ASUS recently announced the latest smartphone - ZenFone Max Pro M1 and it strikes a match in the budget smartphone category along with competitors such as Xiaomi's Redmi Note 5 Pro and Nokia 6.1 (2018). As the specification are nearly identical.
ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 has solid metal built body which does not feel hefty and it's sport a fingerprint sensor located at the back of the phone.
The unlocking speed on average speed not as rapid as Xiaomi Mi 8 SE which I've reviewed previously. M1 also supports 2D facial recognition.
The ZenFone Max Pro M1 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC along with generously sized at 5,000mha with rear dual camera setup. For the storage and RAM catered to Singapore market is the 32GB with 3GB RAM. Minimal lag are excusable due to the 3GB ram built-in; as my usage, I could feel some hiccup whenever switch app to app.
What's make the M1 (let's called it as 'M1' as the name is super long!) special and running under Google's AndroidOne program - Android Oreo 8.1!
M1 supports tri-slot setup, 2 nano sim with microSD slot and both sim slot support 4G network concurrent.
ASUS promised a 2-days nonstop use battery life as per their marketing site - As what it said, the battery life is super long lasting. During my usage, it has almost 6 hours of screen on time (SOT) as I'm playing MapleStory M on this phone and left around ~30%. Still, managed to survive the entire day with social media and multimedia usage.
ASUS did not disappoint us with the display as it's a 6" 18:9 Full View display and sport a Full HD+ (2160 x 1080). The display has an excellent viewing either indoor or outdoor under bright sunlight; quite impressed with LCD panel on M1. The color is bright and variant under the sun.
A single firing speaker found on the bottom of the phone; it is loud as what ASUS marketed as MaxBox. However, it loses clarity as blasting almost max volume.
M1 sported a dual camera setup - 13MP f/2.2 with a 5MP sensor for portrait mode and the front camera is an 8MP sensor.
Somehow the photo quality just looking on below average side, quite disappointing as ASUS did wow us with their better offering - ZenFone 5. The color reproduction and portrait mode look offset, exposure does not well balance and loses detail. Last but not least, the camera UI is too dated looking and difficult to navigate which far from ASUS's own camera app on ZenFone 5. Nevertheless, photos taken from this phone are still Instagram-able.
Here are some sample shots:
Verdict?
With the comprises of the camera and compares all budget smartphone in the market with equivalent specification with slight better. It is difficult for an end consumer to pick over M1. However, if you prefer an bang for buck smartphone with ultra long lasting battery and do not mind the lackluster camera performer, it is still a recommended phone for it price as i got it during the promotional period of SGD$258.
The promotional price went up by $20 at SGD$278 as last checked on Lazada's ASUS page and it's retail store.
ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 has solid metal built body which does not feel hefty and it's sport a fingerprint sensor located at the back of the phone.
The unlocking speed on average speed not as rapid as Xiaomi Mi 8 SE which I've reviewed previously. M1 also supports 2D facial recognition.
What's make the M1 (let's called it as 'M1' as the name is super long!) special and running under Google's AndroidOne program - Android Oreo 8.1!
M1 supports tri-slot setup, 2 nano sim with microSD slot and both sim slot support 4G network concurrent.
ASUS promised a 2-days nonstop use battery life as per their marketing site - As what it said, the battery life is super long lasting. During my usage, it has almost 6 hours of screen on time (SOT) as I'm playing MapleStory M on this phone and left around ~30%. Still, managed to survive the entire day with social media and multimedia usage.
ASUS did not disappoint us with the display as it's a 6" 18:9 Full View display and sport a Full HD+ (2160 x 1080). The display has an excellent viewing either indoor or outdoor under bright sunlight; quite impressed with LCD panel on M1. The color is bright and variant under the sun.
A single firing speaker found on the bottom of the phone; it is loud as what ASUS marketed as MaxBox. However, it loses clarity as blasting almost max volume.
M1 sported a dual camera setup - 13MP f/2.2 with a 5MP sensor for portrait mode and the front camera is an 8MP sensor.
Somehow the photo quality just looking on below average side, quite disappointing as ASUS did wow us with their better offering - ZenFone 5. The color reproduction and portrait mode look offset, exposure does not well balance and loses detail. Last but not least, the camera UI is too dated looking and difficult to navigate which far from ASUS's own camera app on ZenFone 5. Nevertheless, photos taken from this phone are still Instagram-able.
Here are some sample shots:
Verdict?
With the comprises of the camera and compares all budget smartphone in the market with equivalent specification with slight better. It is difficult for an end consumer to pick over M1. However, if you prefer an bang for buck smartphone with ultra long lasting battery and do not mind the lackluster camera performer, it is still a recommended phone for it price as i got it during the promotional period of SGD$258.
The promotional price went up by $20 at SGD$278 as last checked on Lazada's ASUS page and it's retail store.