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MagyarAsus ZenFone Max (M2) Smartphone — Hands-on Review and First Impressions
Ever since the launch of the ZenFone 5Z, Asus has been bullish about the extremely price-sensitive Indian smartphone market and has launched a phone catering to almost every budget and use case. The ZenFone Max (M2) is Asus's latest entry in the sub-₹10,000 (US$150) bracket and is a significant upgrade over the Max (M1). The Max (M2) is now in the same price range as the Max Pro (M1), and it aims to offer decent performance without overdoing anything.
Currently, there is no dearth of sub-₹10,000 phones in the Indian market and recent launches have proved to be quite capable. Oppo's sub-brand Realme has been consistent in launching multiple devices and the Realme 1 and Realme 2 have seen good patronage. The Honor 8C has similar specs as the ZenFone Max (M2) but stands out with its design. The Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro is still a bestseller that offers slightly better specs at the same price. The competition in this space is cut-throat so Asus has an uphill task in silencing the critics and gaining the acceptance of the masses. Will it be able to do so? Let's find out.
Note — This is more of an extensive hands-on than the typical smartphone review you are used to on Notebookcheck. We've incorporated most of the performance benchmarks that we think will give a fair performance estimate of the phone. All tests were done on the latest software version OPM1.WW_Phone-15.2016.1812.145-20181227 that was made available on January 7.
Design
In the box, we find the ZenFone Max (M2) itself, a regular 10 W USB charger, USB to microUSB cable, a TPU case, a SIM ejector tool, and the usual paperwork.
The Max (M2) sports a metal back surrounded by a plastic frame, but it does not really exude a premium feel. The overall construction is nothing extraordinary and one feels the phone to be a bit fragile (even though it is not) but given the price, we are not complaining. In fact, some do actually prefer the bland, cold-to-touch, minimalist, and non-slippery design. Unlike its slightly more expensive relative, the ZenFone Max Pro (M2), the Max (M2) does not offer any Corning Gorilla Glass protection on the display. Despite having a 4,000 mAh battery, the phone has a weight of just 160 g and is very comfortable to hold as long as you aren't opposed to large-screen phones.
At the back we find a 13 MP + 2 MP dual camera setup and an LED flash. The fingerprint sensor is located where it should be and is recessed so that you can easily find it. On the top, we find a headphone jack and a noise-canceling microphone while the bottom has the main microphone, a microUSB port, and a single speaker. Towards the left, we find a triple-card slot that can accommodate two nano SIMs AND a microSD card at once and finally, we have the volume rocker and the power button on the left. The buttons are easy to press and respond well.
The ZenFone Max (M2) sports a 6.26-inch HD+ display that houses a notch that is slightly wider than the ZenFone Max Pro (M2). The notch houses the earpiece, an 8 MP selfie camera, a soft LED flash, and a proximity sensor. Towards the right corner of the earpiece is a multi-color LED notification light that is very bright and conspicuous. The bezels are minimal except for the prominent chin at the bottom.
The overall design, therefore, is standard fare of most budget phones out there and there are no surprises here, which is good.
Features and Specifications
The ZenFone Max (M2) is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC. Apart from the Max (M2), only the Honor 8C and the Meizu Note 8 incorporate this SoC as of date. The Snapdragon 632 is a 14 nm chip and is clocked lower (1.8 GHz) than the Snapdragon 630 (2.2 GHz) and also features a slightly lower-performing Adreno 506 GPU. Asus offers the ZenFone Max (M2) in Midnight Black and Space Blue color variants, and you get to choose between 3 GB RAM / 32 GB storage (the one in this review) and 4 GB RAM / 64 GB storage variants. MicroSD expansion is possible up to 2 TB and Asus also offers a complimentary 100 GB of Google Drive storage space valid for one year.
Connectivity-wise, the Max (M2) covers the basics. You get dual-SIM dual-standby (DSDS) support for the SIM slots, both of which are compatible with 4G VoLTE networks. The phone supports 802.11n wireless but there's only 2.4 GHz band support. Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi Direct are supported along with GPS and FM Radio. There are a host of sensors available including accelerometer, compass, proximity, ambient light, fingerprint, and gyroscope. There is a dual 13 MP + 2 MP camera setup at the back that can record 4K 30 fps video, and there is an 8 MP front-facing camera.
