Entertainment Earth

ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 Review

ASUS Philippines decided to drop the bomb on their mid-ranger line with a promising new Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 Review.

ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 Specs

SCREEN 6.2-inch FHD+ IPS LCD Display (1080 x 2280 Pixels, 420 ppi) with 19:9 Aspect Ratio, 2.5D Arc Glass, Rounded Corners and Notch
OS Android 8.1 Oreo
CHIPSET Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
CPU Octa Core CPU: 2.2GHz Quad Core Kyro 260 + 1.8GHz Quad Core Kryo 260
GPU Adreno 512
RAM 4GB or 6GB of RAM
REAR CAMERA Dual Cameras: 12 MP Main Camera (f/1.8 Aperture) + 5 MP Depth Camera (f/2.4) with Autofocus and LED Flash
FRONT CAMERA 13 Megapixels
STORAGE 64GB
EXPANSION Expandable up to 512GB via microSD
SIM CARD Dual SIM (Nano-SIM)
NETWORKS 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE & GPRS Networks
WI-FI Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac (Dual Band)
NFC No
BLUETOOTH Bluetooth 5.0
GPS A-GPS
USB OTG Yes
USB PORT MicroUSB 2.0
SOUND 3.5mm Audio Jack (NXP Smart Amp)
FM RADIO Yes
BIOMETRICS Face Recognition & Fingerprint Sensor
SENSORS Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor and Accelerometer
BATTERY  

 

MATERIAL Glass with Metal Frame
– Scratch Resistant Glass
COLORS Black and Blue
LAUNCH DATE December 11, 2018
PRICE ₱12,995.00 – ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 4GB RAM + 64GB Storage Official Price in the Philippines
₱14,995.00 – ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 6GB RAM + 64GB Storage Official Price in the Philippines

Design

The M2 features a good display with the awful notch in place.

Review readers know how much abhorrent the notch has become in my book and yes, the notch is here for this smartphone. Does it do anything? Improve anything? Nope.

Just like the other ZenFone models available right now, the Max Pro M2 is sleek. From a tactile standpoint, it’s rather great to hold. The back is polished but still suffers from fingerprint residue and smudges.

The fingerprint scanner is a physical one and is place prominently at the back together with the cameras.

Cameras for this smartphone are amazing. The rear camera has 12 MP Main Camera (f/1.8 Aperture) + 5 MP Depth Camera (f/2.4) with Autofocus and LED Flash. We’ll do more checks on the camera later. Nice job with the compact design.

The front of the camera looks great too and thank god, the notch didn’t bother the design. It also has 13 Megapixels camera which does decent to great selfie.

The right hand side of the phone holds the power button and the volume controls. I love the way the buttons feel too. They don’t stand out and they also blend in nicely.

UI/OS

The M2 is equipped with an Android 8.0 OS…

It’s a good OS, but it could have been more promising if they had used Android Pie, like the ZenFone 5.

 

Apps are conveniently placed in the home screen but there’s also the folder view and the grid view when you swipe up from the home screen.

Camera

As mentioned earlier in this Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 review, the smartphone has decent cameras for both front and rear. They have a few neat surprises too.

The rear camera takes good shots during the day. It’s not just good, some of the shots I took were spectacular…

There’s also the selfie mode with the 13 megapixels.

The ZenFone Max Pro M2 features all the things we’re used to getting on mid-range to top-tier smartphones like filters (posterize, aqua) and beautify options (ranging from custom, low, mid and high).

Performance

We took the Antutu Benchmark for this Zenfone Max Pro M2 review and this is what came out of it.

 

No overheating issues and dependable performance. It did have the calculating power to be able to play games and do a bunch of other stuff quickly. Very happy with this phone’s performance.

Battery

If there’s anything that I really want to praise the M2, it would have to be the battery. The unit comes with a 5000 mAh Li-ion Battery (Non-removable) with 5V/2A Charging. No quick charge and the charging goes from normal to dismal depending on the cord and charger you’ll be using (please don’t use the “class A” ones, they are awful. Go for stuff like The Geekkery cords). As much as I want to give you data and tests, I’d like to just share some personal experience.

I charged the phone Valentine’s Day and had minimal use. I did the same for Friday, Saturday and on Sunday I went out to cover an event in Rizal. The time I got to the venue, the battery was at 50 percent. Took photos, played a bit of games and did the rounds on social media. Also set it up as my second camera while taking photos.

As of finishing this M2 review, i still have 35% which means the photo can take a beating and still can keep on ticking. Powerful.

Verdict:

Pros:

  • Light in the pocket and wallet
  • Battery that you can depend on
  • Good camera
  • Great gaming and performance
  • durable design

Cons:

  • Weak ass night or low light camera
  • Takes a while to hit full charge
  • Very minimal options when using the camera
  • Needs to get stronger OS, just to make it really awesome

Special thanks to ASUS Philippines for the chance to review the unit!

 

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *