The ZenFone Max Pro M1 may look dull and subdued on first glance, but considering the size of the display and the package overall, it feels well built and snug in the hand. The buttons are well positioned and are slightly on the stiffer side but it feels fine given the price of the phone for as low as ₱8,995 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM model which can be purchase from Lazada via Cash on Delivery.
Asus even managed to put in a 5,000 mAh battery into this package which will leave you baffled considering the phone is just 8.5 mm thick. The phone is not all metal, with the frame of the phone being made of polycarbonate but it does feel sturdy enough to deal with a few knocks without a problem. The no-frills design outlook is also followed by a very curvy build overall which is a breakaway from Asus’ general design language. It helps with the grip in many ways. It is not the lightest phone at 180 grams but the larger battery does justify the weight a fair bit. The back of the phone comes with the Asus branding in the middle and the fingerprint scanner on top of it.
FEATURES
The Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 has a 6-inch FHD+ (2160 by 1080) 18:9 Full View IPS display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. Under the hood, the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 636 SoC, which includes an Adreno 509 GPU. The phone has been launched in three variants which are 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage, a 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage and finally, a 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage. In terms of software, the phone runs on Android Oreo 8.1.a.
In the camera department, the phone has a dual-camera setup featuring a 13 MP sensor and a 5 MP one. The front camera is an 8 MP unit. There is also a rear placed fingerprint sensor just above the Asus logo. In terms of connectivity, the phone has dual-SIM slots, at least one of which supports 4G VoLTE.
Thankfully, you get three slots, so you can use two SIM cards as well as a microSD card. The entire setup is powered by a massive 5,000 mAh battery, which supports fast charging. Asus also throws in a software-enabled face-unlocking feature in addition to the fingerprint scanner.
The display is certainly one of the biggest plus points of the ZenFone Max Pro M1. It’s sharp, adequately bright even under direct sunlight and is just wonderful to watch videos on or play games. The 6-inch IPS LCD does not shift much colour when viewed at different angles and there are also no visible signs of backlight bleeding either. On paper, Asus says the display has a pixel density of 402 PPI but in my experience, it’s just as sharp as any other good LCD display that there is in the market. Reading long articles is not painful on the eyes either.
It is quite amazing that Asus managed to cram in a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery into the phone. With a 14nm chipset inside it, the ZenFone Max Pro lasted me two days with at least 35 percent juice left. This was with the brightness set to auto and performing daily tasks such as Facebook, Instagram, e-mail, and roughly two hours of gaming and video consumption. The battery also lasted us an impressive 11 hours and 13 minutes on our standard PC Mark Work 2.0 Battery Life test. With the supplied charger, it took me a little under 1 hour and 50 minutes hours to charge the phone up completely from 4 percent. That too is quite impressive considering you would typically need to charge the phone not more than thrice a week.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Android 8.1 Oreo
Dual SIM, Dual standby
6-inch FHD+ IPS Display, 2160 x 1080 resolution, ~402ppi
1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor
Adreno 509 GPU
3/4/6 GB RAM
32/64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 400GB
5 or 8-megapixel front camera
13 or 16-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual rear cameras, PDAF, LED flash
Fingerprint scanner
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
FM Radio
MicroUSB 2.0
Dimensions: 159 x 76 x 8.5mm
Weight: 180g
5,000mAh battery, 10W charger
One For All 