The phone supports both fingerprint and face unlock. In our testing, we found the fingerprint sensor to be fairly responsive and the face unlock works well in good ambient light. However, they can still use some speed tuning via software updates.
There are no stereo speakers present, but you get a single 5-magnet NXP SmartAMP speaker that gets sufficiently loud for playback. However, the speaker position is such that your hand will always eclipse it when holding the device in landscape mode, resulting in muddled output.
One of the pluses of the ZenFone Max (M2) is that it offers a 4,000 mAh battery. Coupled with the power-efficient Snapdragon 632 and an almost stock Android experience, the ZenFone Max (M2), in most cases, will have plenty of charge left before you hit the bed.
Software
Asus has mostly stuck to stock Android for its budget offerings since the Max Pro (M1) and we feel that's a wise decision. The ZenFone Max (M2) offers a stock AOSP Android 8.1 Oreo experience with almost no bloatware. Asus has committed to offering the Android 9.0 Pie update sometime by February this year. The only preinstalled apps are Google's own suite of apps, which most users will find useful anyway, and three Asus apps that include Sound Recorder, FM Radio, and Calculator. Third-party apps are restricted to Facebook, Instagram, and FB Messenger. You cannot remove these apps but can disable them if needed. The Settings page is what you get in the stock OS apart from a few additional options such as Ambient Display and ZenMotion gestures.
Earlier this month, Asus released an OTA update (15.2016.1812.145) that updates the Android security patches to December 2018 along with offering improved fingerprint registration, camera optimizations, and EIS support for the front camera.
Since this is more or less a stock ROM, you will miss out on some useful additions found in custom OEM ROMs such as built-in call recording, app-twinning, app vaults, themes, memory managers, etc. That said, you can still get such functionality by using third-party apps and we feel it's a fair enough trade-off considering that you get a clean and responsive interface.
Pro Tip: For those who like to assess the overall performance of their phone and whether all components are working as they should, Asus has a nifty SMMI test utility that can be invoked by opening the Calculator app and entering ".12345+=". The SMMI test utility can help you test all the individual components of your phone in case you feel something isn't right before sending the device for service.
Telephony, Networking, and GPS
The ZenFone Max (M2) carries out basic telephony duties with no issues. Network reception was up to the mark even in areas with supposedly low signal strength. Both SIMs are 4G VoLTE capable so you will be able to use VoLTE if your provider supports it. Call quality is good but due to the presence of only a single noise-canceling microphone, some amount of background noise is perceivable. Calls over speakerphone sound okay as long as you keep the volume at reasonable levels; distortion was evident at max volume. Wi-Fi works great, although you get only up to wireless-N speeds on the 2.4 GHz channel. Still, the phone had no issues in reaching the 50 Mb/s maximum speed offered by the ISP.
The phone supports GPS, AGPS, and GLONASS. It did have trouble in getting a GPS lock indoors but was fairly quick to latch on to the signal outdoors with up to 3 m accuracy. Battery drain while using GPS was as expected and not too drastic.
Display
The ZenFone Max (M2) sports a 6.26-inch 1520x720 notched 19:9 display. The Max (M2)'s display is probably one of the weakest points about the whole device. It's not outright bad but many other devices in the Max (M2)'s price range have FHD+ displays so it gives an impression that Asus has cut more corners than required to keep the device under a certain price target. You might not notice it in regular use, but put it side-by-side with an FHD+ phone, such as even the Max Pro (M2), and the differences become immediately apparent.
The colors also seem a bit washed-out and we noticed that the display does not do a good job in reproducing some of the darker colors or shadows with great detail. That being said, it is bright at 430 nits so there are no viewing issues indoors. The display is okay for viewing under bright light and the overall legibility and colors under direct sunlight were just about passable. There seems to be a peculiar bug in the auto brightness setting, though. When the auto brightness is turned on, the display turns unusually bright even at night. This is something that can be addressed by a patch and we hope Asus incorporates this fix soon.
