreno 306 GPU

Storage

16GB, Google drive 100GB free space (2year), Micro SD card support, up to 64GB

Sim Card

Dual SIM, Dual Stand by (SIM1 Support 2G/3G/4G, SIM2 Support 2G)

Connectivity

802.11b/g/n; WiFi-Direct; Bluetooth V 4.0 (EDR + A2DP)

GPS

Support GPS, aGPS, Gloness, BDS

Battery

5000mAh, non-removable li-polymer battery

Sensor

Accelerator, E-Compass, Proximity, Hall sensor, Ambient light sensor

OS

Brand-new ASUS ZenUI with Android 5.0 Lollipop