Zenfone Max Pro M2 Test: Asus Impresses With Its Autonomy

In the past, many smartphones have disappointed us with their Battery Life With the Zenfone Max Pro M2, Asus is targeting an audience looking for a camera that will stand the test of time while offering an affordable price and performance. After several weeks in his company, here is our complete test of the Zenfone Max Pro M2.

Plus

• ✓Autonomie
• ✓Performances
• ✓Rapport value for money
• ✓Des efforts have been made on the bloatware

Minus

• ✕Appareil photo
• ✕Micro-USB

Small price

It’s one of the assets of the device. If you don’t necessarily have the budget to buy a Huawei Mate 20 Pro or a P30 Pro, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 is certainly a device that will interest you. You can expect to pay 299 euros for it. For this price, you have 64 GB of ROM expandable by microSD card and 6 GB of RAM. The smartphone is also dual-SIM.

A classic design

Aesthetically, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 is a rather classic smartphone, although it doesn’t shine by its originality. The front is marked by a notch (in the style of the iPhone) and a rather large chin.  The very smooth glass rear panel is distinguished by the presence of a photo module consisting of a double camera and an LED flash, which has the merit of not protruding, and by a classic fingerprint reader (whose efficiency is always much higher than the readers integrated into the screen). 

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So I’m gonna let the camera pictures speak for themselves to give you an idea. 

The ZenFone Max Pro M2 offers the good old notch. © AndroidPIT

Despite the glass at the back, the Max Pro M2 is resistant to fingerprints. © AndroidPIT

On the right edge are the power and volume buttons. © AndroidPIT

In terms of handling, the Max Pro M2 is satisfactory. Its curved angles make it easier to grip the terminal, and its thickness, due to its 5000 mAh battery, remains acceptable. On a daily basis, the smartphone offers good comfort.

ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 – Screen

The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 features a 6.26-inch diagonal IPS display in Full-HD definition (1080 x 2280 pixels) and a 19:9 aspect ratio. Very clearly, the panel used by Asus is one of the very good surprises of the device.

Full-HD (not QHD) definition improves the terminal’s autonomy

The brightness is excellent, as are the contrasts, and the Max Pro M2 offers very good outdoor readability. Colours tend to drift towards blue, but there is nothing to stop them. You can change this effect a little in the settings. In the end, we are dealing with a good IPS screen that is not worth AMOLED, of course.

The display of the Max Pro M2 is very pleasant to use on a daily basis. © AndroidPIT

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 – Software Interface

Despite the promise when it was released last January, the Max Pro M2 still hasn’t received the update to Android Pie. So you’ll have to make do with Android Oreo (the security patch is from February). Asus has clearly done a big job on this level by finally listening to the (numerous) feedbacks from users. The interface has been very clean and we have a near-stock version of Android.

Beware, there is no question of an Android One smartphone, the absence of Android Pie is there to remind you, but the smartphone offers very little bloatware. At the end of the day, there are just a few useful apps like the radio or a tape recorder and of course the Facebook, Messenger and Instagram applications. Alas, it is still impossible to delete them and they can only be deactivated. Too bad. 

Asus has put a lot of effort into the software and it’s been successful. All that remains is to make the effort to update and it will be perfect! © AndroidPIT

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 – Performance

Under the hood, the Max Pro M2 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage (memory is expandable via microSD card). 

If the smartphone cannot compete with the current flagships, it offers all the power needed for all uses. The mobile is fluid and responds quickly to multitasking. Applications open and close relatively quickly. Nothing to note also on the fingerprint reader, which is very fast.

For 300 euros, the Max Pro M2 is perfectly coherent with its ambitions.

Under stressful conditions with greedy games, the phone resists. Its Adreno 512 graphics chip has some difficulties with demanding games, especially if you push the graphics to a very high level. For demanding users, this is not a smartphone to recommend. For example, it is less powerful than an Honor 8X but for all the others, this smartphone will delight its users. Finally, note that the B28 band (700 MHz) is not supported.

Benchmark test results show the versatility of the terminal :

The ZenFone Max Pro M2 against the competition

The smartphone can become hot when overloaded. © AndroidPIT

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 – Camera

The ZenFone Max Pro M2 has a dual camera with 13 megapixels (f/1.8 aperture) and 5 megapixels for depth of field. Might as well say it right now, it’s a small disappointment. That does not make it catastrophic and the results are acceptable, but I had hoped for a little more on this side, as the competition is now fierce. 

Under good lighting conditions, the quality is correct. Details are quite visible and colour reproduction is generally good, despite a tendency to deviate towards red. If the focus is fast, the phone sometimes has trouble handling certain elements and tends to erase them from the picture.

In low light, the results are a little more delicate. The photos are cruelly lacking in stitching and show a lot of grain. In short, there won’t be a lot of detail, and if you still want to capture images after the sun goes down, prefer places that are fairly well lit. Positive mention, however, for the bokeh effect of the smartphone.

f the camera is disappointing, the Camera application at least has the merit of being simple. © AndroidPIT

Same for the video quality. It is possible to shoot in 4K at 30 fps but the result is far from being good, and it is better to opt for Full-HD.

You can get your own idea by visiting our photo gallery :

•  Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 Photo Gallery

The terminal is also equipped with a 13-megapixel front camera with an aperture of f/2.0. On this point, the phone is better. Finally, Asus went so far as to add a bokeh feature. Proof of this is that this smartphone tries to be as versatile as possible.

A champion of independence

On the technical side, the terminal has a non-removable 5000 mAh battery.  As the promises implied, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 is a champion of autonomy. The smartphone is among the best students in this field. You can thus easily count two days without going through the refill box with moderate use. Even if the device is subjected to extremely high loads, it will be easy to get through the day without worrying. The smartphone scored 13 hours in the PCMark battery test with 50% brightness. This is more or less the same result as the last Huawei P30 Pro.

However, patience is required to recharge the device. To save money, Asus has opted for a micro-usb socket and a 10-watt charger. As a result, it takes more than two hours to fully charge the smartphone. 

In the absence of a Type-C USB plug, the ZenFone Max Pro M3 offers a 5000 mAh battery. © AndroidPIT

Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 – Technical data

Final Verdict

With its ZenFone Max Pro M2, Asus has succeeded in its bet: to offer a durable smartphone at a moderate price. It must be said that the aircraft is perfectly fulfilling the mission it had set itself. The Max Pro M2 is quite simply an excellent student in terms of autonomy, offers seductive performance, all this in a format that is quite contained and pleasant to handle. Add to that a price of 299 euros and you can see why the smartphone can appeal to a type of audience more interested in autonomy than in design or photo quality. Because yes, in the end, its only real shortcoming concerns the photo part which could have been taken care of more.