Hands On With the Asus Zenfone Max Plus M1

LAS VEGAS—The new Asus Zenfone Max Plus M1 is built in the newly mainstream 18:ix form factor, and its dual cameras are something you don't generally encounter on a phone under $250, making information technology one of the most compelling phones we've seen hither at CES so far.

CES 2022 bug art The Zenfone Max M1's metal chassis is part of what makes it look so good for a $229 device. Information technology sports a 2,160-past-ane,080, tall-and-narrow 5.7-inch brandish, and feels cool and metal in the mitt. Eyeing it, I thought it looked a little grainy, but that could just be the wallpaper selections.

At this cost point, you lot're not going to get a flagship processor; the Max M1 runs a Mediatek chip with LTE Cat half-dozen and Android vii.0. But information technology'due south surprisingly full featured; it has 3GB RAM, a huge 4150mAh battery, a fingerprint scanner on the back, and face up unlock engineering science. The unit we checked out had 4GB of RAM, simply that's not the first time we've seen an Asus phone on a evidence floor that wasn't quite the retail model.

Too, I love the dual rear cameras. The front end camera is 16 megapixels, and on the back, there'south a 16-megapixel master camera and an eight-megapixel wide-angle camera. You'd typically have to pay $100 more than to get this particular kind of dual-camera setup.

I don't accept all that much to say near the hands-on experience with this phone, except that it felt more premium than it is thanks to the metal trunk, the dual cameras, and the form factor. Nosotros'll meet when nosotros become it into our labs whether the CPU drags things downwardly, although I doubtable it won't as long as you're non running heavy games.

The telephone will be available next month, and it will be uniform with AT&T and T-Mobile.