We unbox the ZenFone Max Plus M1!
With a majority of brands releasing their own take on the 18:9 bandwagon, it was inevitable that ASUS would also join the fad. Their new ZenFone Max Plus M1 is their first ever smartphone with an 18:9 display, and is pegged by the company as the new “battery king”.
ZenFone 4 Max Plus Specs
- MediaTek 6750T Processor
- 4GB RAM
- 5.7-inch 18:9 full HD+ IPS Display, 2.5D curved glass, 2160 x 1080 resolution
- 32GB
- 16-megapixel f/2.0 primary camera and 8-megapixel wide angle rear camera with PDAF
- 8-megapixel f/2.0 front camera
- 4G, LTE
- Dual SIM
- WiFi, Bluetooth
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Fingerprint Scanner
- 4130mAh battery
- Android Nougat (7.0) with ZenUI 4.0
Packaging and contents:
The ZenFone Max Plus M1 comes in a blue-colored box sporting the company’s new “We Love Photo” logo on the side, with the image of the phone on the front giving you a clue as to what’s inside.
When you take off the carton sleeve, you’ll be able to see the phone, a freebie soft silicone case, USB charger, cable, OTG cable and a pair of headphones.
Initial impressions: An updated ZenFone 4 Max with an 18:9 display
Many companies are tweaking many of their phones to sport an 18:9 display, oft retaining many of the same design features and just swapping out the front panel. ASUS took the same route with the ZenFone Max Plus M1 – the phone’s rear is virtually identical to the ZenFone 4 Max, and the only thing that’ll clue you in that this is the 18:9 refresh is the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The volume rocker and power button is still located on the right of the phone and have knurling on them for easier manipulation one-handed. The top of the phone has a 3.5mm jack, while the bottom holds the USB port flanked by the speaker grilles.
The front is dominated by the 5.7-inch full HD+ IPS display with 18:9 aspect ratio, giving a resolution of 2160 by 1080. Because of the size of the display, the fingerprint scanner has been moved to the rear, and the phone uses software navigation keys.
As far as the snappers are concerned, the phone uses a dual-rear camera setup on the rear, namely a 16-megapixel rear shooter with an f/2.0 aperture, LED flash and PDAF. The secondary camera is an 8-megapixel shooter with a 120 wide angle lens.
The front camera is a 8-megapixel shooter with an f/2.0 aperture.
Inside the phone sits a MediaTek MT6750T processor, with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. We’re not sure yet how power-efficient the new processor is, though ASUS is pretty confident of the phone’s power management features, enough to call their new phone the “battery king”. We’ll have to see our self if it really is a battery champ.
Unfortunately, the phone still ships with Android Nougat inside, along with ZenUI 4.0.
Moving on to the actual battery, the phone has a 4130mAh battery inside, and is paired with ASUS’ PowerMaster tech. The included charger in the phone is a fast charger, with an output of 5V/2A so you don’t sit around long waiting for the phone to charge.
That’s pretty much it for our unboxing. No price has been set for the ZenFone Max Plus M1, though we really are hoping ASUS prices this thing correctly compared to its competition. The mid-range, 18:9 market has been especially vicious in the past few months – ASUS really has to set a good pace in terms of pricing at the start of the year to gather momentum.
