Asus ZenFone was once a dominant force in the Indian smartphone market, but Xiaomi took over the mantle, assaulting the competition with ultra-cheap phones that actually offered great value.

The ZenFone Max M1 comes in a simple cardboard box, which like its brethren, is covered in hues of blue and a slide-out tab for instant access to the contents of the box. Here’s everything you’ll get in the box:

  • Asus ZenFone Max M1
  • Sim Ejector Tool
  • Charging Adapter
  • USB-A to micro USB Cable
  • User Manual

Next up, let’s take a quick look at the specs table for the ZenFone Max M1 before we dive into my experience. The device comes only in one configuration, with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, backed by the Snapdragon 430 SoC, which sounds good enough on paper for the price segment. Check out the key specs right here:

Design and Build Quality

The budget segment doesn’t really see premium build, however, the ZenFone Max M1 looks very similar to the ZenFone Max Pro M1, and retains the metallic-gold color of the body.

ZenFone Max M1 comes in a polycarbonate build, with a metallic finish and rounded corners, that gives the phone a comfortable grip and in-hand feeling. It’s a handy device which I can easily use with one hand and it doesn’t slip away like most glass phones these days which is another plus.

One of my favorite things about the ZenFone Max M1, however, will have to be the textured power button that makes it easier to differentiate from the volume rockers. All buttons feel good to the touch, are quite tactile and I like it.

There’s also the notification LED on the front, a micro-USB charging port at the bottom, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top side.

Turning our attention to the front, the ZenFone Max M1 features a 5.45-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen with an 18:9 aspect ratio and a display resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels. This bumps up the screen-to-body ratio to 82%, but with plenty of bezels around the screen.

Coming to one of the most important features that will drive your buying decision, the ZenFone Max M1 features a single 13MP (f/2.0) sensor on the rear and an 8MP (f/2.2) selfie camera. It sounds suitable for an affordable mid-ranger, however, let’s check out some camera samples in different lighting conditions to know better.

In broad daylight and good lighting conditions, the Zenfone Max M1 performs quite well and is able to capture the colors and depth of the object but often punching up the colors which make the photos look saturated and over-sharpened. The dynamic range here may not be up to the mark but one cannot complain when they’re getting social media-ready photos right off the bat.

My biggest issue with the single rear shooter on the ZenFone Max M1 is that it sometimes finds it hard to handle the light coming to the sensor, thus, overexposing the images. You can see this in the shots of the ruins and the car above.

ZenFone Max M1 does perform decently in low-light situations as well, impressing me with the highlights and details captured – instead of just letting in a ton of light. They may not be on par with the Redmi 6, which gives you more color accurate and sharp images in low light, but they’re good enough for the price. They’re a bit on the cooler side and you’ll easily see noise when zooming in.

Selfies

Coming to the front camera, the selfies captured using the ZenFone Max M1 were better than my expectations. They weren’t soft, so the camera is not aggressively applying any beauty mode to your skin. It captured a decent amount of detail both in daytime and low-light conditions.

Portraits

Every smartphone camera needs to have portrait mode these days as a USP, but the Max M1 doesn’t have any secondary sensors on the front or rear to capture depth information. Asus is doing the right software magic as edge-detection, blur, as well as details captured in these photos is just great. My biggest complaint will have to be the over-exposed lights and whites in the photos.

You can see our ZenFone Max M1 and Redmi 6 shootout right here, but it’s safe to say that the Redmi 6 has better cameras.

Software

Since Asus surprised us with an almost stock Android experience on ZenFone Max Pro (M1), we expected the Taiwanese giant to follow along the same lines and provide us, budget users, with a handy-dandy device with stock Android. However, ZenFone Max (M1) comes integrated with the company’s ZenUI 5.0 skin on top of Android 8.0 Oreo.

As seen in the screenshot above, ZenUI 5.0 now looks less bloated and feels lighter than before but it closely resembles Samsung’s Experience UI if you pay attention. The quick toggles menu offers you plenty of tiles and features. You also get advanced features like twin apps, Game Genie (similar to Samsung’s Game Launcher) and ZenMotion touch gestures as well.

Asus may be trying to take on the popular Redmi series with the Zenfone Max M1, but it feels like a half-hearted attempt, when it comes to the performance. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset, paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, which is certainly a decent combination, but it doesn’t translate into satisfactory real-world usage.

ZenFone Max M1 can handle your daily lightweight tasks with ease, be it watching Netflix or calling your peers, with satisfactory memory management. The 3GB RAM doesn’t get used up immediately and you can easily have up to 10 or more apps open in the background, provided they are not taking up more and more RAM, in which case they will be killed by the system. The device does suffer under heavy workloads, especially gaming or multi-tasking. This is almost similar to what we experienced with the Redmi 6 too, which is not the swiftest phone.

Well, if that clarified most of your doubts then well and good, but if you’re someone who likes to rely on and compare benchmark scores, you can take a look at our AnTuTu and Geekbench results below. AnTuTu (left) and Geekbench 4 (right)

In terms of connectivity, the Asus ZenFone Max M1 scores points with the inclusion of a triple-slot tray on the device, allowing you to use two nano SIM cards and a micro-SD card simultaneously.

I have been using my Airtel SIM in ZenFone Max M1 for the past week and my experience has been great to date. I didn’t notice any connectivity issues and the calls sounded quite clear, thanks to the impressive noise cancellation via the secondary microphone on the left edge.

The ZenFone Max M1 includes a single bottom-firing speaker and it does get pretty loud at high volumes, with good sound clarity and treble. My biggest qualm with ZenFone devices launched this year is the lack of proper volume steps and ZenFone Max M1 has the same issue, where the sound ramps up too fast and too loud when reaching close to its peak, but remains almost inaudible at low volumes.

The battery is the highlight of the ZenFone Max M1. Staying true to its ‘Max’ branding, Asus packed a huge 4,000 mAh battery in this device but you wouldn’t feel the weight. This is something I’ve come to appreciate over the past few days.

This wraps up everything you need to know about the ZenFone Max M1, which has shaped up to be another impressive device from Asus’ camp in the budget segment. The Taiwanese giant is eager to capture a piece of the smartphone market in India and with the budget segment seeing high growth, the ZenFone Max M1 has been positioned well to take on the competition. It offers users a good looking phone at a great price, and with plenty of features.

The important question now is, should you buy the Asus ZenFone Max M1 for Rs. 7,499? Well, there’s no way I wouldn’t recommend the ZenFone Max M1 to someone looking to buy a premium-feeling and lightweight smartphone with a massive battery in the sub-Rs 8,000 price bracket.

Cons:

SEE ALSO – ZenFone Max M1 vs Redmi 6: Gunning for Xiaomi, Again!

Running with the success of its ZenFone Max Pro (M1) smartphone, Asus is now looking to bank on the same brand name, its popularity, and affordability to court users in the entry-level segment. The ZenFone Max (M1) is a solid attempt to rival Xiaomi’s favorable Redmi 6 lineup, with a sturdy and likable build, equally-powerful internals, a decent set of cameras, and a software experience that isn’t marred by ads.