We have come a long way in the development of smartphones. There was a time when phones were just used for calling and now-a-days phones have become an integral part of the life and are used in many aspects. It is not just a phone now, it’s smartphone. A phone can now be used for photography, for tracking fitness, as a device for entertainment and what not. However, the battery life is still a big issue for smartphone users and manufacturers. That’s the reason that a new market has emerged in the smartphone field which is mainly focused on improved and bigger better life.
Asus ZenFone Max Review
The latest entry in this market is Asus ZenFone Max which has become the talk of the town. The reason behind why ZenFone Max is hitting the news is its mammoth 5000 mAh battery. While most of the smartphone companies are still struggling to fit 3000 mAh battery, Asus is all set and ready with ZenFone Max. The million-dollar question here is whether Asus ZenFone is worth of being the king of battery life or it is just another hype?
Design and Look
When it comes to Asus, the company does not believe much in experimenting with the look. ZenFone Max is like any other Asus phone featuring the trademark concentric circle design just below the off-screen capacitive buttons. It is currently available in only two colours. The white colour variant features a smooth finish at the back while the black one supports a leather-like back texture.
A rounded gold plastic strip is running along the sides of the phone which improves the feel and grip. There is one noticeable difference in the placing of power and volume buttons. With the Asus ZenFone 2 series, Asus started to place the power button at the top and volume rocker on the back. While few users lived this new concept, it was not supported by most of them. So just to be on the safe side, Asus has gone with the traditional placement of the buttons on the right side of the device.
The back side of the device is plain. Camera, flash and laser autofocus are placed at the top pf the back while the speaker grille is at the bottom. There is nothing special about the design and it is simple yet effective.
Display
The device sports a 5.5 inch HD IPS display with a pixel density of 1280 x 720 pixels. The company could have gone with the full HD display but, it would consume more power then. So, to keep the battery consumption at low, we have an HD display in ZenFone Max. The display is decent with average brightness, colours and viewing angles.
Hardware
ZenFone Max is powered by a 1.2 GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC Processor and is supported by a 2 GB of RAM. It is backed up by a 16 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 64 GB. The storage is not an issue with the device as it also supports USB OTG.
Since it is a 10k range smartphone you can’t expect much from it. The phone delivers just above average performance with a decent multitasking. The phone does lag a lot but, only when you do some heavy gaming or heavy multitasking. It is a dual SIM phone and supports 4G.
Software
The device comes with Android Lollipop 5.0 out of the box with ZenUI on the top. There is no doubt in the fact that ZenUI is one of the best UI in the market. It feels fresh and offers many customisation options and control. Right from motion gesture to quick controls and various power management options, ZenUI is simply amazing. The only downside with the ZenUI is its bloatware. The device comes with a lot of pre-installed apps which needs to be updated on regular basis.
Camera
ZenFone Max is offering laser autofocus at a price range of 10k which gives it a big advantage over other phones in this price range. The device comes with a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front camera. The best part here is that both the cameras are capable of recording 1080p videos. There is a dual tone LED flash to add more brightness to the images.
The camera app is still the same like other Asus phones. Asus is known for having a good camera in their phones and delivers excellent quality pictures. At under 10 k you are getting features like slow motion, time lapse, panorama, manual settings and beautification which makes it a great option for photography lovers.
Battery
The fact that ZenFone Max is powered by a 5000 mAh of the battery is itself astonishing. The phone can run for three to four days on a full charge and moderate usage. The long battery life is one of the strongest points of the device. The only thing missing with battery is a good charger. Asus somehow decided to provide a 1 Ampere charger with the device which is not enough for such a big battery. You will have to buy a high speed or a 2 Ampere charger or you will end up waiting for hours to get your phone fully charged.
Final verdict
At 9999, ZenFone Max is a good deal. If you are looking for a device with long battery life or if you are someone who travels a lot or uses his phone a lot, Asus ZenFone Max is the perfect device for you.
nice review… I got my Asus Zenfone Max just this week and have been using it for more than 2 days already. Battery life is excellent, playing music via spotify all day long, sound quality is superb. 🙂
but
13 Mp Camera ?? too bad quality . and The home button in the bottom centre is so close to the keyboard when it’s opened that half the time you go to hit the space bar and you hit the home button and everything closes.
no headphone.