Tech2 Touch

Category: Asus Smartphones

  • Asus ZenFone Max M1 Review-Pros and Cons

    Asus has recently launched two budget Android smartphones in India-ZenFone Max M1 and Zenfone Lite L1.  These smartphones are directly competing with the likes of Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A.  Currently, ZenFone Max M1 is available at special price of Rs.7,499.  For this price is it a good value for money smartphone? Let us explore in our Asus Zenfone Max M1 review.

    Recommended Reading:

    ZenFone Lite L1 FAQ

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 Review

    Asus ZenFone Max M1 Review-Pros and Cons

    Specifications of Asus ZenFone Max M1

    • Octa Core Snapdragon 430 SoC.
    • 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage.
    • 5.45-inch HD+ Display screen with 18:9 aspect ratio.
    • Dual nano sim card slot+dedicated microSD card slot.
    • 13MP primary camera with a f/2.0 aperture and PDAF.
    • 8MP front facing camera with a f/2.2 aperture.
    • 4000 mAh battery.
    • Fingerprint scanner.
    • Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, and GLONASS.

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 Pros

    Let us start some of the things which we liked in this device.

    Compact form factor

    This device has a 5.45-inch display screen with 18:9 aspect ratio and thin bezels. Hence, this is very compact in hand and easy to use in one hand.

    Decent Display Panel

    The 5.45-inch HD+ display panel on Zenfone Max M1 is good. It does provides good viewing angles and has enough brightness to be legible in outdoors.

    Battery Life

    4000 mAh battery is one of the key merits of this device. In our usage, it easily lasted more than 1 and half days. This included a lot of video streaming, playing some games and some calls. 4G is enabled all the time.

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 Cons

    Outdated SoC

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 performance is decent for the price range. However, Snapdragon 430 is little older chipset compared to Mediatek Helio A22 which is used on Redmi 6A or Redmi 6.

    Average camera performance

    In good daylight conditions, Zenfone Max M1 takes good photos. However, in low light condition, it struggles.

    Slow Android security update

    At the time of writing this, the device still runs on July security patch update.

  • ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1) FAQ Tips and Tricks Cons

    Asus has launched a new budget smartphone called ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1) in India. The new budget smartphone comes with a 5.45 inch HD+ IPS display and 82 percent screen to body ratio. It has Snapdragon 430 Octa-core processor paired with 2GB RAM. Internal storage is 16GB and has a dedicated microSD card slot. ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1) price in India starts at Rs.5,999.

    ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1)

    ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1) FAQ Tips and Tricks Cons

    What are the different color options available for ZenFone Lite?

    This budget smartphone will be available in two color variants- Black and Gold.

    What are the specifications of ZenFone Lite (L1)

    Specification summary

    • 5.45-inch (720×1440 pixels) HD+ IPS display with 18:9 aspect ratio.
    • Octa Core Snapdragon 430 SoC.
    • 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage.
    • 13MP rear camera and 5MP front facing camera.
    • 3000 mAh battery.
    • Android Oreo 8.0 with ZenUI 5.0.

    Does this smartphone have a dedicated microSD card slot?

    Yes. It supports upto 256GB.

    What are the pros of ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1)?

    This is not a detailed review. Based on the spec sheet, here is the quick pros.

    • Metal build.
    • Aggressive pricing.
    • company claimed long battery life.
    • Compact form factor.

    What are the cons of ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1)?

    Based on specification here is the demerits according to us.

    • No Fingerprint scanner.
    • Limited user available internal storage( Around 9 GB).

    How to take screenshot on ASUS ZenFone Lite (L1)?

    To take the screenshot on ZenFone Lite (L1), press and hold volume down and power button simultaneously for few seconds. It will take screenshot.

    Priced at Rs.5,999, Zenfone Lite looks promising. Decent SoC, metal build, 3000 mAh battery and more importantly the compact form factor are the key attraction of this device. We will be doing the detailed review of this smartphone in the coming days. All the information mentioned here are based on purely specifications shared through the press release.

  • Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Vs Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1- Which one is better

    Redmi 6 Pro is the latest budget smartphone launched by Xiaomi and it will compete with the likes of  Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 and Realme 2 etc. In this post, we will have a  quick comparison between Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Vs Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.

    Recommended Reading:

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 Pros and Cons

    Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Vs Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1

    Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Vs Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1- Which one is better

    Display

    • Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro: 5.84 inch Full HD + display.
    • Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: 5.99-inch Full HD+ display.

    Both smartphones sport a good quality panel. Viewing angles, brightness, color reproduction are good. The key difference between the two is the size of the display and notch. Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 comes with a slightly larger screen whereas Redmi 6 Pro has a notch.

    Winner: Subjective. Based on user preference.

    SoC, RAM, Storage

    • Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro: Snapdragon 625 with 3GB/4GB RAM with 32GB/64GB storage.
    • Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: Snapdragon 636 with 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM with 32GB/64GB storage.

