Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 design
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 comes with a very flashy body. This is the first major difference compared to the older variant. The smartphone is available in Blue and Titanium colours. We have reviewed the Blue variant.
Asus Max Pro M2 has a laminated back panel which gives it a glossy finish. Due to this, fingerprints are easily visible. Remember that ZenFone Max Pro M1 came with a metal backplate.
The ZenFone Max Pro M2 has a dual camera setup at the back, along with a single LED flash. The fingerprint scanner is placed in the middle and is easy to reach. The phone has a 6.26-inch FullHD+ display. There is a notch at the top and the display has a 19:9 aspect ratio. Asus claims that this is the first smartphone to come with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 in this price segment.
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 has very thin bezels on the top and sides. But the bezel on the bottom is very thick. Asus has tried to keep the earpiece outside the notch towards the frame. This has helped in reducing the size of the notch. The selfie camera, flash and sensors have been placed in the notch. The notification LED has also been placed outside the notch. It has been placed next to the earpiece grill.
Like other phones in this price range, the frame of the Zenfone Max Pro M2 is made of plastic. The power and volume buttons are on the right side and the SIM tray is on the left. In our opinion, the position of the power button is good, but a bit of effort is required to reach the volume buttons.
There is a micro-USB port, primary microphone, 3.5mm headphone jack and loudspeaker at the bottom. The secondary microphone is on the top. By the way, most phones in this price range come with a micro-USB port. But a USB Type C port would have been a welcome addition.
Asus has curved the edges of the Zenfone Max Pro M2, which provides better grip. Surprisingly, despite having a large battery, the phone does not feel heavy or bulky.
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 specifications and software
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 gained popularity due to its powerful processor and aggressive pricing. Asus has repeated the same strategy by providing 1.95 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor in ZenFone Max Pro M2. The new chipset is more powerful than Snapdragon 636. This processor has been used in handsets like Xiaomi Mi A2, RealMe 2 Pro and Vivo V9 Pro.
There are three options based on RAM and storage – 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage, 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage, 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. We have reviewed the variant with 4 GB RAM. All three variants have support for microSD card up to 2 TB.
Connectivity features of the Zenfone Max Pro M2 include Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and FM radio. It is a dual SIM smartphone. It has two nano SIM slots. Both the slots support 4G VoLTE.
ZenFone Max Pro M2 has a full-HD+ display with 450 nits brightness. There is no problem in reading it in sunlight. The viewing angles of the display are also good.
The main feature of Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 is its big battery. Asus has provided a 10 watt charger to charge it. But there is no support for quick charging, meaning charging will take a long time.
This Asus smartphone will also run on stock Android. It is expected that the company will release updates for this phone more quickly. The company has currently launched the smartphone with Android 8.1 Oreo and has also promised to provide Android Pie update in January 2019. Our review unit came with the October security patch.
Even though this is a stock Android device, apart from select Google apps, Facebook, Messenger and Instagram apps will be pre-installed in this phone.
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 performance, battery life and cameras
Knowing the specifications of the ZenFone Max Pro M2, we had an idea about its performance. Due to the fast processor and stock Android, the performance of the ZenFone Max Pro M2 is very smooth. There were no complaints of lag or stutter in our review unit.
You can use the fingerprint scanner and face unlock to unlock the phone. During the review, we found the scanner to be a bit slow in unlocking the device. Apart from this, we did not find any settings to run any app in fullscreen mode. Due to this, most of the apps ran letterboxed.
PUBG Mobile ran on medium settings. We were able to play this game without any lag or frame drop. After playing the game continuously for 25 minutes, the phone did get a little warm.
We enjoyed watching videos and playing games on this phone. The speaker is also quite loud.
The battery life of the handset is excellent. This is thanks to the 5000mAh battery. In the HD video loop test, the phone lasted 17 hours and 58 minutes. During regular use, around 55 percent of the battery remained at the end of the day. The 10 watt charger provided in the retail box charged the battery to 52 percent in 1 hour.
Asus has upgraded the camera setup in the ZenFone Max Pro M2. You will get a 12-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel depth sensor on the rear. A 13-megapixel camera has been provided on the front panel.
The camera app is simple and easy to use. There are toggles for shooting modes, beautification, depth effects and flash settings. You also get the option to apply filters before taking pictures. There is a Pro mode in which you will be able to adjust focus, shutter speed, ISO, exposure and white balance.
Tap to see Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 camera samples
AI scene detection is not available at the moment, but Asus has talked about bringing this feature along with EIS and bokeh mode to the front camera to the ZenFone Max Pro M2 via an update in December.
While shooting with the ZenFone Max Pro M2, we found that it failed to set the correct exposure in some scenes. For example, some photos taken during the day came out overexposed.
Colour reproduction is good. But it fails to capture details in distant objects. Macro shots come with more detail and the phone does a good job of separating the subject from the background. Portrait mode can be enabled easily. You get the option to set the level of blur.
The HDR mode needs some improvement. It handles the brighter areas in the scene well, but loses detail in the shadows. The edge detection in the output is good. But the blur at the highest level looks artificial.
Camera performance is average in low light. The phone does not switch to night mode automatically. The phone takes a little longer to save landscape shots. The output is satisfactory, as the lack of detail becomes clearly visible when you zoom in.
Selfies come out great and face detection ensures there is no face blur when taking group selfies. Beautification is also available.
You will be able to record 4K videos with the primary camera and 1080p videos with the selfie shooter. Video stabilisation is available at 1080p and the phone manages to reduce shake.
Our verdict
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 has a big responsibility on its shoulders. Especially considering the success of ZenFone Max Pro M1. There is no doubt that Asus has made a strong claim by providing Snapdragon 660 processor and 5000 mAh battery.
Performance and battery life are solid. If cameras are your priority, the Realme 2 Pro is a better bet. If you are considering buying one of these two, you will also have to consider the advantages of stock Android over Realme’s ColorOS UI.
Price is the strongest side of the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2. At Rs. 12,999, there is no harm in buying this phone. We have reviewed the Rs. 14,999 variant, which is slightly higher than handsets like Realme 2 Pro (Review) and Realme U1 (Review).
Stock Android is another right decision. If Asus manages to provide updates on a regular basis, it will be an icing on the cake for the customers.
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