Asus hasn't included any color tuning utilities apart from the blue-light filtering Night Mode. You also do not get the ability to hide the notch or scale apps that don't fit the 19:9 aspect ratio unless stock Android offers such features natively in a future update. However, you do get a neat Ambient Display option that shows detailed notifications while the display is not active. There's also a Smart Screen feature that extends the screen on time while you're looking at the phone or holding it upright.
Users will be glad to know that the ZenFone Max (M2) has Widevine CDM L1 support, which means you can stream Netflix and Amazon Prime in 720p and above.
Cameras
The camera app in the ZenFone Max (M2) is well-designed and offers most controls within easy reach. You get presets such as Auto, HDR, Pro, Sports, and Night. You also get flash control, beauty effects, live effects, Depth mode, and other common settings for taking photos. There aren't too many AI controls present, but the camera can detect up to 13 pre-defined scenes.
Rear Camera
The ZenFone Max (M2) offers a 13 MP f/1.8 primary sensor with a 1.12 micron pixel size along with a 2 MP depth sensor as the primary shooter. We felt that the overall performance of the primary camera is justified for the price. Shots in sufficient ambient light turn out very usable. We found two main areas where the Max (M2) could definitely improve — HDR and depth sensing. As you can see from the photos below, non-HDR pictures seem to be brighter and more detailed compared to HDR ones. This was observed particularly in indoor lighting than outdoors. The depth sensing works fine but the background is not always sufficiently blurred, and it will take a few repeats to get the desired shot. Also, many settings such as changing picture size, applying beauty effects, etc. get disabled in Depth mode, which can prove to be a limitation.
For the price, the ZenFone Max (M2) performs well in low light. You won't get good results in absolute darkness but city shots in low light come out well. Noise levels are on the higher side in darker areas of the image. Even better results can be achieved by playing around with ISO, shutter speed, and EV values in Pro Mode.
The rear camera can shoot 4K video, but that means you will have to compromise on EIS. There is no OIS support but other shooting modes offer the choice of enabling EIS. A welcome feature is that there is no limit to the length of video recording irrespective of the resolution selected.
Front Camera
The front camera in the ZenFone Max (M2) is an 8 MP f/2.0 sensor with a 1.12 micron pixel size. Taking good shots with the front camera is definitely not the Max (M2)'s forte. The pictures seem to lose a lot of detail and sharpness, and the shots turn out lackluster even in sufficient light. The camera also seems to overdo the beauty effects a lot and the results seemed somewhat artificial. We suspect this could be a post-processing issue as the photo preview just before the image is saved seems to be just fine. We hope Asus addresses this in a future update. The latest FOTA update added the ability to take portrait shots and EIS for video. However, the portrait mode didn't seem to be very effective in isolating the subject from the background.
Performance
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC in the ZenFone Max (M2) is a relatively new entrant to the market and the only other phone to sport it at the time of writing is the Honor 8C. Qualcomm puts the Snapdragon 632 above the Snapdragon 630 in the numerical naming scheme but this is actually a successor to the Snapdragon 625/626 that has been the staple of most midrange phones in 2018. The Snapdragon 632 is clocked lower than the Snapdragon 625/626/630 to probably help with battery life, but it definitely shows improvements in many benchmarks. However, it needs to be paired with enough RAM to minimize lags. Our test device had just 3 GB of RAM and while it should be enough for day-to-day use, we ran into stutters while switching apps or even while doing simple things such as navigation in Twitter, browsing the Google Play Store, or opening multiple tabs in Chrome. Therefore, if you're going to choose this phone, it would be a wise choice to go for the 4 GB RAM variant. CPU usage rarely crossed the 50% mark in normal use.
CPU and GPU Benchmarks
We ran a suite of CPU and GPU tests to see how well the Snapdragon 632 and the ZenFone Max (M2) fared when it comes to performing in synthetic benchmarks. Since there aren't many phones sporting this SoC, we compared the scores to phones powered by the Snapdragon 625, 630, and the 636 to assess if the new platform offers any benefits.
