Few weeks ago, the ZenFone Max Plus graced the local shores for 11,995 and with some freebies. It is actually ASUS’ first 18:9 smartphone in the market, and it is also called the new “Battery King”. Can this Zenfone Max Plus live up to its name? Let’s find out in our review here.
| SPECS | ASUS Zenfone Max Plus Review |
| Display | 5.7-inch FHD+ IPS display @ 2160 x 1080px, 424 ppi |
| Size (l x w x h) | 152.6 x 72.7 x 8.8 mm, 160 g |
| Design | 2.5D curved glass |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold |
| Chipset | MediaTek 6750T Processor |
| Processor | Octa-core (4×1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.0 GHz Cortex-A53) |
| GPU | Mali-T860MP2 |
| Rear Camera | Dual: 16 MP (f/2.0, 35mm) + 8 MP (17mm, no AF), phase detection autofocus, LED flash Recording: 1080p@30fps |
| Front Camera | 8 MP (f/2.0, 25mm) Video Recording: 1080p@30fps |
| Memory | 64 GB, 4 GB RAM or 32 GB, 3 GB RAM or 16 GB, 2 GB RAM |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Blutetooth 4.0, A2DP, LE, FM radio, microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| OS | Android 7.0 Nougat |
| Features | Fingerprint (rear-mounted) |
| Battery | 4130mAh battery |
| Official Price | PHP 11,995 |
| Availability date | January 2018 |
| Where to buy | Official ASUS Concept stores, physical stores, kiosks, and online stores |
The ZenFone Max Plus retains the shape of base Max design. The upgrade, which may not be for everyone, is the move to an 18:9 display. With this, the fingerprint scanner is moved to the back. The Max Plus is still as thick with all the necessities. The stereo setup is still there with a microUSB port. Thankfully, there is still a 3.5mm audio jack on top along with the other mic.
Because of the 18:9 aspect ratio, the bezels on the sides has been reduced a bit compared to the base Zenfone Max. Though it’s not thinner as most phones that are out in the market today, but they’re thin enough and with that price? You really can;t complain too. The ZenFone Max Plus produces great colors, making it suitable for the price that it is being offered for.
The Zenfone Max Plus is powered by MediaTek’s MT6750T octa-core processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.
The one possible reason that I could come up with at the moment is that ASUS has not optimized ZenUI on Mediatek since their releases last year were purely on Snapdragon’s SoC’s. It might take some time before this becomes optimized, but overall, the Max Plus is still a great phone on its own. Something new with the Max Plus is the Face Unlock. It’s actually pretty well, however it might not work in dim lighting, so we suggest to just use the fingerprint scanner placed on the back instead.
As for the cameras, the ZenFone Max Plus redeemed itself with decent color capture and contrast ratios. The cameras of the Zenfone Max Plus is far better than the base smartphone. With its improved 16 MP rear camera paired with an 8 MP panoramic wide camera, it captures decent photos for its price.
The ZenFone Max Plus’s selfies also decent but tends to overcompensate especially in low-lighting. Also, the portrait mode or bokeh effect of the selfies looks super artificial. But the normal selfies taken in daylight are alright, considering the price again.
| Device | AnTuTu | PCMark Work 2.0 | Geekbench | Androbench |
| ASUS Zenfone Max Plus | 42351 | 2817 | SC: 615MC: 2486 | Seq. Read: 272.12MB/sSeq. Write: 73.46MB/s
Ran. Read: 36.94MB/s Ran. Write: |
Again, the Zenfone Max Plus is powered by MediaTek MT6750T Octa-core processor, Mali T860 GPU, and 4GB of RAM. If you’re just going to use this phone for texting, surfing, accessing social media sites, we can assure you that there won’t be a problem at all. However, it might not be the best smartphone for heavy tasks like playing high graphical games, it gives you a decent performance but still not the best in that department.
Even if a large battery pack is what the Max Plus carries and paired with a low-power chipset, sadly, we expected too much. Good thing is, ASUS answered our prayers and implemented a day-one patch to address this issue and now, the battery is optimized and have a longer battery life.
| Device | Battery | MS Battery Rating | Charging-Time (0-100) |
| ASUS Zenfone Max Plus | 4130mAh | 29h 48m (w/o update) | 2h 15m |
With a headphone plugged in, the Max Plus takes the lead with its AudioWizard. It’s not for enthusiasts, but its better than having nothing for tuning your audio the way you like it for long commutes and work sessions. With the speakers on, it’s actually loud. Well, take a listen here.
It’s a great choice for people looking for a decent phone under the Php 12, 000 price tag. Well, it can do every mundane stuff and has dual cameras, an 18:9 display, a decent battery life, and both fingerprint scanner and face unlock – all of that for just Php 11,995.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV2j9lCYErM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
ManilaShaker is a tech media producing insightful and helpful content for our local and growing international audience. Our goal is to create a premier Philippine digital consumer electronics resource that provides the most objective reviews and comparisons globally.
