Last edited by mail2ronit on 2017/3/7 09:42
The Zenfone 3s Max was made available to purchase on 7th February & it was priced at 14999 INR in India. While browsing through social media, I saw that you guys have a lot of confusion about this device. Some, of you were worried about the 720P screen, some of you were worried about the MT6750 & some of you were worried about the Price. So, that's why I decided to make this article & I hope this will help to clear your doubts. The fact to be aware of is that, it's not a review article so if you are looking for reviews, I'm dropping the links below,
To keep things simple, let's do this in a Q&A pattern.
1. Is the quality of the 720P screen poor ?
Ans: No. Though, it's a 720P screen, it's actually a good quality screen. The on screen graphics look decent & while playing an offline Full HD video, you can't actually tell the difference untill you compare with a good 1080P display side by side. It's not 100% color accurate & the colors are slightly on the Yellow side but, I kinda liked it's quality compared to the other 720P displays that I have seen so far.
2. Is it possible to watch videos at 1080P resolution on the Youtube App ?
Ans: The Youtube App limits the maximum playback resolution of the video, to the screen resolution of the device it is installed on. So, you can get a maximum 720P playback with the Zenfone 3s Max. But if you're playing offline, you can play upto 2K (1440P) without any lag & 4K with noticable but, workable lags. But, make sure that you're using the SW(Software) decoder in MX player if you want to play 2K & 4K videos.
3. Is the Reverse Charging feature actually useful or just a gimmick ?
Ans: It's not that much useful for day-to-day usage but, it can be useful in some cases. For example, If you use two phones & the other one is dying in between an important call, it can keep the phone alive till you finish talking. Or, during long trips it can come handy for you as it can serve as an extra powerbank for maybe your family members or friends. But, again it completely depends on you. If you're not going to use it, you don't need it. But if you want it, it's there.
4. Does it support VoLTE out of the box & what is VoWiFi ?
Ans: Yes, it supports VoLTE out of the box so, you can take all the advantages of a VoLTE network on your phone.
VoWiFi is kinda similar to VoLTE. In VoLTE you can call using a LTE network & in VoWiFi you can call using a WiFi network. To use VoWiFi, you need the network carrier support though. In India, it's currently not available but, let's see how fast Indian Network Carriers can impement it. The Zenfone 3s Max does come with VoWiFi support.
5. Is the ZenUI implementation in Nougat better than the ZenUI implementation in Marshmallow ?
Ans: In terms of snappy-ness, yes it's much better. ZenUI in Nougat is the the smoothest ZenUI yet. I liked the fact that essential features of Nougat like, the swipeable Settings Home menu, Split Screen view were not skipped in this ZenUI version. So, overall I liked the ZenUI Nougat, more than the ZenUI Marshmallow.
6. Are high end games playable on the Zenfone 3s Max ?
Ans: Yes, high end games are playable on the Zenfone 3s Max. If you're playing games like Asphalt Xtreme at Highest Graphics settings, you'll notice minor frame drops but, that doesn't spoil the game like a nightmare (what I faced with the Adreno 505). In medium settings though, there are no noticable frame drops at all.
7. Does the Mediatek MT6750 suck when it comes to the overall performance ?
Ans: Being a Mid-end Mediatek CPU, it does not give a better performance compared to the mid-end Snapdragon processors. So, If you're coming from something like a Snapdragon 617, then it may not stand up on your expectations. The performance is kinda similar to what we get with a Snapdragon 430 or 435 maybe. In terms of day-to-day usage it performs fine I'll say. A regular person will not have any kind of issue with the performance.
8. Can it take good Selfies ?
Ans: During my testing, I found the front camera of the Zenfone 3s Max was a good one. But, it is recommended to use the Beautification Mode while clicking selfies. That post processing actually helps to get better shots compared to the Auto Mode. Anyway if you want to check samples, you can find them in my Camera Review.
9. Is the Battery removable ?
Ans: No, the battery is not removable. To disassemble the battery, you'll need to disassemble the phone itself. So if you're not a hardware guy, it's recommended to not try anything like this at home.
If you're curious about what's inside the phone, you can actually have a look at the Teardown Video.
10. Is it too much Overpriced ?
Ans: Hard to comment dude. We have to make some considerations here. First, some brands like Xiaomi & LeECO has already given statements that they were giving subsidy after their phones to gain a good place in the market & they have faced a huge loss while doing that. So, what I think is that, ASUS is not into this subsidy game & from pure business perspective, it's not actually unfair.
Another one is that, other premium brands like Samsung, LG etc. are actually giving even lower hardware in a much higher price point. So, keeping the brand value thing in mind it may not be that much overpriced.
But, from a Customers perspective, it definitely feels like the price could have been less. So, I cannot comment anything on this as, I don't know what the actual reason is.
So, that's all guys for this article. In case I missed something or you have any other question, feel free to drop them in the comment section below.
If this article helped, please give it a big Thumbs Up & I'll catch you in my next article !
|
0
2978
15
mail2ronit
