A few months ago, Asus has launched the Zenfone Max Pro M2 & Zenfone Max M2 in India. Asus is the only company along with Nokia who is successfully challenging the influence of Chinese companies in India mid-range segment. Today I’m reviewing the Asus Zenfone Max M2.
Pros of Asus Zenfone Max M2
- Hardware Design
- Battery Life
- Stock Android
- Rear Camera
Cons of Asus Zenfone Max M2
- Occasional Lag
- Avg. Front Camera
- No News about Pie
Design & Hardware
Asus Zenfone Max M2 comes with 6.26″ HD+ IPS Notch display with a resolution of 1520 x 720. Asus is not using Corning Gorilla Glass 6 for the protection as we saw in Max Pro. It has a screen-to-body ratio of about 82%.
The display is bright and offers good color reproduction. It’s also easy to read the text in direct sunlight.
The back is metal with the plastic finish which gives it a sturdy look. However, you won’t get a premium look as compared to Pro version but you get better durability.
At the bottom, you’ll find MicroUSB port, 3.5 mm jack and mic. Power & Volume button is on the right-hand side.
Software
Asus Zenfone Max M2 comes with Android 8.1.0 Oreo. The good things about the phone is there is no additional UI by the Asus, the phone is completely running on Stock Android. During my testing, I found no lag or hiccups. The phone runs smoothly in all conditions. Apart from Stock Android, Asus added some features like ZenMotion gestures and Smart Screen On which keeps the screen ON when a user viewing it.
Performance
Asus Zenfone Max M2 features Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 Processor & Adreno 506 GPU. The processing power can be further extended with 3GB/4GB Options. The phone has enough firepower to push normal day to day apps & games to its limit. During my testing, phone only crashed a few times otherwise it works smoothly.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 really helps when you’re playing mid-range games on your phone. In my opinion, the performance is better as compared to another competitor. However, for the heavy games, you should opt for Max Pro M2, this phone is not capable to run it smoothly.
Camera
The Zenfone Max Pro M2 packs dual camera where the first lens is a 13MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, 6P lens and the second lens is 2MP which is used for depth sensing. On the front, it has an 8MP camera with f/2.0.
The rear camera comes with AI detection which can identify 13 different scenes such as Sunset, green field, flowers, sky etc. I didn’t get enough time to play with the phone so can’t comment about how much AI help to improve the shot. In the day time, the phones produce good result especially the HDR & macro shots. The color production is good, white balance is up to the mark and brightness are under control. However, sometimes the photos come over saturated especially in low light, maybe AI pushing to increase the saturation.
Regarding the front camera, the 8MP does not do justice, the picture quality is ok but we compare it with other phones in the same range the sharpness is not up to the mark. However, the soft LED flash when on portrait mode really did a good job.
Battery Life
Battery life is a huge plus point for Zenfone Max M2. It comes with 4000 mAh battery and can easily last for 1.5 days in normal use which also includes some hours of gaming. The phone doesn’t support fast charging but it comes with 5V/2A charger which charges the phone at a good speed.
Conclusion
Asus Zenfone Max M2 is a great phone with good build quality, good performance, and impressive battery life. The camera can be improved especially the front camera but it’s not a big deal breaker. Really love the stock android however it would be great if they speed up the update process. And the best part of the phone is pricing, you can easily get the phone around 9K.
