Asus has made a sort of comeback into the Indian budget phone segment with the launch of its Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 smartphone. The new Zenfone smartphone comes with a list of attractive features to take on the competition, including a dual rear camera setup, thin bezel-less 18:9 display, metal body design, and a large battery. Also, Asus brings stock Android experience for the first time. However, the price segment is pretty crowded with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro being one of its greatest competitors. The Redmi Note 5 Pro is by far the best mid-range smartphone in the Indian market, and of course, it's also the most demanded smartphone out there. But the best phone now got competition out of nowhere. Read on to know more on which smartphone packs better hardware on paper:
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 vs Redmi Note 5 Pro Price in India
The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 price in India is set at Rs 10,999 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant, while its 4GB RAM and 64GB storage model is priced at Rs 12,999. Asus announced it will be selling the phone exclusively on Flipkart. The Redmi Note 5 Pro price in India, on the other hand, is set at Rs 13,999 for the 4GB RAM, 64GB storage variant, while its 6GB RAM, 64GB storage variant is available at Rs 16,999. The phone is available via Flipkart and Mi.com through a flash sale model.
Zenfone Max Pro vs Redmi Note 5 Pro Design and Display
The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 comes with an aluminium unibody casing with plastic antenna lines running along the top and bottom of the device. It comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the rear and base holds a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB port and speaker grill. Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 Pro is no different sporting a similar metal unibody design. Even the cameras are stacked vertically, and there’s also a fingerprint scanner on the rear side. The bottom edge houses the audio and micro USB ports.
As for the display, both the Zenfone Max Pro M1 and Redmi Note 5 Pro come with a 5.99-inch display with a Full HD+ (2160×1080 pixels) resolution, and support for taller 18:9 aspect ratio. While the Max Pro M1 comes in two colour options of black and titanium grey, the Redmi Note 5 Pro comes in black, blue, gold and rose gold colours.
Zenfone Max Pro vs Redmi Note 5 Pro Hardware
Under the hood, both the devices pack the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC, the octa-core CPU with Kryo 260 cluster and power-efficient 14nm architecture. Asus, however, claims that its Max Pro M1 is 1.54 times more powerful than Redmi Note 5 Pro, despite packing the same chipset and having lesser RAM. This could be because Asus offers a stock Android experience on its handset against the MIUI 9 skin on the Note Pro 5.
In terms of optics, the Zenfone Max Pro M1 has a higher megapixel count on the primary sensor against the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The Asus phone carries a 13MP (Omnivision 16880 sensor) with f/2.2 aperture and a 5MP secondary sensor with depth sensing functionality for bokeh effects. Xiaomi, meanwhile, uses a combination of 12MP f/2.2 aperture primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. On the front, the Redmi Note 5 Pro has a high-resolution 20MP camera while Max Pro M1 gets an 8MP selfie shooter.
Zenfone Max Pro vs Redmi Note 5 Pro Battery
In regards to battery capacity, Asus’s Zenfone Max Pro M1 takes the upper hand. The device is fueled by a behemoth 5000mAh battery, and in comparison, the Redmi Note 5 Pro has a respectable battery capacity of 4000mAh. Asus promises the phone can deliver over 25 hours of 1080p video playback. The Redmi Note 5 Pro also can as well easily over a day worth of battery life.
Zenfone Max Pro vs Redmi Note 5 Pro Conclusion
Both smartphones in the budget segment are pretty competitive in terms of features and specs. Asus with its clean Android 8.1 Oreo-based OS, heavy duty 5000mAh battery and more RAM/storage options and competitive is price definitely looks pretty good. However, Xiaomi has a great brand name and pretty awesome cameras to back up its Redmi Note 5 Pro. Still, Xiaomi’s phone is largely marketed through flash sales, which will definitely undercut its business as the Asus phone will be available readily.
