ZenFone 3 Max (ZC553KL) Review

Asus diversifying the Max series and bumping it up to the mid-range segment introduced two new models with very similar names – the ZenFone 3 Max (ZC520TL) and the ZenFone 3 Max (ZC553KL). The ZC520TL variant features a smaller 5.2-inch, 720p display; a MediaTek SoC and 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras whereas ZC553KL features a larger, 1080p display, Qualcomm SoC and 16-megapixel and 8-megapixel cameras. We have the former of the pair in for review today.

It is much better as compared to its predecessors is aesthetics and price. The design and build quality has been evolved. The new metal unibody design with 2.5D curved glass in the front gives a premium feel to the device. It is comparatively slimmer and lighter. The bezels too reduced. Overall it gives a good in hand experience.

Coming over to its key USP: battery. It houses a 4130 mAh battery with reverse charging feature. It does provides good battery life.

Asus Zenfone 3 Max  ZC520TL is powered by 1.25GHz quad core Mediatek MT6737M(Cortex-A53) SoC with 3GB of RAM and Mali-T720MP2 GPU. It has 32GB of internal storage and optional expandable storage through microSD card.

It sports 5.2 inch 720p HD display screen. The colour saturation, viewing angles, sunlight legibility are decent. The quality of display panel is satisfactory in this price segment but overall phone is a good deal.

Features 13MP rear camera with LED flash and 5MP front facing camera. It lacks Laser autofocus, Dual LED flash which were available in its predecessor. Camera performance in good lit conditions came out decent. However, low light performance is just average.

So all in all if you are hunting for a phone having reverse charging features, good design and build quality, decent display panel quality, good battery life. Then Zenfone max 3 won't disappoint you.