Asus Zenfone 3S Max – After 3 months (Long term review)
After we reviewed the Asus Zenfone 3S Max, back in February, I decided to continue using the mobile for a few more months. I am using Samsung S7 Edge as my primary mobile. It is a great mobile, no doubt, but I have a few problems with it. I got it from Dubai and the country specific code (CSS) does not enable the use of Jio’s 4G VoLTE connection on it. Also the S7 Edge gives me less than 2 hours of screen on time and it runs out of juice everyday. So I decided to use the Zenfone 3S Max along with the S7 Edge.
The Zenfone 3S Max is a small and compact mobile and I can easily carry it along with my S7 Edge. It supports 4G VoLTE and has a 5000 mAh battery. These are the 2 simple reasons I decided to use the Zenfone 3S Max along with my S7 Edge. After more than 3 months of regular usage as my secondary mobile, here is my retake on my original review.
Suggested Read – ASUS Zenfone 3S Max ( ZC521TL) – Review – The Duracell of Mobiles!
Design
The has a 5.2 inch display and it is very compact to hold in the hand. I never used any kind of case or screen protector on it. I found it very comfortable to hold, handle and operate the mobile. As far as the aesthetics are concerned, I do like the way it looks, but gets pretty boring as it is not a head-turner. But I am using this mobile for its functionality rather than aesthetics. So let us move on.
Display
The display is just 720p on papers, but never did I find any noticeable issue while using it. My S7 Edge has QHD resolution and using them both side by side, does make the Zenfone look dated. But if am not comparing, it has good viewing angles. I leave the blue light filter always on and found that the daylight visibility is also great on this mobile.
Performance
It is a 3GB RAM mobile with Mediatek 6750 processor. Now there are people who despise Mediatek processors for its mediocre performance, but I don’t expect much out of this mobile. I am not going to play any games or install any resource intensive app. The hardware can handle Android Nougat without any issues. I had all my social media apps installed on it and was using Jio SIM on this with 4G data always on. With this usage, I never found any problem with the Zenfone 3S Max during my 3+ months usage.
Camera
Though it has a capable camera, I rarely used the camera on this. Reason: I had my S7 Edge for the camera. But if at all, I had to use the 3S Max, I would use it under low light conditions. Pixel Master algorithm on the Zenfone does a great job when it comes to clicking and processing low light shots. You can check my detailed take on the Zenfone 3S Max’s camera performance on my detailed review.
Battery
Now here is where things are really good for me. The Zenfone 3S Max has a humongous 5000 mAh battery sealed within a slim body. Regularly the mobile gives me 9-10 hours of screen-on-time. As I use it as my secondary device, I get about 3 days of battery life on it. Whenever I had to travel, I use the 3S Max to reverse charge my S7 Edge. Though the charging time was very slow, something is better than carrying around a heavy powerbank, especially with all the airline restrictions. Whenever I had to charge the 3S Max, I just leave it to charge over-night and hence I really did not notice the time it takes to charge. But this is a clean solution for me.
Verdict
I just carry the S7 Edge, Zenfone Max, USB cable and a OTG cable fixed to it. With this package I am covered for all my short business trips. The Zenfone 3S Max has been my trusted companion for over 3 months. This is my personal experience with the Zenfone 3S Max and I would also recommend this to anyone who is looking to use this as a primary mobile. But you must not expect any fireworks out of it in the performance or camera segment. The Zenfone 3S Max mobile is purely a work horse with pure endurance.