Asus ZenFone 3s Max Review: A necessary upgrade or not?

While other big players such as Mi, Motorola, Huawei, etc. have already marked their presence in the budget range segment, Asus has finally released a new smartphone named ‘Asus Zenfone 3s Max’. As the name suggests, Asus has decided to shift the focus to the Battery.

This new smartphone from Asus is specially targeted to the customers who are looking for smartphones with a huge battery backup. While we already have cheap smartphones with excellent battery backup such as Redmi 3S, Redmi 4, etc. , Asus has come up with even better overall specifications.

Asus Zenfone 3s Max Specifications

Zenfone 3s Max comes with a 5.2-inch HD display (720p resolution) powered by Mediatek 6750 octa-core processor at 1.51Ghz and 3GB RAM. It also comes with a 32GB storage which is expandable to 2TB vi the hybrid slot. The smartphone features a 13MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. The highlight of this phone is the battery. Zenfone 3s Max is powered by a 5000 mAh battery and runs on the latest Android Nougat 7.0.

While the lack of Full HD screen is a disappointment since most of the display quality and color production is very good. Another negative point of this device is the hybrid slot. Yes, you can either run 2 SIM cards, or you can run one SIM card and use a microSD card.

Design

The device is beautifully designed, and the 5.2-inch screen is perfect for all users as it is neither too big and neither too small. Although the device is bit heavy, it doesn’t have a bulky feel when you hold it. The fingerprint sensor is not integrated with the home button, and the device has a metallic feel with stylish curved edges.

Camera

Zenfone 3s Max comes with a 13-mp rear camera and an 8 MP front camera which has now become a standard for these budget smartphones. However, if you compare it with the likes of Huawei 6X, they still need to work hard to the image reproduction. For a smartphone at this range, the quality is still justified. Don’t consider this smartphone if Camera is your primary concern.

Battery

This is the main attraction of this device. Powered by a whopping 5000 mAh battery, this device can run for more than 2 Days on a moderate usage. However, the battery performance may vary according to resource usage. For example, using Single SIM would give you better battery backup than using double SIM simultaneously. If you are looking for a budget smartphone with excellent battery, this can be a justified choice.

What’s Good and What’s Bad

Talking about the Good, the battery is definitely a plus point. Along with this, the 13-mp rear camera and 8 MP front camera is what you can expect in this segment as Zenfone 3s Max represent this well. The finger-print sensor is a positive add-on too. Apart from this, Android Nougat 7.0 gives an advantage. Users can also expect the Android O update for the same device.

Regarding the negatives, we wish if Asus would have added a Full HD Screen as many of the other competitors in this range already comes with Full HD screen such as Redmi Note 4, Lenovo K6 Power, Honor 6X, etc. The hybrid slot is yet another con of this smartphone.

Final Verdict

This device is available for INR 14,999 on online retail stores. It would be very simply for you to judge whether to buy of not. If you are looking for a decent device with your main requirement as Battery, this can be a great choice for you as it comes with the branding of Asus. However, if you are looking for a device with good display quality or a Full HD screen, you can consider the other options listed above. Asus has never disappointed their customers regarding providing software updates, and we do hope that Asus will make Android O available for the Zenfone 3s Max users.

Asus Zenfone 3s Max is available on both Flipkart and Amazon for a price of INR 14,999. Currently, it comes with only variants, Black and Gold.
If you are using this device then do let us know your reviews regarding the save in the comments section.