On 2th of August I bought Asus Zenfone Max. After three months of usage I publish my review of that phone.
Main expectations about new phone were:
- dual sim
- good battery
- good camera (better than in Nokia Lumia 735)
- flash-light
I wanted to try dual sim phone because I saw that few of my colleagues uses such phones and they are happy. It makes life much easier if You can have only one phone (not two) in Your pockets. Especially if You need to do some cable works under users desk or in comms room. I read many reviews and tests of different devices. I thought that Moto G (third generation) with dual sim would be OK for me, but unfortunately it is no available in Poland. I wasn't sure if Xiaomi is safe solution because of warranty issues.
Earlier I used Motorola G (second generation) as my private phone and Nokia Lumia 735 as work phone. Photos from Nokia were very poor quality and it caused problems when I tried to check on a photo some cable labels :/. After that situation I was forced to make all important photos using Moto G (it also wasn't perfect solution). Of course someone could say that I should have normal camera with me for such actions but I was looking for some solution that won't change me in to camel with all possible tools in my backpack (my camera is quite heavy). Another problem was that I had to remember to charge both phones (discharge speed was different :/).
Asus Zenfone Max (ASUS_Z010D) Asus Zenfone Max has Dual sim standby. It works well (You easily can set call forwarding from second sim). Data connection work only on one sim at time but You can switch it from one to another, without need to reboot the phone. It is useful if You are out of data transfer on one sim. When You want to call someone You can chose which number would You like to use.
Most useful features
- Do not disturb mode - Standard android feature from 6.0 - You can set schedule e.g. for each night when Your phone will be silent (but You can add special numbers that can skip it). Very useful if You have clients in different time zones like USA.
- Apps lock - default Asus app - You can set additional password to run some apps
- Memory optimization - default Asus app - You can auto kill apps in the background an close unnecessary windows. That feature help preserve longer battery time
- Autostart manager - You can set apps that You would like too have running all the time and won't be killed by that killer above.
- Power saving options - You can set a schedule to turn one powersave settings e.g. for nights
Battery time
For me it lasts about 3 days with normal (intensive) use. It could be 2 days if I use mobile hotspot or navigation for a longer time. I have LTE data transfer turned on. Typically used apps: IBM Verse, Skype, OneDrive, Google (syncing contacts, calendars, emails), Web browser. I am happy with such result.
Photos from main camera (stored on dropbox)
Price
I bought it in August 2016 in Warsaw store RTV AGD for a price of 1000 zl. As for my personal financial situation the price was high, but if I will compare it with phone features - it was really good purchase.