The Asus ZenFone Max M1 (ZB556KL) was launched in October 2018 in the Mid Price Range at a price of about 8999 Rupees. Its is a budget level offering from Asus and has some good form factors to brag about.
The display is a 2.5D curved glass with a screen size of 5.45 inches and pixel density of 247 ppi. The screen looks good and has some bezels which are acceptable giving its price and form factor. The screen resolution on this device is about 720 x 1440. The phone weighs about 150 grams even after having a 4000mAh battery.
The rear of the device sports a 13MP shooter with an aperture size of f/2.0. There is only a single camera in the rear unlike other smartphones that offer dual cameras in the same price bracket. The fingerprint sensor is well placed in the top-center and allows you to easily unlock the phone. It is responsive and unlocking the device is a snap.
The Asus ZenFone Max M1 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset and a Cortex-A53 Octa-core processor which run the device smoothly. It has an Adreno 505 graphics chipset to cater to all the graphic needs of the phone.
The Asus ZenFone Max M1 has Android v8.0 Oreo as its operating system with the ZenUI 5.0 skin running on top. There are some pre-installed apps that come with it, such as sound recorder, mobile manager, weather, file manager, themes, facebook, google apps etc.
Asus ZenFone Max M1 has a 3GB RAM and a 32GB internal storage. With dual nano SIM card support and a dedicated MicroSD card tray, you can expand the memory up to 256GB using an external memory card.
The face unlock and the fingerprint scanner work well and there is no lag when using the phone. But due to its old hardware, after some time the phone starts to slow down a bit. When using heavy games like PUBG the phone did warm up, even at the lowest of the settings.
You can buy the device in two color variants of Black and Gold.
SPECIFICATIONS
GENERAL
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Form factor |
CandyBar |
|
Release Date |
October 2018 |
|
Package Contents |
Handset, Warranty Card, USB Cable, Adapter, SIM Ejector Pin |
|
Price Group |
Budget Range (5000-10000) |
BODY
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Material |
Main body: Glass and Aluminium |
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Dimensions |
147.3 x 70.9 x 8.7 mm (5.80 x 2.79 x 0.34 in) |
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Weight |
150 g (5.29 oz) |
|
SIM |
Dual SIM (Nano-SIM + Nano-SIM, Dual Stand-By) |
|
Screen size (Diagonal) |
5.45 inches |
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Colors |
Black, Gold |
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Keys |
Right - Lock/Unlock key, Volume control |
DISPLAY –
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Resolution |
720 x 1440 pixels |
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Pixels per inch |
247 ppi |
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Technology |
IPS LCD |
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Touch |
Capacitive, Multitouch |
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Features |
Sunlight display Night display Reading mode Supports standard display Light sensor Proximity sensor |
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Colors |
16 Million |
CAMERA –
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Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Primary(Rear) Camera Aperture Size Focus Flashlight |
13 MP f/2.0 Autofocus LED flash |
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Features |
Digital zoom geo-tagging touch focus Face detection Smile detection |
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Video |
1080p@30fps (gyro-EIS) |
|
Video features |
Video Sharing Video calling |
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Secondary(Front) Aperture Size |
8MP f/2.0 |
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Features (Front Camera) |
LED Flash Selfie countdown Face recognition Group shots Mirror |
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Shooting Modes |
High Dynamic Range mode (HDR) Panorama |
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Settings |
Exposure compensation ISO control White balance presets |
SOFTWARE, PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE –
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
OS |
Android OS, v8.0 (Oreo) Skin - ZenUI 5 |
|
Chipset |
Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 |
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Processor |
Octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 |
|
Graphics processor |
Adreno 505 |
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System memory |
3 GB |
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Internal memory |
32 GB |
|
Card Slot |
Yes Expandable up to 256GB |
BATTERY
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Capacity |
4000 mAh |
|
Type |
Not user replaceable, Li – Po |
|
Fast Charge |
No |
MULTIMEDIA
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Mirroring |
DLNA, Wireless screen share |
|
Music player Filter by Features Supported formats |
Album, Artist, Genre, Playlists Album art cover, Background playback, MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A (Apple lossless), AMR, OGG, MIDI |
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Video Playback Supported Formats |
MPEG4, H.263, H.264 |
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Speakers |
Earpiece, Loudspeaker |
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Headphones connector |
3.5mm |
|
Radio |
Yes |
CELLULAR
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Technology |
GSM / HSPA / LTE |
|
2G bands |
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 |
|
3G Network |
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 |
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4G Network |
LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500) |
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Data |
LTE, HSPA |
|
No. of SIMs |
2 |
|
Card Slots |
Nano SIM(GSM)+Nano SIM(GSM) |
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VoLTE |
Yes |
|
EDGE |
Yes |
|
GPRS |
Yes |
|
Supports 4G in India (Band 40) |
Yes |
|
IR port |
No |
PHONE FEATURES
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Sensors |
Fingerprint Face Unlock Accelerometer Proximity Ambient Light Sensor Gyroscope |
|
Notifications |
Haptic feedback Music ringtones (MP3) Vibration, Flight mode Silent mode Speakerphone |
|
Messaging |
SMS(threaded view) MMS |
|
Browser |
HTML5 |
|
|
IMAP, POP3, SMTP |
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Instant messaging |
Hangouts / Google Talk |
|
Java |
No |
|
Other features |
XviD/MP4/H.265 player MP3/WAV/eAAC+/ Document editor Voice dialing Voice commands Voice recording |
CONNECTIVITY –
|
Factors |
Asus Zenfone Max M1 |
|
Bluetooth |
v4.0, A2DP, LE |
|
Navigation |
Turn-by-turn navigation, Voice navigation |
|
GPS |
Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou Positioning |
|
Infrared port |
No |
|
Radio |
No |
|
Wi-Fi |
802.11 b, g, n, dual-band |
|
Wi-Fi Direct |
Yes |
|
Mobile hotspot |
Yes |
|
NFC |
Yes |
|
USB Connector Features |
Micro USB 2.0 Mass storage device, USB charging |
|
Charging connector |
Micro USB 2.0 |
|
Other |
Tethering Computer sync OTA sync |
PROS –
5.45 inch display
Fingerprint and Face Unlock
Good screen to body ratio that is, approximately 82%
Good design
Dedicated MicroSD slot
CONS –
Single Rear Camera
Old Hardware with Snapdragon 430 Chipset
Slows down a bit when playing heavy Games
Performance is average
The ZenUI 5.0 comes preloaded with some bloatware
The Asus ZenFone Max M1 is a good mid-range smartphone and has decent features and build quality.
The 3GB RAM ensures the smooth operating of the device. Although, it has somewhat old hardware, but it has an amazing 4000mAh battery which allows the device to run for more than a day on a single charge.
The front and rear cameras work well and you do not feel that the pictures are below par than other same range smartphones.
The fingerprint and face unlock on the device are responsive and there is almost no error when recognizing touch and face.
It is a decent value for money but has many competitors that are offering better features in the same price bracket.
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