Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB631KL

The Zenfone Max Pro M2 design qualifies as a significant improvement over its predecessor. Asus seems to have switched from metal and plastic to a all 3D glass look. Unlike flat back from the last generation, the Max Pro M2 has a glossy glass-like arched back that not only looks pleasing to the eyes but also ensures great in-hand feel. This time, the entire back panel is in one piece. Here, you will find the fingerprint sensor and dual cameras, along with Asus branding, of course. There’s a wide notch at the top that accommodates earpiece, selfie camera and LED flash also with sensors. Asus has also managed to trim down the bezels, and there’s hardly any around the display – apart from that little chin. Asus has stretched the display from 5.99-inches to 6.26-inches in the Max Pro M2. It is a 1080p+ panel which has 2280×1080 pixels resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio.The display claims to offer 94-percent wider color gamut and 450 nits brightness. The Max Pro M2 has a wide notch at the top, and there is no option to hide the notch. Also, Asus needs to do more work to optimize popular apps for the notch. The remaining status bar space is reserved for system notification icons only. Asus understands the need for a compelling chipset on an online-exclusive blockbuster and duly endows the Max Pro M2 with a 1.95GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE mobile platform, which is same as what you will find on Xiaomi Mi A2 and Realme 2 Pro. The Qualcomm’s Kyro-260 based Snapdragon 660 SoC is more powerful than the Snapdragon 636 which we witnessed in the Redmi Note 6 Pro or in the original Zenfone Max Pro M1. The fingerprint sensor, which was one point of contention on the Max Pro M1, has been fixed. It’s now fast and consistent. And so is the face unlock. The 5000mAh battery on the phone can comfortably last for more than a day or a day and a half. Heavy users shouldn’t have any problem lasting throughout the day. Asus mentions that the phone supports fast charging, but it takes around two and a half hours to completely charge the phone – which is kind of slow. The ZenFone Max Pro M2 camera configuration has also changed a little. Though it continues to boast of a dual setup at the back, it now comes with 12MP Sony IMX486 sensor paired with a 5MP depth sensor. Out of the two rear cameras, the primary one has f/1.8 aperture, 1.25µm pixel size and 6P lens. Asus has enabled PDAF for faster focus on the phone, and the Max Pro M2 is capable of recording videos in 4K resolution as well. The camera performance has significantly improved. The camera captures accurate colors and ample details in proper lighting but does struggles with metering at times. Lowlight performance is adequate. Video recording needs to get better, though.