Asus ZenFone Max (M1) was launched on Tuesday at MWC 2018 alongside the ZenFone 5 series, which includes the ZenFone 5Z, ZenFone 5, and ZenFone 5 Lite. The Asus ZenFone Max (M1) is very similar to the ZenFone Max Plus (M1) that was launched in Russia last year, before being made available in the US earlier this year. There are some differences however - instead of running on the MediaTek MT6750T, it is available in two variants, running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 or the Snapdragon 430 SoC. It also has a smaller display, at 5.5-inch, compared to the 5.7-inch display on the ZenFone Max Plus (M1). No pricing information has been revealed.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Asus ZenFone Max (M1) (ZB555KL) runs Android 8.0 Oreo with the company's ZenUI 5.0 skin atop. It sports a 5.5-inch HD+ (720x1440 pixels) IPS display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and 2.5D curved glass on top. As we mentioned, it is available in two processor variants - the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 or octa-core Snapdragon 430 - coupled with up to 3GB of RAM.
The Asus ZenFone Max (M1) (ZB555KL) sports dual-rear camera setup, with a 13-megapixel primary sensor coupled with a f/2.0 aperture, dual-LED flash, and PDAF. The secondary 8-megapixel sensor is coupled with a 120-degree wide-angle lens. The front camera bears an 8-megapixel sensor as well, with an f/2.2 aperture. The front camera specifications can vary as per region, Asus added.
There is up to 32GB inbuilt storage on the Asus ZenFone Max (M1) (ZB555KL), expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB) with its own dedicated card slot. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (dual-band, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth v4.0, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It is powered by a 4000mAh battery, rated to deliver up to 36 hours of talk time on 3G, and 41 days of standby time on 4G.
The Asus ZenFone Max (M1) (ZB555KL) will be available in Deepsea Black, Sunlight Gold, and Ruby Red colour variants. It sports a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel, capable of unlocking the smartphone in as little as 0.5 seconds. The company is also touting a Face Unlock feature. It measures in at 147.3x8.7x70.9mm, and weighs 150 grams.
Disclosure: Asus sponsored the correspondent's flights and hotel for the launch event in Barcelona.
We spoke about all the big launches of MWC 2018 on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
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