The ROG Phone might be the flagship smartphone for gaming for ASUS but what if you want something more reasonable? Meet the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1. Positioned in the ZenFone lineup as an entry-level smartphone, the Max Pro M1 aims to bring a top-notch gaming experience to the masses with a long battery life as expected from a ZenFone with a Max lineage.
Unboxing
The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 doesn’t detract from the usual packaging from the brand. Inside is a silicone clear case, documentation, earphones with extra silicone ear tips, a SIM ejector pin, a wall plug, and a microUSB cable.
An overview of the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1
Despite being positioned below the ASUS ZenFone 5Q, the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 actually comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC with an Adreno 509 GPU; the same SoC found on the ASUS ZenFone 5. To cut costs, the Max Pro M1 only comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. To provide power to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, the smartphone is equipped with a 5,000mAh non-removable battery. A large enough battery size to last for more than a day of usage as is accustomed from the Max lineup.
As for the screen, the smartphone comes with a 5.99-inch, 18:9, 2160 x 1080 screen with 1500:1 contrast ratio as well as 85% NTSC color gamut. ASUS is also promising a brightness output of 450nits with the Max Pro M1.
For taking photos, the Max Pro M1 is equipped with a 13MP f/2.2 rear camera with a 5MP wide-angle secondary lens as is customary for a ZenFone for the past two generations. The front-facing camera, on the other hand, is a standalone 8MP f/2.0 shooter with a dedicated LED flash for better selfies in low-light conditions.
The biggest departure of the Max Pro M1 from its contemporaries is the OS. It does come with Android 8.1 Oreo as is standard for smartphones released in 2018, however, it doesn’t come with ZenUI. This decision was made to ensure that all the processing power of the smartphone is reserved for gaming instead of background apps. There’s barely any bloatware installed on the smartphone. Only the standard Google apps are installed along with mainstays such as Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.
It’s a bit weird not seeing the ZenUI in an ASUS smartphone but given its 3GB RAM, it was a smart decision from ASUS to leave out apps that can be potential resource hogs. Though it does speak quite a bit about the ZenUI as an OS.
We have only had a short time with the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1. We have not experienced the smartphone yet to get a reasonable understanding of its performance in gaming as well as in real-world use. Stay tuned for our review of the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 in the coming weeks.
In case you’re already interested in buying the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1, it will be a Lazada-exclusive product. Pre-orders have already gone live for a price of PhP 9,995 with the actual units going to be shipped on June 24, 2018.
