Asus Zenfone 3s Max: First Impressions

Few months ago Asus launched the Asus Zenfone 3 series of smartphones, and since then Asus has launched wide variants of Zenfone 3 smartphone. And now Asus is set to launch yet another flavor of Zenfone 3 smartphone in the form of Asus Zenfone 3s Max. For starters, the Zenfone Max series of smartphone sport a massive battery with almost a month of standby time. Likewise, the Asus Zenfone 3s Max comes with a 5000mAh battery which the company says can offer 34 days of standby time. Ahead of the formal launch, we have been using Asus Zenfone 3s Max for a week now and here are our first impressions.

Design

The Asus Zenfone 3 was a complete design overhaul for the Zenfone series of smartphones. And the since then we have seen similar design aesthetics in Zenfone series of smartphones. The Zenfone 3s Max comes with a unibody design with a fair use of metal and plastic. The front has a 2.5D curved glass display that blends with the edges of the smartphone, and below that is a fingerprint sensor. Make a note that the fingerprint sensor is not an active scanner. Asus is done away with capacitive navigation keys and finally shifted towards on-screen keys. The device has slim bezels and rounded edges and makes the device feel good to hold in hand. On the left side you have a hybrid SIM slot and on the right side, you have the volume rocker and power buttons. The 3.5mm jack is at the top and a micro-USB port at the bottom.

Asus Zenfone 3s Max specifications:

• 5.2-inch HD IPS display | 2.5D curved glass
• Octa-core Mediatek MT6750 processor | Mali T860MP2
• 3GB RAM | 32GB Storage (expandable)
• Hybrid Dual SIM (nano+ nano/microSD)
• Android 7.0 (Nougat) | Asus ZenUI 3.0
• 13MP rear camera | f/2.0 | dual-LED (dual tone) flash
• 8MP front-facing camera
• Fingerprint sensor | 4G VoLTE | Bluetooth 4.0
• 5000mAh battery

Humongous Battery

Asus Zenfone Max smartphone lineup have been all about the battery efficiency. The Last iteration Zenfone 3 Max had 4100mAh battery compromising battery for better looks and performance. But this time the battery has been bumped to 5000mAh that actually lasts long. With Mediatek MT6750 processor, a 720p display and Android Nougat this device should offer phenomenal battery life. With moderate usage, the device lasted for 2 complete days with 15% battery still left. Battery life is definitely the selling point of this device.

Our First Impressions

The Asus Zenfone 3s Max is a good smartphone with great battery life. The device being powered by a mediocre Mediatek processor fails to impress the masses with its performance. With a low-resolution display and slow fingerprint scanner, the device fails to impress. But on the positive side, great build quality, Android Nougat out of the box and a massive 5000mAh battery could be a selling point. Asus hasn’t yet revealed the price for the Zenfone 3s Max which makes it a bit hard to put it in perspective.