INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Asus has often experimented with emerging product markets such as netbooks, wearables, tablets, and of course smartphones
The company's biggest success in the Indian smartphone market was back in 2014, when it was one of the first to kick off the low-cost
relatively unfamiliar brand a chance.Since then, Asus has tried a number of strategies: going exclusively high-end with the ZenFone 3
series, then focusing on selfies with the ZenFone 4 series, and targeting tiny niches now and then with products such as the ZenFone
However, new Chinese brands had moved in on the value market during that time, and none of Asus' recent efforts achieved the same level of
success.Now, Asus trying to going back to its strategy of delighting buyers with devices that have premium features at almost impossibly
More specifically, it's looking to reclaim the sub-Rs
It will be tougher than before, but the more options, the better for buyers.The new Zenfone Max Pro M1 was developed specifically for India,
according to Asus, and it could be the first of many such devices
10,999, we're paying attention.We were able to spend some time with a pre-sale version of this phone prior to its official launch, and while
there were a few elements that weren't quite ready for release, we can tell you quite a lot about the Zenfone Max Pro M1 - including whether
It will be available in Grey and Midnight Black, and our review unit is the latter
It's more of a really dark navy blue than black, and you'll see that more under strong light
It feels pretty good, with a non-slippery back and rounded-edge glass on the front
There are no sharp edges and even the camera module barely protrudes at all.The frame is made of aluminium and there's a metal backplate
One problem is how badly the rear gets smudged with fingerprints
Because of its size, you won't be able to reach all parts of the screen with one thumb, and it can be a little top-heavy when typing with
both thumbs at keyboard level
We had to deal with a few failed recognition attempts early in our review process, but an OTA update fixed most of these issues
mid-way.There's the mandatory 18:9 screen in the front, with rounded corners and narrow borders on either side
The power and volume buttons on the right are within easy reach, as is the fingerprint sensor on the back
We're slightly disappointed to see a Micro-USB port on the bottom rather than Type-C, but we can live with this
There's also a 3.5mm audio socket and a single speaker
The tray on the left has cutouts for two Nano-SIMs as well as a microSD card.In the box, you get a 10W charger, a USB cable, some warranty
its base that helps direct and amplify sound
and softwareThe big news here is the use of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 636 processor, designed for premium mid-range smartphones, in a device
It's no surprise that this is the same processor that Xiaomi chose for its Redmi Note 5 Pro
We were expecting this phone to launch in India around now but it's positioned in a much higher product segment so we'll have to see how
As a sidenote, we can now also see why Qualcomm decided to introduce a Snapdragon 700 series to fill the gap between this segment and the
Asus has used the Max name for phones with big batteries before, so this is a fitting continuation
This explains the phone's relative bulk and weight, and considering how impressed we were with the Redmi Note 5 Pro's battery life, we
hope this phone blows us away.We're glad to see that there's no notch on the 5.99-inch screen
It has an 18:9 aspect ratio and resolution of 1080x2160
The corners are rounded, and Asus claims a 450nit maximum brightness with a contrast ratio of 1500:1 and 85 percent reproduction of the NTSC
In terms of design, this phone isn't exactly borderless but it does look slick and modern
The screen is bright enough for outdoor use, and colours are quite vibrant
We had no complaints about viewing angles either
There's a night mode as well as manual colour temperature adjustment in the Settings app.You can choose between two variants of the
Zenfone Max Pro M1: one has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage priced at Rs
10,999, while the other - priced at Rs
12,999 - has 4GB and 64GB respectively
to two Nano-SIM slots, this phone has a dedicated microSD card slot, and capacity support goes up to 2TB
You can use two 4G SIMs at a time, but only one will run at 4G speed while the other is limited to 3G
There's single-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n which is a surprise, considering that the Snapdragon 636 supports faster Wi-Fi 802.11ac
However you do get Bluetooth 5 with aptX audio.Asus has ditched its custom ZenUI and apps in favour of stock Android 8.1 with this model,
which is quite a big surprise considering how much the company usually trumpets all the little things it pays attention to in terms of
shortcuts and customisations
The company tells us that this was in response to market research, and it decided that this was the better approach for the intended market
Of course, it also presents a huge contrast to Xiaomi's MIUI
Asus also told Gadgets 360 that it intends to deliver updates all the way till Android Q, which would be a pretty big bonus.You get all the
Android Oreo features such as notification dots, action shortcuts on app icons, and split-screen multitasking
We found ourselves missing simple things like an auto brightness toggle in the quick shortcuts panel, and the ability to double-tap the
screen to wake the phone from sleep
We do know that there are some customisations though
For example, Asus is advertising facial recognition as a feature of this phone, but it hadn't been implemented yet on the pre-release
