Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 goes on sale today: Better than Redmi Note 5 Pro?

An efficient operating system, coupled with a mammoth battery and top-notch performance makes yej Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 a challenger to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro in the budget smartphone segment.

Taiwanese computer peripheral manufacturer Asus, known for its wide portfolio of smartphone across price bands, is eyeing a larger share of the budget segment in India’s price-conscious smartphone market with its latest offering, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.
Aiming to end Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s monopoly in the budget segment, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 made its global debut on April 23. This budget smartphone comes in two variants – 3 GB of RAM and 32GB storage, and 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage – and the company has also confirmed that a premium 6 GB RAM variant would be added to the portfolio later. The 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB variants would go on sale exclusively on Flipkart, starting May 3.Touted as a smartphone designed for Indian consumers, the Zenfone Max Pro M1 has stock Android Oreo operating system, a modern 18:9 aspect ratio screen, dual rear cameras, and a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery.



The smartphone offers a competitive propositions in budget segment, but can it compete with the Redmi Note 5 Pro? Business Standard reviewed the Zenfone Max Pro M1 to test its overall performance, and here are the observations:

Design

The Zenfone Max Pro M1 looks similar to other modern budget smartphones like the Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro and sports a tall stance due to its 18:9 aspect ratio screen. The front is covered with curved glass that blends seamlessly with the metallic chassis. The back, on the other hand, is made of metal with a patch of plastic work on top and bottom. The back has a fingerprint scanner on the upper middle-centre and a dual-camera set-up on the top-left corner. Interestingly, the phone’s rear camera unit does not bulge out, unlike the Redmi Note 5 Pro, and has a subtle protruding rim to protect the glass. That apart, the back looks bland and has little more to offer.
In terms of usability, the phone feels light and has good ergonomics, with a tall stance making it easy to hold and comfortable to carry in a pocket or pouch. However, because of its ultra-wide display, the phone is difficult to operate using one hand.

Display

The smartphone has a 6-inch 18:9 aspect ratio screen of fullHD+ (2160 x 1080) resolution. Though an IPS unit, the screen lacks vividness and has a reflexive nature hampering sunlight legibility. On the positive side, the rounded corners of the screen look better than pointed edges. There is no shift in colours when looked from angles and the slim side bezels leave enough space to hold the device without accidentally touching the screen area.

Camera

The Zenfone Max Pro M1 has a 13-megapixel primary lens paired with a 5MP wide-angle lens on the back and an 8MP shooter on the front. Both the front and back cameras are supported by soft LED flashes.
In terms of output, the rear camera unit manages to take satisfactory images in daylight conditions. However, the photos taken in low light look grainy with visible noise levels.
Unfortunately, there is no manual mode to tweak the settings and the built-in night mode requires steady hands to take good shots. The camera has portrait and beauty modes. The portrait mode, just like Redmi Note 5 Pro, manages to take photos with enhanced blur and no artificial artefacts or hallows around the object. The beauty mode is not as strict as found in Asus’s other budget devices. Speaking of video, the resolution maxes out at 720p only and the quality is sub-par.
The Zenfone Max Pro relies on the Snapdragon Camera app, which is not as polished as the camera app found in ZenUI, Asus’ proprietary customised theme based on Google Android. However, the app has been custom-tuned to make it easier to understand and use.

Performance and battery

The Zenfone Max Pro M1 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, which is an octa-core SoC built on a 14 nanometre (NM) process. The phone boots Android Oreo 8.1 operating system out of the box, with only a few Asus apps pre-installed.
The phone performs consistently with no signs of lags or stutter. The UI looks neat and the phone handles power-intensive apps without breaking sweat. The phone keeps the thermals in control as well while using power-intensive tasks for extended hours. It does get warm but not so much as to make phone unstable.
Importantly, the phone’s 5000mAh battery keep the show running for more than a day and a half. Even with exhaustive use, which involves online video streaming and continuous multiplayer online gaming, the phone manages to go for one full day before asking for charge.
The only downside is the battery charging time from zero to 100 per cent – that ranges between two-and-a-half to three hours.

Verdict

The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is priced at Rs 10,999, Rs 12,999 and Rs 14,999 for 3GB/32GB, 4GB/64GB and 6GB/64GB RAM and storage variants. At these price points, the phone offers a performance that is on a par with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro.
The phone is meant for people who like vanilla Android experience more than theme-based UX. The phone’s efficient operating system, coupled with a mammoth battery and top-notch performance, makes it a strong option in the budget smartphone segment. However, the phone’s camera is a downside putting it behind the Redmi Note 5 Pro, which has better photography and videography capabilities.