ASUS launched yet another smartphone that they claim as the new “Battery King”. The ASUS ZenFone Max M1 is the second showcase of the M1 line in the Philippines. It is also more affordable than the ZenFone Max Plus M1 that was released earlier this year. We’ll be giving you our full comparison of this new budget-battery smartphone, but first here’s our unboxing and initial impressions.
| SPECS | ASUS ZenFone Max M1 |
| Display | 5.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD display (1440×720 resolution), 292 ppi |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor |
| GPU | Adreno 505 |
| Memory | 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage (up to 2TB via microSD card) |
| Rear Camera | 13-megapixel rear camera, f/2.0 aperture + 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with 120-degree FoV |
| Front Camera | 13-megapixel front camera, f/2.2 aperture |
| Connectivity | WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Fingerprint Scanner, Face Unlock |
| Battery | 4000mAh battery with Asus Boost Master |
| OS | Android Oreo 8.0 with ZenUI 5.0 |
| Price | PHPÂ 8,995 |
Table of Contents
What’s inside the box?
The ASUS ZenFone Max M1 comes in a two-toned blue box with a big Zenfone Max written at the top left of the box and a small “M1” at the side of it. Also, a “We love Photo” logo embossed at the bottom right.
Just like any other ASUS smartphone package, it comes with the essentials such as USB charging cable, USB wall adapter, earphones, a clear silicon case for protection, SIM ejector pin, and some documents. Most importantly, the 5.5-inch Asus smartphone.
Design
Similar to the ASUS ZenFone Max Plus M1 that was launched in January, it has a polycarbonate plastic build with metallic finish. It measures 147.3 x 70.9 x 8.7 mm and weighs 150 g. It also doesn’t have a notched-display like the recently lunched ASUS smartphone, the Zenfone 5. It’s pretty small compared to its bigger brother so it is easy to hold and fits my pocket perfectly.
We got the front-facing camera, the earpiece, and some sensors at the front. The dual cameras are positioned vertically at the top left together with its LED flash at the rear part of the handset. There’s also a fingerprint sensor at the center. The ASUS logo is visible at the center rear part of the handset, just below the fingerprint scanner.
The volume rockers and power button are located at the right side and the hybrid slot at the opposite side. On top, there’s a headphone jack and a microphone. The speaker grilles, microphone, and micro USB port are positioned at the bottom bunk of the smartphone.
Display
The ASUS Max M1 features a 5.5-inch full view display with 1440 x 720 display. It delivers decent color presentation and brightness – not the best in its price range, but it’s okay. We also took out this phone outside to shoot some photos and we didn’t encounter any viewing problems so far.
Moreover, navigating on this phone is pretty smooth and easy. It even has 10 points of touch. We’ll dive more into its viewing experience in our full review, so watch out for that!
Camera
In the camera department, it comes with a 13 MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and spotlight LED flash. For taking selfies, it has an 8 MP snapper with 120 wide angle feature. Here are some sample shots:
Other Features
It is powered by Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 with Adreno 505 GPU, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage. This smartphone runs on Android 8.0 (Oreo) with ZenUI 5.0 and is fueled by a 4000mAh battery pack, which the company claims to last for up to 4 days standby.
For user experience and gaming, we’ll definitely tackle about that in our full review.
Price and Availability
That’s it for our unboxing and hands-on of the new ASUS ZenFone Max M1! We’ll be posting our full review of this device in a few days, so you guys better watch out! In addition, we will be holding another Asus smartphone giveaway, stay tuned for our announcement!
The Asus ZenFone Max M1 carries the price tag of PHP 8,995 and is now available for purchase nationwide.
