Asus ZenFone 3 Max (ZC553KL) Review: Solid Design and Reliance JIO Support

Asus ZenFone 3 Max (ZC553KL) is the predecessor of the latest launched smartphone Asus ZenFone 3s Max (ZC521TL) (detailed specs) by Asus. The Zenfone 3 series is a very popular smartphone series of Asus whereas the Zenfone 3 + Max series is especially dedicated smartphones with good battery backup. The Asus Zenfone 3 max zc553kl comes in two flavors: One is 5.50- inches Asus Zenfone 3 zc553kl priced at 17,999 in India whereas the Asus Zenfone 3 Max ZC520TL 5.2 -inches comes at Rs 12,999. You can see the detailed specs comparison between theses two variants:

Comparision Asus Zenfone 3 Max ZC553KL vs Asus Zenfone 3 Max ZC520TL

Here is the detailed specs comparison between Zenfone 3S MAX and 3 MAX

Comparision Asus Zenfone 3s Max (ZC521TL) vs Asus Zenfone 3 Max ZC553KL

I have been using the Asus ZenFone 3 Max for more than 2 weeks now and the things which really impressed me is the good battery life along solid build design. Let’s see the detailed Asus Zenfone 3 max zc553kl review to find out how efficient it is in terms camera, battery backup and performance. Also, I will give some important Query answers to Zenfone 3 max users which I got from different forums.

 

Asus Zenfone 3 max zc553kl review in Detail

Things inside the Zenfone 3 Max Box

  • Asus Zenfone 3 max Handset
  • Micro USB Cable
  • Charger
  • OTG USB Adaptor
  • Quick Start Guide
  • SIM Tray Ejector
  • Warranty Card

Zenfone 3 max Review:  Solid Metal Design

The Design of the 3 MAX is not something that comes from a different planet but what is really impressive is its solid uni-metal slab design. Out of the box, when you see the device it feels really premium and solid. The front of the phone is totally white in color with 2.5D glass along capacitive touch buttons at the lower part of the display. Sadly the navigation buttons are not backlit that might create some problem while using in the dark. The upper portion of the display’s front comprises of ear speaker, front camera, ambient light sensor and notification LED.  The 2.5D glass merges with curved edges of the metallic back make it premium and classy.

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Coming to the back side which gives it’s a solid look has brushed metal finish that increases the grip and avoids accidental slipping from the hands. There are two chrome finish antenna strips at the back which looks like the antenna bands on the iPhone 7. At the back, the phone features a camera, and a fingerprint sensor aligned at the center of the back.  A Laser autofocus sensor and dual LED flash grab its place at the left side of the camera unit.

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The right side of the 3MAX has the good tactile volume rocker and power on/off buttons whereas the left side designed for Dual Hybrid Micro + Nano sim card tray.

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The top side space of the phone is for the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the bottom has micro USB port along speaker grills at the right side.

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Asus Zenfone 3 Max Review – 5.5 inches full HD display

The Zenfone 3 Max features 5.5 inches Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels) IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen that supports 401 PPI pixel density. I am not going to say that the display is different from other 5.5 inch IPS panels but it has good viewing angles and eye-catching colors. The legibility of the display is also decent and at full brightness (400nits) you can easily read the text under bright sunlight but still, I wish a little bit more brightness boost. The color reproduction is also good and you are not going to the complaint unless you are not going to compare it some AMOLED or iPhone displays.

For saving your eyes from the blue light it gives you the feature like other ASUS that is Eye Protection which filters the blue light and gives little bit yellowish tint to reduce the eye’s fatigue.

For protection there is no Gorilla glass which is little bit disappoints us but there is an Oleophobic coating which protects the phone display from a certain amount of finger smudges and also this coating will help you to clean the dirt from the display with help of just a soft cloth. This means you don’t need extra cleaning solution. Also, the Oleophobic layer makes the touch silky and smooth but the downside is it also gives a little slippery feel to it.

Asus Zenfone 3 max (zc553kl) Camera Review: Pixel Master and EIS stabilization

For photography, it sports a 16-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera along PDAF and Laser -assists focus technology. The images it captures come out with average detailing and natural color reproduction. The image it produces doesn’t feel oversaturated or unrealistic at any point.  The shots captured in the Super-resolution mode gives very good detailing as it combines multiple shots to give a shot equivalent to the 64MP camera. Low light images were not very much impressive and give grains even under the low light mode. The front camera of the phone is not going to underestimate you as it comes with an 8-megapixel that can shoot bright and crisp selfies in the daylight. For videos, a ZenFone 3 Max has a three-axis electronic image stabilizer (EIS) to keeps your handheld videos -steady and can shoot 1080p.  The company claims that it can focus in 0.03 seconds but in our test it didn’t but if you see it in real life the autofocus is pretty much snappy and stable.

