ASUS ZenFone Max M2 Review

ASUS has been continuously improving their smartphones, especially with their ZenFone Max devices. The ZenFone Max M2, which just launched this month, is actually a testament to this improvement in terms of overall performance and pricing. I had a good amount of time testing this phone so it’s time for a full review! Let’s start! 

Before we begin, check out our unboxing and hands-on video here:

Design and Construction

The ZenFone Max M2 is pretty much similar with the Max Pro M2 but without the glossy back. It comes with an aluminum unibody design with a matte finish which looks stylish and premium thanks to its blue color which is my color bias by the way. Unlike with the Max M1, the Max M2 now comes with a notch design to follow the trend last year (2018).

The front features a 6.3-inch IPS screen with slim side bezels which is already an indicator of a good smartphone for watching videos. The notch houses the LED flash, LED notification light, an oblong-shaped call speaker, and the 8MP front camera.

The left side only has the tray which houses the dual-nano SIM card and microSD card slots.

On the right is the standard volume rocker-power button pairing. I’ve stated in my hands-on article that I didn’t like how the buttons are placed way too deep in the frame and feel like it requires more effort to press. It’s not really a downer but if might feel weird at first for some.

At the top are the 3.5mm audio port and noise-canceling microphone. At the bottom are the micro USB port, main microphone, and the loudspeaker with an open-speaker hole design instead of the standard grille that we’re accustomed to.

Flip on its back and you’ll find the dual 13MP + 2MP rear cameras, LED flash, and fingerprint scanner.

I like the simplicity of Max M2’s design and has its own appeal. It also feels light and thin just like the Max Pro M2. It may look different compared to its more powerful sibling but it’s still a premium device in terms feel and appearance.

Display and Multimedia

The Max M2 features a 6.3-inch HD+ IPS display. At 269ppi, it feels weird and low-res especially if you’re used to the 1080p resolution. The color accuracy and vibrancy is good though, and the brightness can go high that you won’t have problems viewing in under direct sunlight even at just 70% brightness.

One thing to note here is that the YouTube videos can only go as high as 720p. It shouldn’t be a downer though given the screen’s native resolution. Its sound quality is loud and crisp thanks to its 5-magnet speaker with NXP smart amp. The highs and mids can be heard easily, however, the lows are a bit lacking but they are not non-existent as compared with some of the phones in this price range.

OS, UI, and Apps

Unlike with the ZenFone Max M1, the Max M2 now runs on Stock Android based on Android 8.1 Oreo which is advantageous since I like my user interface simple and easy to understand. By default, you can swipe up to see the app drawer instantly while swiping down from the top of the screen will bring you the shortcuts menu.

Out of the 32GB of storage, only 22.1GB can be used which is quite disappointing since it should have more given that it runs on Stock Android. Pre-installed apps include the usual Google applications, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Netflix, and the FreeFire battle royal game.

Camera

The ZenFone Max M2’s camera user interface is pretty simple to understand. For the rear cameras, at the top-most row, you will find the camera modes (automatic, pro, HDR, sports, and night), flash, beautify, portrait, and settings.

Images produced by the rear shooters are pretty decent under good lighting conditions and adjusts the brightness well with the environment. For the low-light condition, however, it is basically a hit or a miss since there are spots or angles where the shots are too muddy and very low quality while there are also good ones with great color depth and detail.

The same camera modes can be found in the front camera excluding the Pro and HDR modes.

It’s basically the same case with the rear cameras but the noise gets worse at low-light conditions so I wouldn’t recommend using it as a selfie device if you don’t have sufficient lighting.

What’s good about the Max M2 is that it can shoot videos up to 4K 30fps which is good for users who are into vlogging. The downside, however, is that it doesn’t have video stability so I recommend using a tripod when recording. Check out our sample videos below.

Performance and Benchmarks

The Max M2 got a significant increase in performance as compared with the Max M1 since the chipset powering it is the Snapdragon 632. Paired with this is a 3GB RAM which is decent enough for multi-tasking purposes. Biometrics such as the fingerprint scanner and face unlock works well and can be considered average in response time and accuracy.

Here are the benchmark scores that we got:

• AnTuTu v7 – 102,212
• PC Mark – 5,787 (Work 2.0), 6,505 (Work 1.0)
• 3D Mark – 524 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 546 (SSE – Vulkan)
• Geekbench 4 – 1,246 (Single-Core), 4,726 (Multi-Core), 4,004 (Compute)
• AndroBench – 282.69 MB/s (Sequential Read), 78.11 MB/s (Sequential Write)

I’ve played quite a number of games in this device such as PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9, Brawlstars, Mobile Legends, FreeFire, and Tekken. So far, the only games that are struggling with maintaining the fps counter are the Asphalt 9 and Tekken since they require more GPU power. We’ll go into detail about this in our Can It Game episode. As for the rest, they are performing smoothly and are stable as well. I also noticed heating on all back parts of the phone but it didn’t reach a level where it is uncomfortable in my hands.

Connectivity, Call Quality, and Battery Life

The ZenFone Max M2 has basic connectivity covered such as WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, 4G LTE, and GPS. Call quality is also loud and clear as long as you are in a serviceable area. I tried using Waze, Grab, and Google Maps and it gave me decent accuracy of my location.

Since this phone carries the “Max” name, it carries 4,000mAh battery which is an above average capacity. I tested it in PC Mark’s battery test and it lasted for 17 Hours and 10 Minutes which is impressive, to say the least. In our video loop test (1080p movie, 50% brightness, 50% sound with earphones, and airplane mode), it lasted for 14 Hours and 25 Minutes which is 3 hours more than when we tested the Max M1. This means that its battery optimization has improved significantly. As for charging times, we were able to replenish its battery in a little over 2 hours, which is not bad considering its capacity.

Conclusion

The ZenFone Max M2 definitely leaves me with a good impression overall, especially in the performance aspect. It has a good screen size but with only HD+ resolution, great brightness range, decent sound quality, decent camera quality at good lighting conditions, and longer lasting battery life as compared with the Max M1.

If you’re coming from the ZenFone Max M1 or with other Snapdragon 625 smartphones, the Max M2 is definitely worth the upgrade for the price of PHP 8,995. This price-to-specs ratio is already good and very affordable so I recommend that you should try it.

ASUS ZenFone Max M2 (ZB633KL) specs:

• 6.3-inch HD+ IPS display @ 1520 x 720px
• 2.5D curved glass
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 1.8GHz octa-core processor
• Adreno 506 GPU
• 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
• 32GB storage
• expandable up to 2TB via dedicated microSD card slot
• 13MP + 2MP f/1.8 rear camera w/ PDAF, LED flash
• 8MP f/2.0 front camera w/ soft light LED flash
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
• 4G VOLTE Cat5
• 5-magnet speaker with NXP smart amplifier
• FM Radio
• Fingerprint Scanner
• Face Unlock
• Stock Android (Android 8.1 Oreo)
• 4,000mAh battery with fast charging

What I like:

• Simplistic but premium design
• Good brightness range
• Large screen size
• Decent audio quality
• Good performance-to-price ratio
• Decent camera under good light conditions
• Can record videos at 4K
• Long-lasting battery life
• Dedicated microSD card slot

What I didn’t:

• HD+ resolution
• Can only play YouTube videos up to 720p
• The volume rocker and power button are buried too deep