The ZenFone 3S Max joins the ZenFone 3 Max models (Deluxe, Max Click to read reviews), with its massive 5000mAh battery, packed inside a surprisingly compact design. While we have seen big battery phones in the past couple of years, most of them end up being too large and bulky, a hurdle the Zenfone 3S Max gracefully avoids.
Design and Looks
The Zenfone 3s Max quite is quite different from Zenfone 3 series. The first thing we noticed was that the front of the phone no longer has the capacitive navigation keys below the display. Instead, you now get on-screen soft keys controls. You still get a fingerprint sensor on the front, which also happens to be a home button. Unlike the sensor on most other Android phones, this one requires you to click on it first to activate it and only then does it scan your fingertip (not cool).
Above the display is the earpiece, front facing camera, light and proximity sensors, and a LED notification light.
Display
The Zenfone 3S Max has a 5.2-inch, 1280×720 resolution IPS LCD with pixel density is just 282 PPI, lower than the iPhone 4. Let’s just say the display isn’t the strong point of the phone.
Battery
Talking about the strong point, with 5000 MaH we were able to get 2 days from the device without the need to charge. I even used the phone to charge my friend’s phone. With that being said even with that battery weight or thickness was not the issue, the phone was comfortable to hold and perfect for someone who doesn’t want to carry power banks with them all the time.
Unfortunately, despite such a massive battery onboard, the Zenfone 3S Max does not have fast charging. This means it takes about four hours to charge the phone with the supplied 10W charger.
Performance
With a MediaTek MT6750 under the hood and 3GB of Ram apps may delay to open up or may crash too sometimes but ram does help in multitasking.
Camera
We were not happy with the camera because Zenfone 3 Deluxe had a great camera, and Max had a decent one but with 3S, the image quality is a bit of hit or miss. At first glance the images look fine, colors appears to be good, contrast and decent dynamic range. However, closer examination reveals overly soft images with little fine detail that almost look like they are out of focus. This is due to the noise reduction algorithm that aggressively blurs out the image to stamp out any noise, resulting in a blurred image.
Zenfone 3s Max Vs J5
| ASUS | Samsung | |
| Zenfone 3S Max | J5 Prime | |
| Design | metallic design with 2.5D arc glass, Slim bezel, and 75% screen to body ratio | Non-metal Body, 69.4% Screen to Body Ratio |
| Battery | 5000 mAh Li-Ion battery (non-removable), 34 days of 4G standby time | 2400mAh Li-ion Battery |
| Display, Resolution | 5.2-inch HD IPS display | 5.0-inch HD display |
| Touch | Front Fingerprint sensor unlock less than a Sec, 360° recognition/ 5 fingers recognition, one Tap to answer the phone call | Front finger Print Sensor |
| Front Camera | 8 Megapixel camera with 85-degree wide angle | 5 Megapixel |
| Rear Camera | 13 Megapixel PixelMaster Camera, Dual Real tone LED Flash | 13 Megapixel, Single LED Flash |
| Performance | Octa-core 64-bit processor | Quad Core Processor |
| Memory (RAM/ROM) | 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM | 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM |
| Wireless | Dual SIM Support (2G/3G/4G), Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, hotspot CAT 4 LTE | Dual SIM Support (2G/3G/4G), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
| GPS | GPS, AGPS, GLONASS | GPS, AGPS, GLONASS |
| Audio | 5- Magnet Speaker, Dual Microphone with Noise Cancellation | Normal speaker |
| OS | Android N with ZenUI 3.0 new skin | Android 6.0 |
| Price | Rs. 14,999 | Rs. 14,500 |
Verdict
If you are someone who doesn’t like to carry the extra weight of power bank the phone is for you. It performs decently in multitasking or taking photos. Between J5 Prime and Zenfone 3s Max, Zenfone would be the better choice.