The Snapdragon 632 seems to fall right in between the Snapdragon 630 in the Nokia 6 (2018) and the Snapdragon 636 in the Redmi Note 6 Pro when it comes to AnTuTu scores. However, the Snapdragon 625 phones seem to have good leads over the Max (M2) when it comes to Geekbench and several 3DMark scores despite all of them sporting the same Adreno 506 GPU. The Snapdragon 632 in the ZenFone Max (M2) seemed to have the lead in the Onscreen GFXBench tests while significantly trailing behind in Offscreen ones.
| PCMark for Android | |
| Work 2.0 performance score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (7100 - 12871, n=13, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (4171 - 6076, n=38) | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Work performance score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (10619 - 19297, n=3, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (4596 - 7846, n=40) | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 | |
| 1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (19 - 497, n=187, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (21 - 25, n=40) | |
| T-Rex Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (22 - 165, n=187, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (17 - 37, n=40) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| GFXBench 3.0 | |
| 1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (9.2 - 331, n=188, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (3.1 - 11, n=40) | |
| on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL | |
| Average of class Smartphone (6.8 - 161, n=187, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (7.4 - 20, n=40) | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| GFXBench 3.1 | |
| 1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (6.2 - 223, n=188, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (3.5 - 14, n=40) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.7 - 143, n=188, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (3.1 - 15, n=40) | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| GFXBench | |
| 1920x1080 Car Chase Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2.9 - 166, n=188, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (3.3 - 3.9, n=39) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| on screen Car Chase Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (5 - 110, n=188, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| HTC U11 Life | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Average Qualcomm Adreno 506 (3.1 - 7.9, n=39) | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | |
We also looked into the throttling aspects of the Snapdragon 632 SoC. We ran GFXBench Long Term Manhattan ES 3.1 and Long Term T-Rex ES 2.0 for about 30 iterations. A good thing we noticed is that the phone barely crossed 35 °C during the entire run. A dip in performance was noticed only once during the 14th iteration in the Manhattan test after which it quickly regained the average value of 882.5 frames. We also see that the clocks do not sustain the 1.8 GHz max speed but seem to stabilize around the 1.65 GHz mark, which is good.
Similar trends were also observed in the T-Rex test wherein a performance drop was seen in the 18th run but recovery was quick. Since T-Rex ES 2.0 is a more forgiving benchmark compared to Manhattan ES 3.1, the CPU clocks stabilized at a comfortable 1.37 GHz.
Overall, we see that throttling is not a major concern with the Snapdragon 632 SoC. Asus also seems to have done a good job in ensuring temperatures are kept in check under load.
Web Benchmarks
The ZenFone Max (M2) does not disappoint in the web-browsing department. The Snapdragon 632 scores significantly better than the Snapdragon 625 in JetStream, Octane, and WebXPRT 2015 tests, and it is within easy reach of the Snapdragon 636. However, performance in the Kraken benchmark seems to have taken a beating with SD 625 phones leading other compared devices by a very high margin.
Nevertheless, loading graphics-heavy pages or playing FHD video in Chrome posed no issues. We also played Interland in Chrome and didn't notice any issues in the fluidity or responsiveness of the game.
