Asus ZenFone launch Zenfone Max Pro (M1) in India with Snapdragon 636, 5000mAh battery, and Android 8.1 Oreo

Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer Asus on April 23 made a global debut of the Zenfone Max Pro M1 in India. The budget smartphones comes in two variants – 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB storage & 4GB RAM and 64 GB of storage. The company has priced the base model at Rs 10,999, and Rs 12,999 for the top-end variant. Asus also confirmed the 6GB RAM variant, priced at Rs 14,999, which will go on sale later. Designed for Indian consumers, the smartphone boasts the stock Android Oreo 8.1, a modern 18:9 aspect ratio screen, dual rear cameras, and a mammoth 5,000 mAh battery.

Both Asus and Flipkart have already confirmed that the smartphone will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC. This is the same chipset also powering the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Zenfone 5 announced at Mobile World Congress 2018 in February. Ahead of the launch, the smartphone has already leaked in the form of press render and its specifications have been detailed as well. The Zenfone Max Pro M1 is expected to run near stock version of Android but might not come with Android One branding. The ZenFone Max Pro is an attempt by Asus to stay relevant in the Indian smartphone market, which is now dominated by Chinese brands.

The most important question will be whether Asus can price it competitively against the Redmi Note 5 Pro, and can Flipkart offer incentives to those buying this smartphone over a Xiaomi product. The event is expected to start at 12.30PM and one of the key things to watch is whether Asus reveals long term plan for this ership.

Network	Technology	GSM / HSPA / LTE
	2G bands	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
	3G bands	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	4G bands	LTE
	Speed	HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps
	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes

Launch	Announced	2018, April
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2018, May 3rd

Body	Dimensions	159 x 76 x 8.5 mm (6.26 x 2.99 x 0.33 in)
	Weight	180 g (6.35 oz)
	Build	Front glass, aluminum body
	SIM	Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Display	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	5.99 inches, 93.1 cm2 (~77.0% screen-to-body ratio)
	Resolution	1080 x 2160 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~402 ppi density)
	Multitouch	Yes

Platform	OS	Android 8.1 (Oreo)
	Chipset	Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636
	CPU	Octa-core 1.8 GHz Kryo 260
	GPU	Adreno 509

Memory	Card slot	microSD, up to 400 GB (dedicated slot)
	Internal	64 GB, 4/6 GB RAM or 32 GB, 3 GB RAM

Camera	Primary	Dual: 13 MP (f/2.2) + 5 MP, phase detection autofocus, LED flash Dual: 16 MP + 5 MP, phase detection autofocus, LED flash - 6 GB RAM model only
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama
	Video	2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps
	Secondary	8 MP (f/2.2), LED flash 16 MP, LED flash - 6 GB RAM model only

Sound	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

Comms	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, hotspot
	Bluetooth	4.2, A2DP, LE
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
	Radio	FM radio
	USB	microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go

Features	Sensors	Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML5
		- Fast battery charging: 5V/2A 10W - MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player - MP4/H.264 player - Document viewer - Photo/video editor

Battery		Non-removable Li-Po 5000 mAh battery

Misc	Colors	Deepsea Black, Titanium Grey
	Price	About 160 EUR