software running on our unit, so we weren't able to test it for ourselves.There's still a little bloatware, but it's manageable
You get Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Go2Pay preinstalled, and none of them can be removed
camerasOur review unit was the variant with 3GB of RAM and we didn't feel at any point that this was too little
The Zenfone Max Pro M1 ran all our apps smoothly, and every part of the Android UI was snappy at all times
We enjoyed watching videos and playing games
This is a pretty good phone for entertainment, although the rear did get slightly warm after some time.Benchmark scores were very high,
thanks to the Snapdragon 636 processor
AnTuTu gave us 114,096 points, and Geekbench's single- and multi-core results were 1,330 and 4,755 respectively
GFXBench's T-rex test ran at 34fps, and 3DMark Slingshot gave us a score of 1,440.The battery was able to get us through a full working
day with a fair bit of videos streaming and some time spent playing 3D games, but that isn't especially impressive considering its 5000mAh
Our video loop battery test ran for 13 hours, 29 minutes which is less than what the Redmi Note 5 Pro managed with a smaller battery, and
also well short of Asus's claim of 25 hours of continuous video playback
This is an odd result, and we should note that power management could improve once Asus releases the final shipping firmware.There's a 10
Watt charger charger in the box, and while Qualcomm Quick Charge isn't explicitly publicised as a feature, our review unit did display the
"charging rapidly" message
We were able to go from zero to 15 percent in 10 minutes but it took just under three hours to get to 100 percent.The single speaker on the
bottom can get very loud, but music distorts badly at full volume
The cardboard Max Box is being touted as an amplifier but it's more of a gimmick
It unfolds very cleverly into a stand with a base that channels sound towards you
There is a slight amplifying effect, but while it might be useful for music or calls, you can't use it when watching videos in landscape
On the front, there's an 8-megapixel camera with its own flash.We found the camera app to be a little confusing, with controls that
weren't well laid out at all
For example, the flash settings are in a menu and it takes three taps to turn it on or off
There's also no way to know what state it's in unless you open the menu to check
There's a "depth mode" toggle rather than a separate portrait mode, so you might also not always realise when it's enabled
It also takes three taps to get into video mode and begin recording
There are some scene modes and beautification, but no manual mode.The rear camera can record 4K video but for some reason there are two
resolution options, 4K DCI and 4K UHD, but there's nothing telling users what the difference is (the former is 4096x2160 while the latter
On the other extreme, there are options to record at QVGA (320x240) and CIF (352x240) resolutions which have no use case at all these days
We saw some minor UI changes in OTA updates during the course of our review, but we think a complete overhaul is necessary.In the daytime,
the shots we took with the Zenfone Max Pro M1 were quite vibrant, with colours that popped nicely
Some details and textures at a distance weren't all that sharp, but close-ups fared relatively well in this regard
The depth mode produced visible results with smooth gradients between the foreground and background
At night, details get a little fuzzy and it takes much longer to lock focus, but things are largely under control.Tap to see full-sized Asus
The front camera is pretty good as well, and people will be happy with the quality of selfies
The only trouble we had was that the front flash doesn't provide soft illumination, but is in actual flash that fires harshly in your
face.Asus has promised some camera quality improvements with software updates that should be ready by the time anyone buys this phone, but
even as it stands at the time of our review, the Zenfone Max Pro M1 is pretty decent.Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 in picturesVerdictAsus is going
to get a lot of attention because of the pricing of the Zenfone Max Pro M1, and it's positioning itself squarely as a Xiaomi killer
The specifications match those of the Redmi Note 5 Pro, but there are a few extra perks such as the bigger battery, dedicated microSD slot,
However, the prices are more in line with those of the Redmi Note 5, which is one rung lower in Xiaomi's lineup
We also now know what the Moto G6 lineup will be like, and it seems that there won't be any challenge from that corner in terms of
specifications, at least.Aside from the question marks hanging over the Zenfone Max Pro M1's camera quality and slightly underwhelming
battery life, Asus has managed to pull off a massive achievement
With Flipkart on board as an exclusive partner, we're hoping that the logistics of availability and distribution will not be bottlenecked
Asus is promising that it has every intention of ensuring that there's adequate supply to meet demand, and that it isn't interested in
flash sales or running out of stock quickly to create buzz
That's excellent news for buyers
We can't wait to see how Xiaomi responds.When we look back at the time that has passed since the Asus Zenfone 4, 5 and 6 were launched in
India, it's incredible to consider just how much better budget smartphones have become
We would never have believed that great phones could be this affordable, but here we are with the Zenfone Max Pro M1
Asus is sending a clear message that it intends to do whatever it takes to be successful in India, and once again, buyers win.