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (32.5 - 414, n=45, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL (Chrome 67) | |
| Nokia 7.1 (Chrome 70) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro (Chrome 70) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 (Chrome 69) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (42.6 - 45.5, n=5) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| HTC U11 Life (Chrome 63) | |
| Nokia 6 2018 (Browser: Chrome 65) | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra (Chrome 65) | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus (Chrome 67) | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus (Chroem Version 62) | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro (Chrome 68) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Chrome Version 60) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (4633 - 74261, n=198, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL (Chrome 67) | |
| Nokia 7.1 (Chrome 70) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro (Chrome 70) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (8185 - 8420, n=6) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 (Chrome 69) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra (Chrome 65) | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus (Chrome 67) | |
| Nokia 6 2018 (Browser: Chrome 65) | |
| HTC U11 Life (Chrome 63) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro (Chrome 68) | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus (Chroem Version 62) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Chrome Version 60) | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus (Chrome 67) | |
| Nokia 6 2018 (Browser: Chrome 65) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro (Chrome 68) | |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra (Chrome 65) | |
| HTC U11 Life (Chrome 63) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Chrome Version 60) | |
| Motorola Moto G5s Plus (Chroem Version 62) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (4806 - 5037, n=5) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro (Chrome 70) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 (Chrome 69) | |
| Nokia 7.1 (Chrome 70) | |
| Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL (Chrome 67) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (414 - 9999, n=164, last 2 years) | |
| WebXPRT 2015 - Overall Score | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (163 - 171, n=2) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro (Chrome 70) | |
| Xiaomi Mi Max 3 (Chrome 69) | |
| Nokia 7.1 (Chrome 70) | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra (Chrome 65) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro (Chrome 68) | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus (Chrome 67) | |
| HTC U11 Life (Chrome 63) | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Benchmarks
The internal storage in the ZenFone Max (M2) is eMMC-based and our unit came with 32 GB of storage of which about 24 GB is available to the end user. The Max (M2) had respectable sequential and random read speeds but suffers badly when it comes to write speeds. The only other phones with worse random write speeds include the Nokia 6 (2018), Nokia 7.1, Sony Xperia XA2 Plus, and the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra. Those phones fared much better in sequential writes, though. So overall, the storage subsystem performance is nothing to write (pun intended) home about. That being said, you will not find much impact in day-to-day use unless you're writing large amounts to data to internal storage. The read speeds are good overall so loading heavy games or playback of large video files should not be much of an issue.
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro | Xiaomi Mi A1 | Xiaomi Mi Max 2 | Motorola Moto G5s Plus | Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | Nokia 6 2018 | Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | HTC U11 Life | Nokia 7.1 | Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | Xiaomi Mi Max 3 | Asus Zenfone 5 ZE620KL | Average 32 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 107% | 15% | -11% | 21% | 8% | -11% | 5% | 41% | -13% | 75% | 125% | 124% | -5% | 620% | |
| Random Write 4KB | 17.11 | 72.6 324% | 7.19 -58% | 12.81 -25% | 44.89 162% | 10.5 -39% | 15.3 -11% | 10.1 -41% | 50.2 193% | 11.93 -30% | 67.3 293% | 87.1 409% | 83.5 388% | 22.1 ? 29% | 228 ? 1233% |
| Random Read 4KB | 50.4 | 66.9 33% | 78.1 55% | 37.1 -26% | 37.94 -25% | 77.4 54% | 38.78 -23% | 76 51% | 39.3 -22% | 44.9 -11% | 55.5 10% | 72.9 45% | 71.2 41% | 43.1 ? -14% | 217 ? 331% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 121.1 | 212.9 76% | 202.4 67% | 139.6 15% | 75.7 -37% | 146.2 21% | 118.3 -2% | 138.8 15% | 120 -1% | 126 4% | 119.9 -1% | 185.4 53% | 201.8 67% | 100.5 ? -17% | 833 ? 588% |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 291.2 | 278.7 -4% | 277.4 -5% | 265.7 -9% | 237.4 -18% | 281.1 -3% | 272.6 -6% | 273.7 -6% | 268 -8% | 250.9 -14% | 278.9 -4% | 274.6 -6% | 286.6 -2% | 242 ? -17% | 1241 ? 326% |
Gaming
The Adreno 506 GPU in the Snapdragon 632 is not a bad performer by any means and we actually enjoyed playing games on the ZenFone Max (M2). Demanding titles such as PUBG Mobile, Shadow Fight 3, Arena of Valor, and Asphalt 9: Legends played well and the phone didn't get warm even during extended sessions. The energy-efficient SoC and the lower resolution display also help in easing the load on the GPU and we didn't observe any stutters or dropped frames. However, the low-power internals also means that not all games will run at the highest settings and hence some sacrifices in visual quality are inevitable.
