ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 Review: The Unbeatable Performer for Busy Moms

My life as a blogger is very exciting because I get to cover various events related to parenting, beauty, food, a bit of tech, health, well to sum it up, anything goes. I do have an entry-level camera to take photos but hardly use it coz it’s bulky and heavy. Most of the time, I just use my smartphone. I needed a backup camera phone that’s budget-friendly yet can give justice to the subjects. Also, I love taking selfies, playing not so complicated games, checking emails and my social media accounts, basically, can be used as a mobile office thus long battery life is a plus. With these activities in mind, I put the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 to the test by using it as an everyday main mobile office. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the specs, just what a simple mom like me should know about what they can get from this particular brand model.

Security

Security is first and foremost a concern because I don’t like other people nor my kids messing around my smartphone. As I’ve said earlier, I use it mainly for mobile office and “phonetography”. I didn’t insert a SIM card coz I’m not going to use it for text and call.

The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 is updated when it comes to fingerprint scanning as well as face recognition. It has become a hassle to use a PIN especially when I’m rushing to open my phone to take photos at an event.

Tested both features after set-up and from then on whenever I use the phone, it only takes about a second or two for fingerprint scanning. Note that for it to work as fast, you have to place your finger properly on the sensor.

Facial recognition takes about 2 or 3 seconds and would you believe that it can still recognize your face even at arm’s length?! I also tried putting it on my lap or sideways so it can only view half my face, boy it can still recognize me! So, thumbs up!

Battery Life of 5,000 mAh

Before I fully used the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 for work and fun, I charged it to a full bar on Friday, September 21st. I really wanna test its battery coz what good will it do me if it quickly drains its juice with all the mobile work I do in a day.

I installed apps, took a lot of photos in events I covered for a week, I played Farm Heroes Saga and Candy Crush while waiting for the programs to start, I watched my fave medical drama, I worked online.

Just check the screenshots below as I patiently waited for the battery to finally show the red warning. No turning off, all honest screenshots 🙂

Performance of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor

Apart from the pre-installed apps, I added a few photography apps, games, and some Social Media apps such as Adobe Spark Post, Ads Manager etc. I have a couple of clients that I monitor 12 hours a day, I’m so glad the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 can’t talk to complain hahaha

Worked fast considering that many apps were already open in the background. I can switch from one app to another in a jiffy. I haven’t experienced any lagging at all.

I don’t know much about processors and all but for me, as long as it doesn’t lag or getting too slow with all the work and pressure I put it through, I’m sold!

Audio-visual Experience

I don’t really have much time to spare in watching movies online, I’d rather sleep or bond with my boys. But, in order to further test the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1, I chose to watch my fave medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy. Watched 2 episodes, actually just listened hahaha while I work on my laptop.

Battery pretty much still half-full. Sound via earphone and speaker was A-okay and clear.
Viewing experience with the 18:9 FHD+ display was like a challenge for my not so 20/20 vision. I actually don’t like watching on a small screen, I prefer doing it on the iPad. But, since the movie is clear and I just glanced on the screen from time to time since I also multitasked with work, I can say that for a movie addict, it should pass the test.

For games, however, I can dig using this phone because the screen is bigger than my S7. With my music selection, sounds great too and no crackling nor unwanted hissing noise even at the highest volume.

ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 Camera Features and Experience

I’m an amateur when it comes to photography, I just point and shoot. So what I need from my camera phone are not so complicated features that a non-techy mom like me can easily understand. Good to know that the camera features of the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 aren’t hard to remember.

But, what I really wanna show you are the amazing photos I took during an event which I doubled up by taking shots of the same spots using my high-end smartphone. Amazing! You be the judge 🙂

Under same lighting and positions and I think most of the photos were point and shoot on an auto feature, the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 photos had more pop out of colors. Note that I didn’t use any filters nor auto-corrected.

These really were photos taken by an amateur mommy photographer and one who was in a hurry coz we had a lot of other booths to check out hahaha

This last comparison, I used the Rear Bokeh effect on the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 and the Live Focus on the S9+ with at least #5 background blur. It was effective on the Zenfone but none existent on the S9+. Perhaps that time, I wasn’t able to move farther away from the subject thus the S9+ Live Focus feature didn’t work properly. But the thing is, there are more lively colors on the Zenfone and dull on the S9+.

Selfie feature using Bokeh is not just acceptable but rather good though I can’t compare it this time with my other phone. I forgot to take a comparison shot. No filter, I just took a rush shot. For a small budget with this pretty selfie even without filters, I’m way more than sold!

Here’s another Bokeh shot and colors really popped out though uneven lighting.

This photo was taken on a dim lit area, on a rush so I wasn’t even concentrating on the lighting effect. Turned out great, still 🙂 I could have edited the lighting to make it brighter but didn’t so that you’ll see the raw photo.

Tested the zoom feature too. Some of the details were clear and some not quite but for an untrained eye like mine, the photo below is A-okay.

There are other features I haven’t explored yet but I bet I’ll like those too! Just imagine for a budget-friendly price you can get great photo results, fast processor, long battery life and so much more!

If you are looking for a nice camera phone, the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 is one of your best options!

The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 3GB/32GB with 13MP+5MP cameras is priced at PHP 9,995.00, available on Lazada (https://bit.ly/2l3yIdc) and selected stores (bit.ly/WTBListZFMaxPro3GB).

The 4GB/64GB with 16MP+5MP cameras variant recently had a price drop from PHP 13,995.00 to now Php 12,995! Available nationwide in ASUS accredited shops and ZenFone kiosks.

If you wanna know more about the specs of this phone, visit the ASUS website at https://www.asus.com/ph/Phone/ZenFone-Max-Pro-ZB602KL/ or to check updates, go to the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ASUSph/.

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