The camera app has different modes such as manual, HDR, beautification, Super resolution, Low light, QR code, Effect, Selfie, Panorama, Time lapse and Night. Overall the camera is good and can fulfill all the day to day photography demands.

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Sample Images captured by Asus Zenfone 3 Max

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Asus Zenfone 3 max zc553kl Software Review – ASUS ZenUI 3.0(based on Android OS, v6.0.1 Marshmallow)

The Asus Zenfone 3 max runs on Asus Zenfone UI 3.0 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. In the UI there are plenty of options and setting menu. You can customize the phone’s theme, transitions, and other effects to suit your style. For example, you can switch between no app drawer mode to single layer mode or both. But lots of customization also gives a feeling of clutteredness and heavy user interface but we didn’t find lag in switching between apps. There are few pre-built icons and a complete set of animation, and lots of utility apps from ASUS.

Asus has given its own Themes store from where you can download phones’ compatible themes. You can also capture photos by its fingerprint sensor by enabling it from setting. Beside this, there are also some other functionalities it gives such as double-tap to wake or sleep, motion gestures (like to answer a call), glove mode to increase the sensitivity of the screen.

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Asus Zenfone 3 Max Review- Performance and Battery

Under its solid hood, the ZenFone 3 Max pairs with  64-bit 1.4Ghz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 CPU along with 3GB RAM for multitasking. To handle the graphics it uses Adreno 505 GPU and 32GB of internal storage which can be expanded via a micro SD card (of up to 128GB). The Phone uses a Snapdragon 430 processor which is not a high-performance processor but despite intensive UI, the phone runs without any performance lag or sluggishness. We played Asphalt Xtreme, FIFA 16 and Mortal Kombat on it without any noticeable hiccups. The two SIM slots support all major 4G networks in India.

Benchmarks:

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Asus Zenfone 3 Max is packed with a 4,000mAH battery and in our video loop test, it stands out for 7 hours 10 minutes. If we talk about the normal usage then it gives us a backup of 2+ days on normal usage and approx 1 days on heavy usage. For charging it has micro USB 2.0 port and it does support USB On-The-Go. In the phone box, you will also find the OTG cable that can use to connect drives and can convert you Zenfone 3 Max into a power bank to charge other gadgets. To get fully charged it nearly takes more than 2 hours.

Asus Zenfone 3 Max: Question and Answer round

Q. Does Asus zenfone 3 max support Jio?

Ans: Yes, the Asus Zenfone 3 Max both Sim card slots support 4G connectivity and Reliance Jio SIM. Besides 4G, it also supports the VOLTE for HD calling.

Q. How does reverse charging work in the Asus ZenFone 3 Max

Ans: For using Asus Zenfone 3Max reverse charging, we don’t need to enable any setting or option. Just use the OTG cable comes along the box and plug one end of the cable to phone and another end to other phones USB cable. You can get the idea from below given screenshot.

Q. Which phone should I prefer to buy between Lenovo ZUK Plus, Vivo V5 and Asus Zenfone 3 Max?

Ans: All three phones fall under almost same price tag and has their own USPs. Like if someone wants a phone for selfies and good sound quality then one should go for Vivo V5(review), on another hand if you want a good battery, Full HD display and lots customization option smartphone then it would be Zenfone 3 MAX.  Lenovo Zuk Z2 Plus is a good looking device packed with good combination of hardware. It runs smooth, has powerful battery and has several attractive features such as U health app and fingerprint button with various functions. At this price, it is a good bet to have. And if you are looking for a pretty balanced device in terms of looks and performance then Lenovo Zuk Z2 Plus is a fine choice, having several attractive features such as U health app.

Q. Does Asus Zenfone 3 Max 32GB support VOLTE technology?

Ans. Yes, it does

Q. How to clean & boost ASUS ZenFone 3 Max ZC553KL?

Ans:  If you think that some app is using more RAM then you can use its pre-installed Power & Boost to free up the memory. Also one can use the clean master app to delete the junk files and boosting the device performance.

Also See:

Asus Zenfone 3 Max Review Synopsis

Under 20k price budget, the ZenFone 3 Max is a good choice as it gives a good package of performance, battery backup, and display. Recently the Asus launched an Asus Zenfone 3S Max with 5000mAh battery at lower price as compared to 3 Max. So if your power user and want a good battery smartphone than I would recommend you the Zenfone 3S Max.

Asus Zenfone 3 Max Detailed specifications

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