How could you turn down a smartphone that costs less but offers more? This question would involuntarily pop up your head once you get to meet the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 – a mid-range smartphone that attempts to hit every tune right with its flexibility, overall efficiency, and familiarity with the market. Could this phone answer almost all of our prayers?
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| ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 Review: Wears All Available Masks |
Did it perform to our liking? Let's all find out in this review!
PHYSICAL:
The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 is positively overdressed for its price. Although there is nothing innovative to talk about when it comes to its design, this smartphone’s simple yet ambitious physical features could beat its foes belonging to the higher bracket without a sweat. Let’s start with the front panel.
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| Front |
Pro M2’s 6.3-inch face headlines a notch – a quick hint that this phone attempts to maximize the screen size and minimize the bezels. The notch holds the 13-megapixel camera and biometric sensors, and is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 6.
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| Display |
In terms of quality, this ASUS handset projects a Full HD+ (2280 x 1080) IPS display that falls a bit short of our preferred brightness when used under a direct sunlight. We were using it as a monitor to our drone flights and the screen was obscure, and it was sort of inconsistent when toggled indoors, too. Other than that, we enjoyed the accurate colors it paints on all the videos we played – especially the times when we watched the Star Wars Saga and Bohemian Rhapsody in testing the screen out. Knowing these movies' visuals, the Pro M2 was able to catch up with the tone our eyes needed.
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| Back |
On the other side, the Pro M2 flaunts a 3D glossy material that houses the fingerprint sensor, dual-camera setup, and an LED flash. This material would be a con for the sweaty palms as the Pro M2 tends to be slippery and attractive to finger smudges at the same time. Thanks to the free jelly case included in the bundle, this drawback won’t ring out that much.
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| Right |
The left corner carries the SIM and MicroSD card trays, while the other edge is where the volume rockers and power key are mounted. We love the idea of hard buttons being placed in a single corner because we don’t have to use fingers other than our thumb in operating the Pro M2's hard keys.
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| Bottom |
Down below is the 3.5mm jack, a MicroUSB port, and the speaker grilles. As we mentioned above, the Pro M2 doesn’t exhibit too much fanciness when it comes to its façade. It’s a more simple and straight-to-the-point cut out of its predecessor, but this time with an improved set of specs inside.
ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 Unboxing and Hands-on
To learn more about how the phone looks like, the contents of the box, and more, please kindly watch our ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 Unboxing and Hands-on above.
See Also: ASUS ZenFone Brings ZENsational Summer Experience
SOFTWARE:
Running on Android 8.1 Oreo, this is one of the best operating systems in ASUS smartphone series that we truly appreciate because it chose to stick with the Android-based apps rather than their own. The messaging app, calendar, and other essential software are being run by the Google-owned OS and it made our experience the Pro M2 smoother.
PERFORMANCE:
The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 has a core of specs that’s ideal for any smartphone device out in the market: 4GB or 6GB worth of RAM, 64GB storage space, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Octa-Core chipset. In case the storage space falls short of your preferred size, the dedicated MicroSD slot backs you up for expansion.
For the raw processing capabilities, see the benchmark below:
Antutu - 130,693
Geekbench - 1,469 (single core)
Geekbench - 5,519 (multi core)
Geekbench - 5,401 (RenderScript)
PC Mark - 6,749
3D Mark Sling Shot - 2,054
3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme - 1,167 (Vulkan)
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme - 1,226 (OpenGL ES 3.1)
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited – 26,314
3DMark Ice Storm Extreme - Max
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| Benchmark Scores |
In the gaming department, telling our experience through words is never enough. Although we were able to run graphics-heavy titles, we believe that the only way to convince you is through our benchmarks results and the case of playing PUBG Mobile. The first time we ran the game, the game opened up suggesting that we set the graphics quality to medium, but we decided to play it in Full HD and with the highest frame rate available. A game that lasted for 10 to 15 minutes in these settings gobbled up six percent of our battery with a manageable temperature. As for the performance, the Pro M2 ran smoothly.
Meanwhile, if you’re the type of person who’s into playing music in loudspeaker mode, the Pro M2 will not disappoint as the phone’s speakers have a decent amount of bass in high volume – even in an open area. Unlike other devices, Pro M2's loudspeaker doesn't have that crackling sounds when the volume gets too high.
CAMERA:
The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 has an impressive set of cameras: a Sony IMX486 that shoots 12-megapixel images with F1.8 aperture + a 5-megapixel secondary sensor; and a front camera that produces 13-megapixel images under an F2.0 aperture. This phone could be a perfect fit for vloggers as the front camera performs really well in the not-so-lit areas.
Our Pro M2 has undergone a demanding testing process in photography and we’re showing you the results below:
Dual-Rear Camera Samples:
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| Dim, Close-up |
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| Dim, Wide |
As you can see, performing in darkly-lit areas is not a problem with this smartphone. Although it misses a lot of photography features that other brands possess, ASUS has obviously ensured that you’re going to enjoy shooting with the Pro M2 by being able to produce a smooth and denoised images.
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| Noon, Pool |
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| Noon, Windows |
We had no issues with Pro M2's sharpness and contrast. However, we find the vibrance lacking as you can see in the blues and greens. Aside from the different ratios, this phone has these settings in tow:
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| Camera Settings |
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| ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2: Filters |
Front Camera Samples:
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| Selfie |
As for the front camera, it can deliver good results. Moreover, the beauty level can be set to off, low, mid, high, or customize the way you want.
Also Read: ASUS Launches ZenFone Max Shot, Max Plus M2
BATTERY:
We never had problems with ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2’s power, too. Packed with a 5,000mAh battery, it also supports flash charging that refills in almost three hours for a full percentage. It may sound too long, but remember that you’re recharging a bigger power pack than its competitors. However, we felt like the 5,000mAh could have lasted longer than we expected, but we think this is because the Pro M2 runs a high-end resume of hardware.
FINAL WORDS:
It is hard to believe that the ZenFone Max Pro M2 only costs starting at Php12,995 with its sleek body and splendid portfolio of hardware. People who own the Max Pro M1 doesn’t have to jump to this latest edition of the series, but upgrading to it obviously has its pros.
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| ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 |
Overall, the Pro M2 tops the list of our mid-range smartphones due to its all-in-one character for its price tag. By the looks of it, it seems like ASUS has finally found the right direction in this range and we’re extremely excited to see what the company has to offer in the next installment.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 Specs (Philippines):
- Dual Nano SIM, dual standby, supports 4G/LTE connectivity
- 6.26-inch IPS FHD+ (2280 x 1080) capacitive touchscreen display, 19:9 aspect ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection
- Dimensions: 157.9mm x 75.5mm x 8.5mm
- Weight: 175 grams
- Android 8.1 Oreo (Stock Android)
- 2.2GHz 64-bit octa-core Kryo 260 CPU, Adreno 512 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE chipset
- 4GB/6GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage, expandable up to 2TB via MicroSD card, uses dedicated slot
- 100GB Google Drive storage for 1 year
- 12MP f/1.8 PDAF Sony IMX486 + 5MP f/2.4 main cameras with AI and LED flash
- 13MP f/2.0 selfie camera with AI
- Multimedia Player
- FM Radio
- NXP 9874 Smart Amplifier
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz)
- Bluetooth v5.0
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
- MicroUSB with OTG support
- Sensors: fingerprint, accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope
- Others: Face Unlock
- Battery: 5000mAh Li-Po, non-removable, supports 10W fast charging
- Colors: Cosmic Titanium, Midnight Blue
- Price: Php12,995/Php14,995