A few months later, the company has a new variant Zenfone Max (2016) ,Review) Launched. This phone gave a better processor and got a long battery life. After introducing both entry-level smartphones, now the company is now trying to bring the Max series into the mid-range segment and two new variants have been introduced with almost the same name. Zenfone 3 Max (ZC 520 TL) Category less than Rs 15,000 while Zenfone 3 Max (ZC 553 KL) The category less than Rs 20,000 falls. The ZC 520 TL variant has 5.2 inch, MediaTek processor, 13 megapixel rear camera and 5 megapixel front camera. While high -priced variants have a large display, Qualcomm processor, 16 megapixel and 8 megapixel front camera. Today we will review the Zenfone 3 Max (ZC 553 KL).
Talking about the price, less than Rs 20,000 Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime ,Review) And Lenovo Z 2 Plus ,Review) The performance has been very spectacular. Asus zenfone 3 laser ,Review) It is also available at a price of Rs 17,999. How is this Asus phone? Learn
Design and texture of Asus Zenfone 3 Max
On taking this phone in hand, the designer will first draw your attention. This phone is not like the second high-end smartphone of the Zenfone 3 series but still looks very good. Due to the aluminum unibody case, it fit well in the hand. The buttons in the phone are given the right place and can be easily used.
Asus has given 5.5 inch full HD display in this phone, so that this phone gives better grip than the previous variant. Pictures in the display look sharp and brightness in sunlight is also great. Due to the thin bezel, the phone’s width is reduced, so that the phone can be easily used with one hand. If you want to type something with one hand while walking, then you can activate one-handed mode. The phone has an olophobic coating on the glass and due to this there is not much mark of fingers. What we are disappointed is to have any scratch protection for the display. Which is found in this price smartphone.
The ZC 553 KL is a hybrid dual-sim phone while dual SIM slots were given in the previous variants. You can use microSD card (up to 128 GB) or other SIM card due to hybrid SIM-Salot. The phone has a mono speaker at the bottom, it has a micro-USB charging port. While the headphone jack is given upwards. There is a notification LED at the front, there are capacitive navigation buttons under the screen which are not backlits.
There is a fingerprint sensor under the camera module on the rear that can be used to respond to the call, launch the camera app or take photos. But it cannot be used to lock the app or hide the file. The biggest problem of the fingerprint sensor is that it does not identify fingerprint even two or three times.
Asus has maintained the budget image of this series with the new Max handset. This phone comes with a premium look and feeling. And this is really good with a better display. It is not the thinner with 8.3 mm but is a little heavy with 175 grams. However, you will not feel too heavy when you use it. With this phone, a headset, a 10 watt charger, data cable and an OTG cable will be available. Apart from this, as a promotion, the user will also get 100 GB space on Google Drive for two years.
Asus Zenfone 3 Max Specification and Feature
The previous Zenfone Max had a Snapdragon 615 processor, so we were expected to give at least Snapdragon 652 or 625 processors in the new smartphone. But the disappointing thing is that Asus has given an octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor in this phone like Zenfone 3 laser. Due to this processor, the work done throughout the day can be done easily but it is difficult to play heavy apps and games. The ZenuI keyboard of Asus also gives problems.
In benchmark testing, Zenfone 3 Max performs like its processor. The phone found only a good figures. The graphics performance in the phone is the lowest, that is, you cannot play games like Dead Effect 2. The phone also has 3 GB RAM, 32 GB storage, single band Wi-Fi B/G/N, Bluetooth 4.1, FM Radio and GPS. Apart from this, it supports 1, 3, 5, 8 and 40 bands in India with 4G smartphone VoLTE.
The phone runs on Android Marshmallow but it is given the ZenuI 3.0 skin of Asus. According to our use, the skin was completely different and those who have never used Asus phones will have a lot of trouble. There are many options to customize the smartphone according to your own. The ‘Theme’ app has some great themes that can be selected and in addition to many apps already pre-loaded in the phone, almost the same as we saw during the review of Zenfone 3 (ZEE 552 KL). The mobile manager app is one of the most commonly used apps. Work can be done from this app such as managing the notification app, removing the file to be used and managing permission for the app at the same place.
Apart from this, the phone also has apps like Instagram and Puffin. Need for Speed: Games like No Limits and Simsity already come to install.
Asus Zenfone 3 Max Performance
We used it for about a week to know all the good things of Zenfone 3 Max and we never had any major problems. The phone works very easily during normal work and multitasking. The phone is not much hot while playing games or during camera use. The sound coming from the earpiece is good and 4G works well.
Due to the vibrant display, it is nice to watch the video and up to 1080 pixels high-bitrate videos in the phone also run quite well. Audio performance is better with both wired and wireless headphones. The volume can be faster and the audio is also heard well. The headset coming with the phone also gives a good sound despite external noise.
Zenfone Max variant of Asus has worked well in the camera department and this time it is the same. Landscape and macro photos are good in daylight with 16 megapixel sensors and aperture F/2.2 lens. Color reproduction also comes accurate. However, more sharpness could be given in the captured photos, especially all around the edges of the object. On a full size in the macro shot given below, the side of the flower is slightly felt by a little ugly. The pictures taken in low light look good, although there is little noise. The low-light shooting mode given in the phone is very useful here.
The video recorded at 1080 pixels also looks great. There is electronic stabilization for the video but only works up to 720 pixels. In good light, the 8 -megapixel front camera comes with a selfie detailing. Apart from this, there are many other effects including HDR. Due to laser autofocus and PDAF, the focus speed is quite sharp and photos are quick if you are not in special mode.
The identity of Asus’ Max series has always been a battery life. And this time there is the same situation in Zenfone 3 Max. But not as much as we expected. In our HD video loop test, the phone battery lasts for 14 hours and 7 minutes which is quite good. But we have seen the best results in the phone with strong processor and small battery than this phone. During general serious use, we could easily run the phone for one and a half days. The phone has a customized power mode according to different times of the day. The battery does not come with fast charging support, but the phone is fulfilled in about two hours with a 10 watt charger. It supports reverse charging, which means that the Zenfone 3 Power Max starts working like a power bank, using the OTG adapt that comes with.
Our decision
Zenfone Max does not mean that you will get only one thing. Rather, the goal of this new variant is to entice smartphone customers as an all -rounder. This phone has a new design, better display and camera and strong battery life. This phone will give a hard round the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 but Asus has kept the price of Zenfone 3 Max higher. Keeping in mind that the price of the ZC 520 TL variants comes from the Redmi Note 3 but there is a lot of difference in its specification. Apart from this, it is important that you check the model number written behind the box as both the versions create a situation of quite confusion.
The ZC 553 KL looks a bit expensive at a price of Rs 17,999. Zenfone 3 laser Like the price of the phone has been kept more. Asus has recently launched the laser market and the new Max looks the same with a long battery life and a better look. Apart from Zenfone 3 laser, this phone will also be available at offline retail stores, which makes this high price slightly understood.
However, it is beyond comprehension why Asus has used an entry-level processor for this capacity phone. If you do not play the game and you do not have a problem with not having Wi-Fi 802.11 AC, then Zenfone 3 Max is a good package. But it is difficult to advise to buy it with its price at the time of launch.