Billed as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 killer, the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 is set to make an official appearance in Malaysia on 31 May. Recently launched in Indonesia, the feature-packed, livewire device is expected to be priced under MYR800.
If battery life is your thing, then the ZenFone Max Pro will deliver that in the truckloads. Its compact, high capacity 5,000mAh battery will deliver up to 199 hours of music playback or 34 days of standby time.
With the rise of gaming and mobile gaming in Asia, ASUS positions the ZenFone Max Pro as a device that delivers “limitless gaming.”
To put things into perspective, it will give you non-stop AOV gaming for 30 rounds. Or if you’re a binge-watcher, a full charge will give you two seasons of Game of Thrones or 17.3 hours of Jon Snow.
ASUS claims the device is the world’s slimmest 5,000mAh smartphone, and the most powerful smartphone in its price range.
It does not support fast-charging, but ASUS will bundle a 5V/2A power brick in the box.
I wouldn’t argue with performance because it has a couple of good things going for it. Firstly, the 14nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset that integrates powerful Kryo 260 cores and the Adreno 509 GPU.
Gaming performance is silky smooth and lag-free based on a brief hands-on time gaming on the device.
As mentioned in a previous post, the long-lasting device comes with several configurations including 3, 4 or 6GB of RAM, and up to 64GB of storage.
Next, the fact that it runs stock Android Oreo gives you the assurance that both performance and power efficiency will be spot on.
Display-wise, the ZenFone Max Pro rocks a 5.99-inch FHD+ display which is plenty bright and crisp. It does 450 nits, in fact.
In the camera department, its comes with either a 13MP + 5MP (depth) or 16MP + 5MP (depth) f/2.0 dual-camera setups on the rear. They’re decent shooters, and bokeh shots are pretty good.
On the front, it features a 8MP or 16MP f/2.2 selfie shooter with softlight LED flash.
A big plus for the new ZenFone is the triple slot tray that can house two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card.
Pricing and availability
The ZenFone Max Pro is expected to be offered in three configurations: 3GB RAM + 32GB storage, 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 64GB storage.
Based on Indonesian pricing, here are estimated local pricing for the different models:
- 3GB RAM + 32GB storage – IND2,299/MYR646
- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage – IND2,799/MYR787
- 6GB RAM + 64GB storage – IND3,299/MYR928
Aggressively priced, the ZenFone Max Pro looks like a solid alternative to current mid-range darling, the Redmi Note 5, with addition to an even bigger battery and a pure stock Android experience.
Keep your eyes peeled for 31 May!
Source: ASUS Indonesia
