After partnering with Flipkart for an exclusive online sales deal, Asus has launched their first smartphone, the ZenFone Max Pro (M1). The Zenfone Max Pro is a ‘Made for India’ phone and will feature a widescreen 18:9 display and a massive 5,000mAh battery.
The smartphone will come with Snapdragon 636 processor. The SD 636 has Kryo custom-CPU which was previously seen only on the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series.
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Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 – Features & Specifications
Asus has claimed that the ZenFone Max Pro M1 will be marginally faster than the bestselling Redmi Note 5 Pro. It will feature a fingerprint sensor and face recognition feature.
Design
The smartphone will come with a unibody design with an all-metal build. In spite of the huge battery, the smartphone weighs only 180 grams.
Display
The smartphone will come with a 5.99-inch Full HD display and a 2.5D curved glass on top. The Zenfone Max Pro (M1) will come with the new 18:9 widescreen display with minimal bezels on top and bottom.
Hardware
The Zenfone Max Pro M1 will come with the latest octa-core 1.8 GHz Snapdragon 636 processor under the hood, coupled with 3GB or 4GB of RAM. It has eight Kryo 260 cores which balance between performance and power efficiency. The graphics are taken care of by the Adreno 509 GPU.
Asus has also claimed that the Max Pro M1 will be 50 percent faster than the leading smartphones in this segment with a 1.54x performance boost over Snapdragon 625.
Storage
The Zenfone Max Pro M1 will come in two storage options;
- 32GB with 3GB RAM
- 64GB with 4GB RAM
The storage can be further expanded with an external memory card.
Camera
The Zenfone Max Pro’s camera will come with an improved Dynamic Range to capture excellent resolution and details. It can also take better photos in darker conditions.
At the back, it sports a pair of 13-megapixel primary sensor and 5-megapixel depth sensor which supports portrait Mode, PDAF, and auto-focus. Up front, it will come with an 8-megapixel shooter with a front LED flash support.
Software
Zenfone Max Pro M1 is the first smartphone from Asus to ship with the stock version of Android Oreo out of the box. The phone will come with a pure Android Oreo 8.1 OS.
Connectivity & Audio
It supports two SIM cards and has a dedicated slot for a MicroSD card. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It has all the requisite sensors on board. It also includes a 5-magnet speaker which has a high-quality NXP smart amplifier to enhance the audio output.
Battery
Being a battery focused device, the smartphone will come with a massive 5,000 mAh battery. It can run for two working days on a single charge with regular use. Heavier usage will definitely see some reduced battery times. It will take around 2 hours and 42 minutes to charge fully.
Pricing & Availability
The ZenFone Max Pro M1 will cost Rs 10,999/- for the 3GB RAM variant and Rs 12,999/- for the 4GB RAM variant. The ZenFone Max Pro M1 is also expected to be available in a higher 6GB RAM variant in the future, with an updated rear camera. It is expected to cost Rs 14,999/-.
The smartphone will start selling exclusively on Flipkart from May 3, 2018.
Launch Offers
Asus is offering free 10GB data per month to Vodafone’s prepaid and postpaid customers for one year. Prepaid users will need to do a minimum recharge of Rs 199 or above and postpaid users have to choose a RED plan worth Rs. 399 or above in order to be eligible for the offer.
Flipkart is also offering Complete Care protection at an introductory price of Rs 49 which covers broken screen replacement, liquid damage, hardware and software issues with doorstep pickup and drop service.
The ZenFone Max Pro will come with a discount of Rs 1,000 on a regular exchange. It will also be available with no-cost EMI options with credit cards and BAJAJ Finserv cards.
Better Than Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro?
The Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 seems to be the perfect competition for both, Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro. Asus has nailed it with the pricing this time. It is offering top-notch specs like Snapdragon 636, dual camera, 5000 mAh battery, Android Oreo 8.1, Face Recognition and more at a very aggressive price.
The Redmi Note 5 Pro will face a direct challenge from Max Pro M1, which has a better battery, stock Android and a lower price tag.