Asus Zenfone Max M1 Review: Budget Reliable Android Phone

Asus launched the new Zenfone Max M1 at the beginning of the month with Zenfone Lite L1. The first is available exclusively on Flipkart for 8,999 rupees (MRP).

As part of the holiday season, Asus, in collaboration with Flipkart, offers Zenfone Max M1 only 7,499 rupees for a limited period. For its price and specifications (below in the table), the Zenfone Max M1 looks like a smart buy, but is it? I've been using Asus for a few days and here is my point of view.

Quality of design, display and manufacturing:

The Zenfone Max M1 comes with a beautiful uni-body design language with rounded edges around the phone's outline. Asus did a remarkable painting job too; my exam device is beautiful in the golden shade. Although the shell is polycarbonate, the matte finish gives it a metallic look and offers an excellent grip of the phone by the finger. I must also say that the quality of construction is really good and you can feel it when you hold it in your hand.

Regarding the display, it comes with a Full View IPS Full View screen of 5.45 inches HD + (1440x720p) with 2.5D glbad screen, which adds value in terms of quality. visual appeal of the phone. With the 18: 9 aspect ratio, it offers a cinematic viewing experience.

In addition, the readability of the display is rather good for a budget phone because I did not have to experience eye strain when viewing content under direct sunlight.

Performance:

The Asus Zenfone Max M1 is equipped with a proven Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor that relies on Android 8.1 Oreo, 3GB of lavish RAM and 32GB of storage that can be expanded to up to 4GB. To 128 GB via microSD.

During the test period, the Zenfone Max M1 performed well in terms of rapidly open applications, fast camera charging and games such as Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga, among others. little graphics.

It also has a function of unlocking faces and during tests, it worked well with a very low rejection rate, but it can not detect the face in a dark environment.

Fortunately, the company has integrated a fingerprint sensor on the back, which has worked remarkably well.

Camera:

The Asus Zenfone Max M1 comes with a 13MP camera with a 4P lens, an F2.0 aperture, a 1.12μm pixel size, a PDAF (phase detection autofocus) and an LED flash. He takes good pictures in sunny conditions. In a dimly lit environment, although the camera's autofocus becomes too fast, the quality of the image is comparable to that of similar phones in the price segment below Rs 10,000.

On the front, it houses an 8MP shooter with 3P lens, aperture F2.2 and a pixel size of 1.12 μm. The photos are correct and I appreciate very much the company that has integrated the LED flash, because it helps to take selfies even in low light conditions. In addition, the beauty app brings added value to the phone and I must say that it is awesome for a phone whose price is less than 9,000 rupees.

Drums:

With 4000 mAh, Asus said that the Zenfone Max M1 would offer greater autonomy than a day. In practical terms too, it has met our expectations. During the test period (active hours from 5:30 am to 10:30 pm), which included browsing the web, viewing videos on YouTube, games (non-graphical versions) and other normal daily tasks, Zenfone Max M1 was over 30% before I retired to bed. Used in a more conservative way, it can easily last a day and a half.

Last thoughts:

All in all, Asus Zenfone Max M1 is a very solid phone for its budget, at the price it commands. It will certainly find an attraction among young people of the salaried clbades and college students.

Advantages:

• Beautiful design language
• Robust construction quality
• Decent camera
• Triple slots – SIM 1 + SIM 2 + microSD card

The inconvenients:

• The unlocking of faces will not work in low light conditions, but it is not a decisive factor, because most phones, not only in the budget segment, but also in the top bracket of 30,000 Android phones, do not work either. He needs an infrared camera to detect faces in the dark and is not cheap. That said, Zenfone Max M1 remains a good buy for its selling price.
• I also think that the suffix "Max & # 39; should have been avoided in the nickname, as this could cannibalize the original Zenfone Max Pro M1 (test), which for me is one of the best phones to come from Asus home lately. It has the best battery life and offers a pure Android experience

Main specifications of Asus Zenfone Max M1:

Models	Zenfone Max M1
Display	5.45 inch HD + Full Screen IPS (1440x720p) with 2.5D Glbad Brightness: 400 nits, 65% NTSC color gamut Contrast ratio: 800: 1 Ratio of aspect: 18: 1 Screen / body ratio: 82%
BONE	Android Oreo with Zen UI 5.0
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core
RAM	3GB LPDDR3
Storage room	32 GB, expandable up to 256 GB
Camera	Main: 13MP with 4P lens, aperture F2.0, 1.12μm pixel size, PDAF (0.03s autofocus), Flash LED, Camera Modes: Auto, Beauty, Pro, Panorama, Time Lapse , Portrait, HDR Front: 8MP with 3P lens, F2.2 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size, LED flash, Auto, Beauty, Portrait, HDR
Drums	4000mAh with 10W adapter
Network	4G-LTE with VoLTE
Add-ons	Three slots (SIM 1 + SIM 2 + microSD card), face unlocking, fingerprint sensor (quick unlocking 0.3s, finger recognition and 360 °), Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi Fi (802.11 b / g / n), Large Magnetic Loudspeaker, Bottom Output, Dual Microphone, A-GPS / GLONASS, Micro-USB Port, 3.5mm Audio Jack, Video Adjuster and Glue
Dimensions	147.26 x 70.9 x 8.7 mm
Weight	150g
Colors	Black and gold
Price	MRP: Rs 8,999Festive Offer: Rs 7.499

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