[REVIEW] Asus Zenfone 3 Max - A well put product !

Asus’ ZenFone range caters to every background of users out there in the Indian market. At the beginning of last year, Asus launched the ZenFone Max with a hefty battery, which received a slight refresh in June in the form of the ZenFone Max (2016). And now we have the Asus ZenFone 3 Max, which is available in two variants.

The ZenFone 3 Max is priced at Rs.17,999, and is likely to appeal more to buyers looking for big screen phone with a large battery with a good looking phone. It is competing against the likes of LeEco Le Max2 which is selling at the same price and Lenovo Z2 Plus (Rs.17,999 onwards).

Design:

ZenFone 3 Max is a good looking phone with a unibody metallic finish. For a big battery phone it is surprisingly slim and handy. It weighs 175g, which is impressive for big battery phone. The in-hand feel is great thanks to the curved edges and the 2.5D glass on top.

Display:

The phone’s key attraction is the bright 5.5-inch LCD display which comes with a screen resolution of 1920x1080p and a layer of Gorilla Glass 3 for protection against scratches, though in our initial testing the Gorilla Glass 3 protection couldn't hold up that well. Colours look good and bright which makes it ideal for watching movies and gaming.

Performance:

Driving the phone is Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor paired with 3GB of RAM. The device seems to lag at times, this is due the heavy UI that is on top of Android 6.0. This can be solved only if Asus decides to let go of some of the elements in it's UI.

Coming to the connectivity part, the phone holds up good for 2G, 3G and 4G networks, but we faced issues with VoLTE, the phone simply didn't latch up to Reliance Jio's network at times, when it does calling couldn't work. VoLTE was recently added to the device with an OTA update, seems that there was some patching issues with the software.

Gaming on this is one is pretty good, games like Asphalt 8, Real Racing 3, N.O.V.A 3 ran without lag on the medium to high setting (depending on respective games).

Verdict:

The ZenFone 3 Max isn't a solid contender in the sub Rs 20,000 segment, if the price could have been under Rs 15,000 that would have been great. ZenFone 3 Max impresses most with its solid build, battery backup and display but lacks in the UI, Connectivity department. At this price point the main competitors are LeEco's Le 2 Max and Zuk 2 with their recent price cuts are a lucrative deal. 

Finally ZenFone 3 Max is aimed at people who have light to medium usage, with an emphasis on battery and design, but won't suffice good in the hands of a power user.