PUBG Mobile maintained a steady 30 fps at smooth setting and going a notch higher would show a dip in frame rates. Shadow Fight 3 can be played at a smooth 60 fps at max settings and so can Sdorica. Asphalt 9: Legends only offered low settings but was playable at 30 fps. Vulkan titles perform well and games like Vainglory attain the 60 fps mark easily.
| PUBG Mobile - Smooth | |
| Average of class Smartphone (20 - 90, n=92, last 2 years) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (0.10.0) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro | |
| Arena of Valor - high HD | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (30 - 31, n=3) | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Plus | |
| Nokia 7.1 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (1.26.1.2) | |
| Shadow Fight 3 - high | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (1.16.1) | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (60 - 60, n=2) | |
| Nokia 6 2018 | |
| Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra | |
| PUBG Mobile | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| Smooth | 30 fps | ||
| Arena of Valor | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| high HD | 30 fps | ||
| Asphalt 9: Legends | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| Standard / low | 30 fps | ||
| Shadow Fight 3 | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| high | 60 fps | ||
Emissions
Temperatures
The ZenFone Max (M2) manages to keep its cool even under stress. This can be attributed partly to the power-efficient SoC and partly to the metal construction that helps with better thermal conductivity. The maximum temperature we could reach was around 40 °C at the back and normal operating temperatures were around the 35 °C mark. Therefore, handling the phone even under load should pose no risk and the optimal temperatures also help in minimizing throttling as was evident in our GFXBench loop results.
Speakers
The ZenFone Max (M2) sports a single speaker near the microUSB port, and thus it can output only mono audio without a headset. However, the 5-magnet speaker is powered by an NXP Smart Amplifier that can output some seriously loud sound. Since the software is more or less stock Android, there are no built-in software codec enhancements such as Dolby or DTS:X audio available. Audio from the headphone jack is clear and loud. There are no earphones supplied in the box so we used the SoundMagic E10C earphones to test the overall sound reproduction. The soundstage didn't sound very balanced with the lows not very evident and over emphasis on the mids. Then again, there is no system-wide EQ available so you must rely on EQ in individual apps to find the right balance for your listening tastes.
Battery Life
Midrange devices generally offer some of the highest battery capacities available and the ZenFone Max (M2) is no exception. It features a 4,000 mAh battery that can stand the vagaries of daily use and still have a considerable amount of power left at the end of the day. Despite featuring a pretty large battery, the Max (M2) is very slim and is in fact lower in weight than its competition, the Honor 8C and the Redmi 6 Pro. There is no QuickCharge support but the included 10 W charger can charge from 0 to 100% in about 3.5 to 4 hours. It is slow by current standards, but then again you are getting a large battery that will not give up on you in the middle of the day.
At a brightness of approximately 200 cd/m2 and all connections on, we observed a battery drain of about 27% in 3 hours 42 minutes in the PCMark Work 2.0 battery test, which approximately equates to about 14 hours before the battery drains out. This is a very respectable performance, and in normal use the phone will easily outlast your typical workday.
Pros
Cons
Verdict
We've been evaluating the Asus ZenFone Max (M2) for close to a month and the phone seemed to stand up to the barrage of tests we've thrown at it. The build quality is excellent sans the premium finishes and the phone has a slim and trendy appearance. The notch seems a bit wider than we like and the display is bereft of any protective glass covering. While these can be overlooked given the price of the device, one area where Asus went overboard with its compromises was the display. It's perfectly usable for day-to-day activities but the low resolution and somewhat washed-out colors make it seem a sore point in an otherwise impressive handset.
Performance is good and the new Snapdragon 632 could soon succeed the Snapdragon 625 as the new staple chipset of mid-range phones. Despite stress tests and continuous gaming, the phone hardly felt warm and battery drain was as expected. This phone will easily last a typical workday and you will still be left with plenty of charge before retiring to bed. It manages gaming well at medium graphics, but given the low-power chipset users should expect stutters and lags while multitasking. Camera performance is not too shabby but Asus needs to work on getting HDR and depth sensing right. The front-facing camera is strictly passable so selfie aficionados need to look elsewhere.
For those looking at a capable midranger that gets the basics right without burning a hole in the pocket, the Asus ZenFone Max (M2) is an easy recommend. There are some inevitable compromises but the responsive stock Android experience, timely updates, and the overall package more than makes up for them.
The budget mid-range segment is an intensely contested space in price-sensitive Asian markets like India and Asus seems to have worked out a winnable strategy to thwart the onslaught of Chinese OEMs in this space. Xiaomi still leads the budget market but Asus is here to stay and we expect the trend to continue well into 2019.
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