The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 has been the best-seller for the Taiwanese smartphone company in India this year. The company already announced that it sold more than a million units since the launch back in May this year. When it launched, the Zenfone Max Pro M1 was a smartphone to beat, but now, we have the likes of Realme 2 Pro, Nokia 5.1 Plus and others in the similar price range, offering similar, if not better specifications. HMD Global recently brought the Nokia 5.1 Plus to India and priced it aggressively at Rs 10,999 which is the same price of 3GB+32GB variant of Zenfone Max Pro M1.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus sports a MediaTek Helio P60 chipset, while the Max Pro M1 ships with Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset. But for the asking price, the 5.1 Plus offers five additional features which we don't get with the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. Read on to know more.
Design
When it comes to build quality and form factor, both the Nokia 5.1 Plus and the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 garner a positive response from the market. While the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 comes with a metal unibody design, the Nokia 5.1 Plus has a polycarbonate body with glossy finish on the rear side. Additionally, the Nokia 5.1 Plus comes with a high-gloss body and CNC-machined metal camera bezel which gives it a much more premium feel and aesthetical edge over the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.
Display
The Nokia 5.1 Plus sports a 5.86-inch IPS LCD which is an edge to edge one with 720 x 1520 HD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 19:9. On the other hand, the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 flaunts a 5.99-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1080 x 2160 Full HD+ on a screen which has 18:9 aspect ratio. Regarding pixel density and the crispness of the image, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is a clear winner. However, because of the notch on the top side, the Nokia 5.1 Plus gets ahead of the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 when it comes to a better screen to body ratio.
Android One
Although on a superficial software view of both phones, the Nokia 5.1 Plus and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 might look alike, because of the presence of stock Android, things are quite different on a closer look. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 lacks the Android One certification, while the Nokia 5.1 Plus comes with it. This certification means that Nokia 5.1 Plus will be able to receive the latest Android security patches. Besides that, the Nokia 5.1 Plus is a phone which will get the upcoming Android Pie update as well as the Android Q update in the coming year.
Camera and Imaging
The Nokia 5.1 Plus sports a dual rear setup of 13MP + 5MP along with an 8MP selfie camera on the front. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 also comes with a similar 13MP + 5MP cameras on the rear side, paired with an 8MP camera on the front. Despite the similarity, the Nokia 5.1 Plus has the edge over the camera because of the presence of AI backed features like portrait lighting, bokeh blur, haze removal, and beauty mode. There is also the Nokia specific “Bothie” feature on the Nokia 5.1 Plus which will allow the users to snap pictures or record videos with both the front camera and the rear camera as well.
USB Type-C Port
Another thing to note here in this comparison between the Nokia 5.1 Plus and the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 is that the Nokia 5.1 Plus comes with a USB Type-C port as compared to the dated micro-USB port in the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. Although the USB Type-C supported on the Nokia 5.1 Plus is USB 2.0 enabled as opposed to the latest USB 3.1, the phone can facilitate impressive data sharing speeds.
