Asus launches the Asus Zenfone 3 Max duo of power efficient smartphones
Bangalore, November 25 2016: After launching the Zenfone and Zenfone 2 series of smartphones over the last two years, Asus is back this year with its flagship series of mid-range devices. As an encore of its Zenfone 3 range earlier this year, the company launched two more devices in its Zenfone 3 Max series. With larger batteries and power optimizations as its USP, the devices come in two configurations with different screen sizes, camera specs and processors.
Finger-friendly devices Let’s talk about the similarities first. Both the devices come with sandblasted aluminum-alloy bodies and come in three colours – Sand Gold, Glacier Silver and Titanium Gray. The devices come with a rather interesting claim – the fingerprint unlock button at the back apparently takes just 0.3 seconds to recognize your fingerprint, and you can program the device to recognize all the 5 fingers of your hand. Of course, you can also unlock the camera with it.    
Turn it into a power bank! Another good feature in the devices is its ability to reverse charge. Asus has included an OTG cable with the phones, ensuring that you can use its 4100mAh battery as a power bank if you need to. Also, you can choose from 5 different battery modes depending on usage and how much charge remains on your phone. 
Take your pic! Now, let’s look at how the two devices differ in specs and price points. The 5.5 inches Zenfone 3 Max (ZC553KL) is powered by a Snapdragon 430 64-bit processor, in addition to an Adreno 505 graphics processor aimed at hardcore gamers. The device comes with a 16MP rear and 8MP front camera, along with an electronic image stabilization (EIS) feature that counteracts hand movements while shooting videos.
The dual-SIM  duo  The 5.2 inches Zenfone 3 Max (ZC520TL) comes with a quad core processor and a Mali T720 graphics processor. The rear and front camera configurations are 13MP and 5MP respectively. Both the variants are 4G LTE dual-Sim devices with 3GB RAM and 32 GB memory. While the 5.5 inches variant is expandable upto 128 GB, the 5.2 inches variants is expandable upto 32 GB. 
Priced at Rs. 17,999 and Rs. 12,999 respectively, we believe it’s a good year-end buy, for its superior camera and reverse charging features. While the 5.2 inches Zenfone 3 Max is currently available in online and offline outlets, its 5.5 inches twin is expected towards month-end. 

This review has appeared in The Week