Asus had been launching a slew of smartphones under the ZenFone 3 series this year. We’ve already seen ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Deluxe, ZenFone 3 Ultra, ZenFone 3 Laser and the latest device to join the series is the Asus ZenFone 3 Max (ZC553KL). First showcased at the IFA Berlin this year, the ZenFone 3 Max is aimed to overcome one of the most common issues of smartphones. Yes, you guessed it right, battery life it is.
The smartphone comes in two size variants — a 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch variant. We’ve been using the latter model as our daily driver for a while now and here’s what we think about it. Before we get into the details, lets take a quick look at the device’s specifications.
The ZenFone 3 Max has a 5.5-inch Full HD display (also available in 5.2-inch display size) with a 2.5D contoured glass atop. At the heart of the device is a 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space (which is expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card).
Also Read: Asus Zenfone 3 Laser smartphone now up for online sale in India at Rs. 18,999
The imaging department is taken care of by a 16-megapixel camera (f/2.0 aperture) at the front along with an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. It runs the Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box with the company’s custom ZenUI 3.0.
Connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, dual-SIM support, GPS along with A-GPS, 2G (GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz), 3G (WCDMA 2100MHz), 4G LTE along with support for VoLTE. The entire package is backed by a 4,100mAh battery to keep it juiced up all day.
Now that we got the specifications of the device out of the way, let’s talk about how it performs.
Let’s begin with battery life, the Asus Zenfone 3 Max just lasts. We’ve been using it extensively, for instance, we’ve used the device to binge watch a TV series — 10 episodes, each one hour long and we actually managed to watch the entire series without having the need to charge it in between.
Also Read: Lenovo K6 Power Excels When It Comes to Battery Life
As far as performance is concerned, the smartphone showed no signs of lag on moderate usage. It did stutter on playing graphic-intensive games, though. The software is heavily customized and has a lot of bloatware, thanks to ZenUI. Images captured on the smartphone were decent and can be shared on social-media sites without any edits.
Eventually, it all boils down to one question, should you buy it?
Well, considering the Rs. 17,999 price tag, we feel that the device is a bit overpriced especially when you can get the Lenovo Z2 Plus at a similar price. In case you are looking for more affordable options with similar battery performance, the Xiaomi Redmi 3s is a good alternative.
Would you buy the Asus ZenFone 3 Max or rather buy the Lenovo Z2 Plus or the more affordable Xiaomi Redmi 3s? Do share your thoughts in through the comments section below.
