Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 review: Fast hardware, crazy good battery helps it compete with Redmi Note 6 Pro

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Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 review: Fast hardware, crazy good battery helps it compete with Redmi Note 6 Pro

ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The base version of the Pro M2 with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage costs Rs 12,999.
  • The latest Gorilla Glass 6 is supposedly stronger than the widely used Gorilla Glass 3, so it's nice to see it in the Max Pro M2.
  • The Max Pro M2's big 5000mAh battery easily lasts a more than a day even under heavy usage scenarios.
A lot of people buy phones in India that are priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. No wonder it is a highly competitive category for smartphone manufacturers. Earlier this year, Asus decided to play the game with the biggies of this segment with the Zenfone Max Pro M1. The smartphone had almost everything consumers were demanding - capable hardware, a stock Android experience and an outlandishly big battery - all at a price that undercut the segment leaders by a huge margin. But then new phones came in, competition intensified. Now Asus is hoping to reassert its presence with the Zenfone Max Pro M2, a phone launched at a price of Rs 12,999.
Similar to the old phone, the new one makes big claims on paper. Asus has replaced the Snapdragon 636 chipset that we saw in the Pro M1 with slightly more powerful Snapdragon 660. This processor is paired with stock Android and oodles of RAM in the Pro M2, something that should set the heart of Android purists racing.
At the same time, the Pro M2 also gets a more rounded design. The base version of the Pro M2 with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage costs Rs 12,999 while the variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage sells for Rs 14,999. There's another higher-end variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage that comes with a price tag of Rs 16,999.

Zenfone Max Pro M2 design

The Max Pro M1 was one of the dullest looking phones in its category, especially when Realme, Honor and Nokia all started coming out with phones that had glossy bodies and glass covers. Asus now joins the trend. The Max Pro M2 comes with a super glossy rear panel. The back of the phone tries to imitate the more premium Zenfone 5z, with a vertically stacked dual camera layout and LED flash positioned under the lenses in a clever fashion so as to resemble a triple camera setup. The fingerprint sensor stays in the usual and easy-to-reach centre position, with the Asus branding resting under it.
The glossy finish that you see on the Max Pro M2 is courtesy a highly polished polycarbonate -- a fancy word for plastic -- that's designed to reflect light in several striking angles. Now, this may sound too gaudy. But in reality, it is not. The light reflects in a classy way - unlike the kaleidoscopic gradients that are becoming a norm on most Android phones. Unarguably, this is a phone that will draw attention when your friends see it. One niggle I have -- and I have that with all phones that come with glossy finish -- is that the phone is prone to show scratches and smudges. Chances are you will be keeping the Max Pro M2 in a case.
The phone has usual buttons and ports, including the 3.5mm headphone. Unlike some other phones in the market that now have USB-C port, this one comes with a micro USB port. I believe Asus should have gone for the USB-C port.
The front is rather conventional for a late 2018 smartphone - a large narrow bezel display with a notch on top and a noticeable chin at the bottom. What's interesting is that the earpiece sits on the top edge and also houses a tiny notification LED - a useful feature that's disappearing fast from phones. One key highlight here is the Gorilla Glass 6. In phones under Rs 15,000, you don't get it. The latest Gorilla Glass is supposedly stronger than the widely used Gorilla Glass 3, so it's nice to see it in the Max Pro M2.
I wish Asus could have done something about that thick chin of the phone. Honor has managed to minimise the bottom bezel on the similarly priced 8X cleverly. Nonetheless, the Max Pro M2 is a handsome smartphone and I will not mind flaunting; if flaunting is my thing.

Zenfone Max Pro M2 display

With a notched display these days, phone manufacturers are putting 6-inch+ screens in a phone that has a regular size. In the Zenfone Max Pro M2 Asus puts a large 6.3-inch IPS LCD display, which has a FullHD+ resolution. Compared to the old Max Pro M1, the display on the new one is vastly improved.
The front is rather conventional for a late 2018 smartphone - a large narrow bezel display with a notch on top and a noticeable chin at the bottom
The screen can show more vibrant colours and clearly has more contrast. Brightness is sufficiently high too, and I was able to read emails or see my Facebook feed easily even in direct sunlight. Viewing angles are sufficiently wide. Weirdly, Asus doesn't offer a software solution to hide the notch, but most fullscreen apps leave out the area around the notch by default.

