Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 Hands-on Review: Best Budget Phone?

Taiwanese Smartphone manufacturer, Asus launched their latest Max series smartphone in India recently. The Zenfone Max Pro M1 joins the Zenfone Max lineup. The lineup consists of phones designed for performance with high battery life. The smartphone is launched with a price tag of Rs 10,999. With that price tag, it comes in direct competition with smartphones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.

The highlights of the smartphone include the 5,000mAh battery and a 5.99-inch Full HD+ (1080x2160) 18:9 aspect ratio display. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset coupled with Adreno 509. The smartphone packs a 3GB RAM with 32GB storage or 4GB RAM with 64GB storage. The device sports a 13-megapixel f/2.2 rear sensor coupled with a 5-megapixel f/2.4 aperture at the back. The front camera sensor is an 8-megapixel f/2.2 aperture. The dual-SIM handset also packs features like OTG support and a FingerPrint sensor.

Design

The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 boasts a 5.99-inch Full HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The company claims a near bezel-less display, however, the phone has fewer bezels than traditional smartphones. The display is not something you can call best of the line but is definitely worth the price tag. The display is good enough and vivid. The overall build quality is good enough for the price tag. The phone is a little heavy as the massive 5,000mAh battery adds in the weight. So it is a tradeoff. Also, the phone looks like it has a metal body at the first look which is actually plastic. The device feels sturdy in hand and it looks and feels premium.

The device feels nothing like a cheap budget phone. It feels a lot more premium than the price may suggest. However, it still feels quite good in the hand. The dual camera setup is recessed. Without a camera bump, it stays flat on a table which is definitely a plus.

Camera

On the optics front, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 sports a dual rear camera setup. It consists of a 13-megapixel f/2.2 rear sensor coupled with a 5-megapixel f/2.4 aperture. The photos are you can say good for the price. The contrast is quite good. The white balance is a little bad, However, our unit is in pre-production software and there is an update to fix that. So stay tuned for a full review. The colours are good. Overall the photos are pretty good compared to its price.

For the selfies, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 sports an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The story is same with the front camera.

Overall the camera situation on the Zenfone Max Pro M1 is good enough for the price point. Definitely better than the rest of its competition.

Price

The smartphone starts at Rs 10,999 with a massive 5,000mAh and 18:9 display. The smartphone packs a lot of power and a massive long lasting battery for that price point. Also, the phone packs a stock Android version. This makes it one of the most fluid software seen on a budget phone. This definitely ignites the Android Purist at the same time. So from the first impressions, the smartphone is definitely the budget phone you can buy right now.