Asus ZenFone Max M2 Review: A Nice All-Around Phone

Since the launch of the ZenFone Max Pro M1, Asus has been releasing over seven smartphones offering high value to consumers. Now, very close to the end of 2018, Asus launches another budget handset in India, ZenFone Max M2, only two months after releasing its ZenFone Max M1, but it is not the successor of the M1 as it comes with a higher price tag.

With an Rs. 9,999 starting price, the latest ZenFone Max M2 is slightly more expensive compared to the ZenFone Max M1 and stays at the same segment with the ZenFone Max Pro M1. Asus also confirms that its older handsets are not going away, which is quite surprising. With several devices having similar names, it will be pretty confusing for the consumers.

Asus is not the only player in the competition as there are also other prominent competitors like Honor, Xiaomi, Realme and other phone makers in a similar or the same price range. Therefore, consumers will have plenty of choices. So, will this new ZenFone Max M2 be able to stand out or it will just be another phone in the budget smartphone segment.

Asus ZenFone Max M2: Specifications and Software

Asus has managed to add a decently powerful SoC at a reasonable price. And this time, it is the Snapdragon 632 which is only now featured in one smartphone up until now, the Honor 8C. This SoC has 8 Kryo 250 CPU cores running at up to 1.8GHz. Four cores are power-efficient Kryo 250 Silver ones while the others are high-performance Kryo 250 Gold cores.

With prices starting from Rs. 9,999 for the base variant with 3GB RAM/32GB storage, Honor is being undercut by Asus by a significant margin with the Max M2. It also comes in another variant with 4GB RAM/64GB storage at a price of 11,999. And all of the ZenFone Max M2 owners will receive 100GB storage in Google Drive for one year.

The handset comes with a 6.26-inch IPS LCD display with 1520 x 720 pixels resolution and an aspect ratio of 19:9. It has very rounded corners and a massive 4,000 mAh battery with a surprisingly low weight. Though it doesn’t support Quick Charge, you still have a 10W charger adapter.

The phone has two slots for Nano-SIM cards, a microSD card slot in the SIM tray and also support for 4G VoLTE on both SIMs. Other connectivity options include GPS, Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n.

There is a 13MP f1.8 main camera on the rear with Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), and Asus said that the ZenFone Max M2’s camera is the best in the price range. Besides the main camera, there are also a 2MP depth sensor and a LED flash. On the front, it is packed with an 8MP f2.0 sensor.

Similar to other Asus low-end devices, this phone also runs a stock version of Android. We believe this is actually good, but some people may prefer the custom UIs that many other phone makers offer along with extra features.

As said, the latest Asus phone runs stock Android 8.1 Oreo and is promised to get Android 9.0 Pie update in January next year, which is very close already. The phone comes with some basic apps like FM radio app, voice recorder, calculator and even some social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.

Asus ZenFone Max M2: Design

The ZenFone Max M2 is a fairly big handset with a notch on its display, similar to another phone launching along with it, the ZenFone Max Pro M2. The only notable differences between these two devices are the slightly wider notch on the Max M2 and its earpiece being in the center instead of being integrated into the frame like on the Max Pro M2.

There are also some features clearly showing that the ZenFone Max Pro M2 is levels ahead of the Max M2. The lower-end device comes with a rear metal panel and standard plastic frame, while the high-end Max Pro M2 has a polished frame and a slick glass-effect rear.

The ZenFone Max M2 also doesn’t have Corning Gorilla Glass 6 and screen guard like its high-end sibling Max Pro M2. It is understandable given the price gap between the two devices.

Other things are pretty typical for an affordable smartphone --- a bottom Micro-USB port, a headphone jack, a SIM tray on the left and volume and power buttons on the right side. Besides, instead of opting for a perforated grille on the Max M2, Asus goes for a wide hole for a speaker on the bottom, and there is a possibility that line and dust may get jammed in the hole.

If you are looking for a phone that can hold nicely in hand, then you should remove it from your list of choices. It is still somewhat usable with one hand due to its non-slippery metal rear. But when we used the included plastic protective case, the phone turned out to be quite hard to use. And it is for sure not a phone to fit nicely in a trouser’s pocket.

Asus ZenFone Max M2: Performance and Battery life

We got some hiccups in performance when we reviewed the Honor 8C with the same Snapdragon 632 processor. But it doesn’t happen when we tested the ZenFone Max M2 despite it having lower RAM. We got a smooth experience with the stock Android UI during our session with the phone.

We also tested the phone with the Asphalt 9: Legends, and it could run the game at low-quality settings. Its performance with the game was fine and very smooth, but the game visuals were not really sharp, but we couldn’t ask much from an affordable phone. It only got slightly warm after the 15-minute game session.

The display colors do not really pop all that much its display is bright enough. It would be much better with a Full-HD resolution on a large screen like this, but again, it is just an affordable handset. Its speaker was also pretty impressive, providing a loud and also deep, rich sound.

It also had a superb battery life, and this is the area we think will make the ZenFone Max M1 stands out. We tested the phone with mostly games and apps, and a bit of video streaming as well. Starting around 9 am, the phone could actually last until late evening with 30 percent left.

We also tested running an HD video loop on the phone, and it could run for 13 hours and 34 minutes which is better than the ZenFone Max M1, but still not as long as other competitors like the Honor 8C, Realme 2 and Redmi 6 Pro.

Asus ZenFone Max M2: Camera

Similar to other low-cost phones, the ZenFone Max M2 doesn’t really offer a good camera performance. It even took some time to lock focus and save photos when we brought it out taking some pictures. It sometimes even showed a Processing message on the display while we were waiting.

Surprisingly, it delivered very well-detailed photos in the daytime, but the colors were slightly muted. If you want to take the best shots, you may have to get close to the subject. When we tried the Depth Effect, the photos looked pretty unnatural with a harsh background blurring, and the object edges also were not well-defined.

It also has a poor camera performance in low-light conditions. Its camera failed to pick up many details despite having a f/1.8 aperture. The photos even came out blurry or even murky.

Its rear camera does support 4K video recording, but we wouldn’t recommend users to use this setting. It still captured a fine 1080p video though just like camera performance, the videos we recorded under low-light conditions looked pretty poor.

One upside is its front-facing camera for taking selfies. It can take decent selfies that can be posted on social media. Asus promised to bring updates to the phone including Depth Effect mode and EIS to the selfie camera.

And the last thing we kind of hate is the Asus camera UI as we already pointed out when reviewing the ZenFone Max Pro M1. For example, we had to tape three times to start the video recording, and the camera UI is not well-organized either.

Asus ZenFone Max M2: Final thoughts

The ZenFone Max M2 appears to be a force to be reckoned with. It comes with a powerful enough specifications that ensure users to have a good experience. You can enjoy playing videos and games on its large screen, and it can run regular apps smoothly.

It also has great battery life as well. But just like many other low-priced handsets, its camera performance is just disappointing, and its big size may be hard to use with one hand comfortably.

Still, this new Asus device is a significant upgrade from the ZenFone Max M1 for a slightly higher in price, filling the considerable price difference between the Max M1 and the high-end Pro models. Whoever recently bought the ZenFone Max M1 should not feel too disappointed as the Max M2 is not a successor to the model but at a slightly higher level.

This handset will be a direct competitor to the Redmi 6 Pro, Honor 8C and Realme 2. It is on par with those devices regarding specifications, software, and design but slightly behind in the battery life aspect. It surely doesn’t shine with its camera, but it still doesn’t stay too far back from the average standard of this department.

All in all, it is a nice phone with some upsides and downsides. Hence, it will be just a matter of which features you are looking for a phone.