Review: Asus Zenfone 3 Max is All About the Long Battery Life

The ASUS Zenfone 3 Max has impressive battery life and a stylish body. But does it make the cut?

The Asus Zenfone 3 Max has an impressive battery life. Should you buy it? Read our review (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

Almost every smartphone brand has a flagship series that comprises a number of phones that then crowd the smartphone market with different monikers. Asus has eight variations of its smartphone brand, the Zenfone.

There's a Asus Zenfone for almost every price point, ranging from budget to high-end. In this piece, we review the Asus Zenfone 3 Max (ZC553KL), prices at Rs 17,999. Does it manage to stand out in the crowd?

Pros:

• Glass and metal construction
• Brilliant battery backup
• Decent camera
• Quick fingerprint scanner

Cons:

• Slow processor
• Non-backlit buttons
• Overpriced

What’s Good?

The design is quite simple. A metallic back and a 2.5D glass on the front give it a premium look for a smartphone in the mid-range segment. The screen is 5.5-inch Full HD, which remained bright and displayed vivid colours even when exposed to sunlight.

Asus Zenfone 3 Max has a metallic back and 2.5D glass on the front. (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

The 4,100mAh battery managed to last two days of active usage. During this period, we surfed the internet, used it as a 4G WiFi hotspot, and pretty much everything else. The power efficiency has left us impressed, to say the least.

Under the hood, the smartphone has an octa-core Snadragon 430 processor, which helps preserve power, but cuts down on performance.

The metallic back has two thin silver antenna lines, which add to the design (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

The Asus Zenfone 3 Max comes with 32GB onboard space, which can be expanded to 128GB via a microSD card.

The Asus Zenfone 3 Max has a fingerprint scanner, laser focus and dual-tone LED flash (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

The fingerprint sensor is fast and can be programmed to read shortcuts, including picking up calls and activating the camera shutter, to name a few.

If social media is your playground, the Asus Zenfone 3 Max camera will strike your fancy. However, stretching the photographs will reveal some grains on your images. So yes, it has its limits.

Photo sample, indoor (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

Photo sample of Asus Zenfone 3 Max, outdoors (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

What’s Bad?

The phone is a mid-range device, a premium over the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, the Moto G4 Plus, and others. However, Asus Zenfone 3 Max seems to be cutting corners in a few places.

The volume and power button are metallic with concentric engravings (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

The Snapdragon 430 processor could have been upgraded to a faster chip. Despite the 3GB of RAM, we experienced slight lags on our review device while playing heavy games such as Asphalt 8. We also noticed lags while switching between heavy video and photo editing apps.

Heavy users may find these lags cumbersome after a while. The Snapdragon 650 would have helped a great deal here.

The phone is thin and easy to hold (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

The Asus Zenfone 3 Max comes with capacitive touch buttons on the front, right under the screen.

But we fail to understand why Asus shies away from making its buttons backlit, when its rivals appear to do so with ease for phones in their under Rs 10,000 category - the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, for example.

The battery is this phone’s saving grace. (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

Why Buy It?

You may consider this phone if you’re looking for smooth performance, coupled with impressive battery, for your average use.

However, if you want your smartphone to go the extra mile, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 beats the Asus Zenfone 3 Max in this range. The former is cheaper too.