Zenfone Max Pro M2 performance

The Max Pro series from Asus has always been about delivering high performance. The Max Pro M1 was a fine example. Asus wants to continue the trend with the Max Pro M2. Underneath the hood lies an octa-core Snapdragon 660 chipset paired with either 3GB, 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Consumers get to choose from either 32GB or 64GB of storage, with an option to expand it up to 2TB. Asus has been proudly boasting about a stock Android experience this time as well.
As good as it looks on paper, it also proves its mettle in the real world equally well. The stock Android interface is smooth and lag-free. Apps open faster while jumping between a couple of them isn't a bother for the Max Pro M2. There's a beauty in the way stock Android handles daily errands. The Snapdragon 660 may be a bit old but inside the Max Pro M2, it can easily handle titles such as PUBG MOBILE and Asphalt 9 with utmost smoothness when graphics settings on medium.
The only bit I don't like about the phone is that it comes with the Android Oreo and not the latest Android 9 Pie. Ideally, Asus should have launched the phone with the Android 9 Pie. That said, the company has promised that the Max Pro M2 will be upgraded to the Android 9 Pie in January 2019.

Zenfone Max Pro M2 camera

The Max Pro M1's cameras were mostly average. Asus took the feedback and now claims that it has improved the imaging capabilities with the Max Pro M2. On the rear, there is a 12-megapixel primary sensor paired with an F1.8 lens. The second camera uses a 5-megapixel sensor and is used for capturing depth information. For the front, there's a 13MP camera with an F2.0 lens.
The fast performance, stock Android, a decent display and great battery life makes the Zenfone Max Pro M2 -- despite its ridiculously long name -- a good purchase for Rs 12,999
To start with the rear camera, there's definitely a noticeable improvement. In daylight and well-lit scenarios, the Max Pro M2's camera does a great job. It captures photos with good dynamic range. Details are adequately captured. In default mode, exposure is not always spot on, and there are times when some objects in the photos or areas that have highlights -- like sunny part of the frame -- and look washed out because of over-exposure. Users can get into the Pro mode to get their camera settings right and capture the image in a way they wanted. The portrait mode is fairly average. It manages to get the separation between the subject and background right some of the times, but the results are never consistent.

IMAGE SAMPLES

Quality of photos clicked in low light is a hit-or-miss situation. Indoors, the camera does lose out on sharpness but tries its best to get the right exposure and attempts to retain colour so images are usable. At night in outdoors, the camera struggles to maintain a balance between exposure, colour accuracy, noise reduction and sharpness. Unlike Asus' ZenUI-equipped phones, the stock Android models don't feature their AI enhancements in the app, which I feel is a missed opportunity for Asus considering their AI mode is highly capable in taking good photos.
The quality of images clicked with the front camera is good in daylight situations. The selfies are sharp and contain ample details. There's a beauty mode to even out the skin tones and enhance the brightness as well. However, in low light, it throws up the familiar Asus-style oil painting effect, with visible noise and a slight loss in sharpness. Even the front LED flash cannot do much to solve the issue. Weirdly, there's no portrait mode with bokeh effects for selfies.
I believe that Asus could and should have used their AI-enabled camera app from ZenUI. The one that they have used here feels half-baked and requires a lot of polishing via OTA software updates.

Zenfone the Max Pro M2 battery

Asus has been stuffing big 5000mAh batteries in its affordable phones for a while and the Max Pro M2 is no exception. On a busy day when I was conducting a lot of calls, texting, shooting photos, streaming music and video, and playing occasional sessions of PUBG or Asphalt 9, the phone lasted me for the entire day with around 35 per cent of juice to spare. Do note that the phone was streaming on 4G LTE and Bluetooth was activated to connect to wearables.
With the upcoming Android Pie update, expect the battery gains to improve substantially. Asus has baked in support for 10W fast charging, although I wish they could have provided support for the faster Quick Charge 3.0 because the Snapdragon 660 supports it.

Should you buy Zenfone Max Pro M2

I think the Zenfone Max Pro M2 is a fantastic phone. It's just that when compared to the likes of the Nokia 6.1 Plus, Xiaomi Mi A2 and Redmi Note 6 Pro, it is not an all-out winner. It's as good as what the other companies offer, not more not less. Just like other phones in the market, it has its strong points, and it has some parts that could have been better. For example, it has better hardware than the Nokia 6.1 Plus, but not the better design or the Android 9 Pie. In terms of camera, I believe the Redmi Note 6 Pro is better, but then the Zenfone Max Pro M2 comes with stock Android (a big advantage, I will say) as well as a better battery life.
In other words, for Rs 12,999, you can't really go wrong with the Zenfone Max Pro M2, even though you have other choices as well around this price point. The fast performance, stock Android, a decent display and great battery life makes the Zenfone Max Pro M2 -- despite its ridiculously long name -- a good purchase for Rs 12,999.

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 review8/10


Pros

  • It's fast
  • Battery life
  • Stock Android

Cons

  • Average cameras
  • Plastic body
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