ASUS announced the launch of a new entrant in the high battery capacity smartphone segment. However, it is not completely a new smartphone, but an older variant with better internals. The Zenfone Max comes with almost similar hardware, but a better chipset this time.
The new Zenfone Max still follows the old model number, the Z010D ZC550KL. As opposed to the earlier model that sported a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 chipset, the new variant is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615, which bears eight ARM Cortex A53 processors with four clocked at 1.5GHz and the other four at 1.2GHz. It comes under two variants—one is clubbed with 2GB of RAM and the other with 3GB of RAM and both are coupled with an Adreno 405 GPU for enhanced gaming and performance.
The new Zenfone Max features two variants of storage—16GB and 32GB, with 2GB and 3GB RAM respectively. A micro SD card slot allows storage expansion of up to 64GB in addition. In addition to physical storage, ASUS also offers free lifetime 5GB of online webs storage from their end and Google Drive storage of 100GB for two years from the time of registration.
The Max features two micro SIM car slots that support 4G LTE and VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, a 13MP (F2.0/ 75-degree) rear camera with laser-assisted focusing and an LED flash, a 5MP (F2.0 / 85-degree) front camera, an HD 720p display with a screen size of 5.5-inches and a battery capacity of 5000mAh as before.
The Zenfone Max has been announced at an aggressive price of Rs 9,999 and 12,999, which competes directly against other rival smartphones in the same price category. However, it still falls short of some important features such as full HD display, a fingerprint sensor, IR blaster, NFC and a few others. However, what stands for the Zenfone series is the budget pricing and the rugged body, which is probably what the masses need. The smartphones will be available on Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart. The 3GB RAM variant will also be available at ASUS Exclusive stores and all other retail stores across India, at a later date.
We received the 32GB/2GB RAM variant for a review with a trendy orange back. The Zenfone Max is identical to the older variant launched earlier. The device has the same sturdy body with a plastic frame. You cannot spot any differences if you have the two devices at hand, but what comes inside the package is a better performing engine. With an upgraded chipset, ASUS if now focussing on faster performing smartphones in the lower budget segment.
The Zenfone Max has a trendy look this time—a bright orange rear panel with a leather texture makes up for a slightly better look and grip. The Max also comes in two other colour variants—Blue, White and Black. The front panel consists of the same capacitive touch buttons for Home, Menu and Back along with its trademark concentric circles on the lower bezel that distinguishes the Zenfones from other smarpthones.
The right side bears the volume and power buttons while the top and bottom sport the headphone jack and micro USB slot. The rear panel too looks identical—a 13MP camera surrounded by a dual-tone LED flash on the left, a laser focussing module on the right and a secondary mic on the top. A large speaker grille is visible on the bottom that runs wide from left to right. However, the speaker below it is just seen on the right side, which makes the large grille just a piece for aesthetics. Under the rear panel is a non-removable 5000mAh battery. The battery is stated to give you up to 3 days of usage on a full charge or up to 38 days on standby. The battery life is completely subjective to usage. The new Zenfone Max measures 77.5 x 156 x 10.55 mm (LxWxH) and weighs the same at 202g.
Two micro SIM slots and a micro SD card slow are placed above the battery. Bundled along with the smartphone are just a power adapter and a micro USB cable. Since the Max features a large battery, the company has also bundled along a USB OTG power transfer cable that can also charge other smartphones when connected. In short, you can also use the OTG cable to transfer some of your battery juice to other devices and smartphones, using it as a power bank.
The earlier model had a little issue with the display. This time, you can see a better and more vibrant display on the device. The display is crisp and clear with good visibility in broad sunlight. However, you would have to turn the brightness all the way up if you want good readability. The display bears the same resolution as that of the older variant. We did expect to see a full HD display on this one, but it seems like the company is still looking at cutting costs. The display on the new variant now features Bluelight Filter for Eye Care, which protects the users’ eyes from strain during prolonged usage.
The ASUS Zenfone Max runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 out of the box, unlike the older sibling which ran Lollipop. The Max runs the usual ZenUI skin on top of Android, which features an overkill of controls, settings and bloatware. Those migrating from another brand would not feel at home as the UI seems a little too cluttered and confusing. However, once you start using it for a few days, you will feel right at home, but you would still find a lot of apps and features that you might not necessarily use. This additional bloatware would not only keep your memory occupied, but constant updated to each of these modules would also drain your battery and data. We suggest you disable the features you won’t use to save on battery and data.
The camera on the Zenfone Max is the same as earlier and features a 13MP sensor. Assisted with a laser focussing module, the camera can click speedy photos without wasting much time on focussing. The laser-assisted focussing also largely helps with low-light photography as the invisible IR laser comes into play to focus on the subject when there is very little light on it.
The performance of the camera is not as impressive as we expected. However, for the price of the device itself, we still think it is a decent match. The camera performs on an above-average level. Indoor photos are decent, but poorly-lit areas get their part of grainy noise as usual. Subjects with sufficient lighting are well captured. The laser focus, as usual, does its part when it comes to focussing in low-light areas, helping in quickly focussing on the subject.
Photos clicked in broad daylight are pretty good. Colours are marginally vibrant and so are the contrast levels in certain areas. The overall photos are very clear, sharp and great. Metering by the camera’s engine also does a pretty well job. However, brightly lit areas are slightly overexposed. Playing around with the focussing mechanism, and few other settings in the camera, help in getting better shots.
Photo in low light without and with flash.
Without doubt, the new Zenfone Max performs higher than the older sibling—thanks to the new SD 615 chipset that powers the phone. As opposed to the older SD410-based chipset which scored 24,701 points, the new variant scored 41,181 points. As for Quadrant, the new one scored 22,308 as opposed to 14,486 points on the older variant. Going by the scores, you can see a noticeable bump of almost 70 to 80 per cent in performance. The Snapdragon 615 is a welcome change to the Max where performance in moderate gaming, multitasking and other areas are needed. Though the Snapdragon 615 chipset is power efficient, we hope the additional performance bump will not impact the battery life.
As for the battery life, since it is a completely subjective area, it is difficult to properly test the exact battery life of the device. A new smartphone will always be similar to a new toy. You keep playing with it more, exploring additional features, and playing with new apps. This will definitely cause additional drain of battery and you could never get the same battery life as proclaimed by the company. Additional factors that affect the battery life is temperature, operations, type of apps, app updates and frequency of updates, network and telecom tower signal strength and connectivity, notifications and alerts, continuous moving/travelling, device settings, power savings and multiple device connectivity (OTG and Bluetooth). Based on these factors, you should only be able to judge the actual battery life of the phone after a few months of usage. The company claims a maximum battery life of up to 3 days, but this is under test conditions and with minimal usage and settings. The company also claims a maximum battery life on standby to be 38 days. This could be possible only with no network connectivity and no SIM card with minimal apps installed.
All in all, the New ASUS Zenfone Max comes in as a nice surprise to its fans. The faster chipset, better RAM, additional storage and upgraded operating system is a big welcome. As for the price, the Max selling at Rs 9,999 seems a little steep be because rivals such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 offers a similar chipset with jaw-dropping features such as fingerprint scanner, IR blaster, full HD display and a metal frame. However, the availability of the Xiaomi product is its biggest drawback. Other rivals also have other offerings in the similar price bracket. However, the biggest advantage that ASUS’ Zenfone Max will always have is the large battery of 5000mAh, which is the most important need of the hour by any smartphone user today. So if you are looking for a smartphone with features and performance to match your daily usage and needs with an awesome battery life, the new Zenfone Max is what you should opt for.
