We go hands-on (again) with the ASUS Zenfone Max

In the middle of last year we got the chance to hold and fondle a pre-production version of ASUS’ Zenfone Max, the Taiwanese company’s interpretation of the big battery smartphone concept that’s been adopted by many of their competitors. More and more people are conscious about the battery lives of the phones that they use, and the Max is supposed to be ASUS’ be-all and end-all smartphone for battery-concious consumers. With a 5000mAh battery and a economical Snapdragon 410 processor, the Zenfone Max should last consumers more than a day. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

ASUS Zenfone Max specs:

• 1.2GHz 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 5.5-inch HD display, Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 1280 x 720 resolution
• 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD
• 13-megapixel rear camera f/2.0 aperture with laser AF, dual LED flash
• 5-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, Dual LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• 5000mAh battery
• Android Lollipop with ZenUI

Initial Impressions: big battery in a premium package

ASUS’ Zenfone Max hasn’t changed much since we last saw it, but that doesn’t mean ASUS wasn’t hard at work trying to make the phone retail-ready. ASUS seems to have moved away from the original leatherette back cover that we saw on the pre-production version and instead gone with a faux leather that’s sturdier and feels better in the hands.

Looking at the Zenfone Max straight on, you’ll see ASUS’ trademark Zen design on the chin, as well as the physical Android navigation keys. There’s a selfie camera on the upper right side of the phone as well. The phone uses a bronze-colored plastic frame, and on the right side sits the power and volume rocker that sport ASUS’ concentric Zen design. The front of the phone is uniquely Zenfone, and you won’t mistake the Zenfone Max as anything besides an ASUS-made device.

At the back is a different story. The familiar volume key placement is gone, replaced by ASUS’ logo emblazoned in silver. The 13-megpixel rear camera module is flanked by the dual LED flash and the laser AF, while the speaker grille sits on the bottom of the device. Take the cover off of the phone, and you’ll see the two SIM slots and the microSD slot. Predictably, the 5000mAh battery is non-removable.

The Zenfone Max sports the same size display as a majority of ASUS’ Zenfone models – 5.5-inches – though at a lower resolution, at just HD. The display is bright and easy to read, with good colors and saturation. We don’t know how it’ll stand up to outdoor use though as our review unit arrived late yesterday but we’re not expecting and big issues.

Internally the Zenfone Max rocks a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. To be honest, the processor isn’t built for performance, though it’s good enough for most tasks (and light gaming). The upside is that since the processor isn’t that powerful, it will consume less battery when you actually use it.

Just like ASUS’ other phones, the Zenfone Max comes with ASUS’ ZenUI interface. While the ZenUI layer adds additional features to the device, it also adds quite a bit of bloatware to the mix, so much so that when we first turned the device on and connected it to our WiFi, it downloaded a bunch of updates for several apps already pre-installed to the device.

ASUS PH has not yet set a price for the Zenfone Max, though we reckon that they’ll be announcing it this weekend during their Cebu event. In India, ASUS priced the Max at around 7K, though that’s no guarantee that they’ll be pricing the device the same way here in our country.