    Zenfone Max Pro M1 has latest Snapdragon 636 which is a successor of SND 625. Snapdragon 625 is an efficient and powerful  SoC but older SoC. Though there is no much difference in day to day usage performance, choosing the latest version is a better choice.

    Winner: Zenfone Max Pro M1.

    Camera

    Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro: Dual camera Setup. 12-megapixel Sony IMX486 (f/2.2 aperture, 1.25-micron pixel size) sensor and a 5-megapixel Samsung S5KE8 (f/2.2, 1.12 μm) depth sensor. 5MP front facing camera.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: Dual camera Setup. 13 MP (f/2.2, 1.12µm) + 5 MP (f/2.4, 1.12µm) lenses which offers phase detection autofocus, a 5 element lens, and a wide-angle 80-degree lens. 8MP 85.5-degree wide angle lens with f//2.2 aperture.

    After the series of OTA updates, camera performance of Zenfone Max Pro M1 improved significantly. The company recently announced that it will add EIS in the upcoming OTA updates. When it comes to still photography, the overall performance of the rear camera is more or less the same on both smartphones. However, front-facing camera on Zenfone Max Pro M1 performs better in terms of details. Video department too, we felt that this Zenfone Max Pro M1 performance is better.

    Winner: Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.

    Battery

    Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro: 4000 mAh battery.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: 5000 mAh battery

    In our loop test, the screen on time on Redmi 6 pro was around 6 and a half hours. Whereas Zenfone Max Pro M1 gave us around 8 hours.  It is also worth noting that, both devices do not come with fast charger out of the box. So Zenfone Max Pro M1 takes a longer time to charge compared to Redmi 6 Pro.

    Winner: Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.

    Price and Availability

    Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro:Rs 10,999 and Rs 12,999.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1:Rs 10,999, Rs 12,999, Rs 14,999.

    Availability is one of the key difference in this segment. Buying Zenfone Max Pro M1 is much easier. It is available through the open sale. However, Redmi 6 Pro available through the open flash sale. This means one needs to wait for the sale time and buy quickly.

    Winner: Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.

    Summary of Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro Vs Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 comparison: According to us  Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is much better value for money device compared to Redmi 6 Pro.

  • Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Review-Pros and Cons

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is an affordable smartphone with impressive features.  Massive 5000 mAh battery, a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, 5.99-inch display, dual camera setup are the some of the highlighting features of this device. In this post, we will have an Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Review with pros and cons.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Review

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Review-Pros and Cons

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) price in India is INR 14,999.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Pros

    Here is the list of features which we felt are impressive.

    Massive 5000 mAh battery

    There are very few phones which comes with 5000 mAh battery. Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB)  coupled with efficient Snapdragon 636 provides stellar battery life. In our regular usage, it easily lasted 2 days.

    Great performance

    Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and Adreno 506 GPU is a great combination. In real time experience, it is noticeable. Whether it is browsing the Web and using social media applications or intensive tasks such as playing high-end games we have not faced any problem. Everything it ran smoothly and device did not heat up too much.

    Impressive Camera  performance

    6GB RAM variant comes with 16MP dual camera setup in the rear and 16MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture. The camera performance in good lighting condition is impressive and in low light, it is acceptable considering the price. Colors are accurate and have a decent dynamic range. Both front and back cameras are capable of recording 4K videos.

    Display

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) features 5.99-inch full-HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The colors are vibrant and viewing angles are decent. The outdoor legibility also satisfactory. Night mode and manual color temperature adjustment settings are available on this device.

    Value for money

    For the price of INR 14,999, Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) is a great value for money considering the features it has.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Cons

     

    • No Corning Gorilla Glass protection for the display:
    • Lacks USB C type port.
    • No fast charger in the box. Slightly longer charging time.

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) Review summary:

    Overall  Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1(6GB) great smartphone if you are looking for a smartphone with stellar battery life and great performance in the sub 15k budget.

  • How to take screenshot on Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is the phone with stock Android experience. Some of the features which are part of highly customized ZenUI are missing on this phone. One such feature is taking a screenshot. We have received many questions related to how to take a screenshot on Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 on the previous FAQ post. Here is the solution to take the screenshot.

    Recommended Reading:

    Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 Review

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 screenshot

    How to take screenshot on Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1

    There two different simple ways to take a screenshot on Zenfone Max Pro M1. Default Volume down and Power Button method or using the Google Assistant method.
    For taking the screenshot using the hardware keys follow the steps given below.

    • Go to the screen on which you want to take a screenshot.
    • Press and hold Volume down and power key simultaneously.
    •  It will take the screenshot.
    • Taken screenshots can be accessed from Photos->Albums-> Screenshot folder.

    For taking a screenshot using Google Assistant, follow the below steps.

    • On a page on which you want to take a screenshot, launch google assistant by long pressing home key.
    • Type or say “Take screenshot”.
    • You select whether you want to save the screenshot in photos, Google Drive or share it through WhatsApp, Instagram etc.
    • By default, it will not save it in your gallery.

    These are the two different ways to take a screenshot on Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.

    Video Guide on how to take the screenshot on Zenfone Max Pro M1