Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 vs Redmi 6 Pro: Which is the better buy?
The budget segment has been one of the most hotly contested spaces in the Indian smartphone market. Over the last few months, the particular segment has seen a number of really interesting devices being thrown into the fray in the hope of winning over millions of buyers looking to upgrade their smartphones.
Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Asus and a host of other brands have, as such, been steadily improving their line-up of devices in the segment.
Recently, the country's biggest smartphone manufacturer by volume, Xiaomi, announced a new phone — the Redmi 6 Pro — which it hopes could help it build on the stupendous success of previous Redmi series phones and keep it king of the market.
But before it does so, the Redmi 6 Pro will have to fend off strong competition from one particular phone that gave even the mighty Redmi 5 Pro a good run for its money.
Yes, we're talking about the stock Android offering from Asus — the Zenfone Max Pro M1.
Let's compare the two phones and see which one comes out on the top.
Design and display
In terms of design, the two phones try to keep things simple. Both bring with them – an industrial at best – metal unibody design at the back that focuses more on durability than looks. Both also feature small, round-shaped fingerprint scanners at the back.
However, moving to the front, stark differences start to emerge.
For starters, the two differ ever so slightly in the display size with Zenfone Max Pro M1 coming with a 5.99-inch panel, while the Redmi 6 Pro sports a 5.84-inch display. Then there is the small matter of the notch on the Xiaomi device which actually ends up making a huge difference to the design of the phones.
The notch affords the Redmi 6 Pro a look that is more in line with the times and crucially helps it shave off the hefty bezels on the top and achieve a high screen to body ratio. The Max Pro M1, on the other hand, retains a slightly thick bezel at the top which, depending on the user's taste, could be a good or a bad thing.
Apart from this, the panels on both the phones are quite good and can churn up to Full HD+ resolutions, making these great phones for not just reading but also consuming multimedia content.
Specifications and performance
If design and display tilted the balance a little in favour of the Redmi 6 Pro, then its specs and performance that help the Zenfone Max Pro M1 make its way back into the battle.
While the Redmi 6 Pro comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage – expandable up to 256GB – and dual-SIM support, the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 ups the game by bringing to the table the more powerful and energy-efficient Snapdragon 636 SoC, paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage that can be expanded to a massive 2TB using a memory card.
However, what really helps the Zenfone Max Pro M1 take the lead here is the use of near Stock Android instead of MIUI on the Redmi device. Though the Redmi 6 Pro is still not bad at handling daily tasks and multi-tasking, the Asus phone just proved to be a little snappier in performance.
But that's not all.
Even in terms of battery life, the phone easily outperformed the Redmi 6 Pro, which, to be honest, is no slouch in the battery department itself with its 4000mAh battery.
Powered by a massive 5,000mAh battery that supports fast charging, Asus' Zenfone Max Pro M1 gives over 30 days of standby time and lasts over two days on a single charge when moderately used.
Camera
In terms of optics, it's Xiaomi that takes the cake as it makes use of the Redmi 5 Pro's trusted camera setup on the phone to win this crucial battle. However, to Asus' credit, the 13-Megapixel (f/2.2 aperture) + 5-Megapixel dual camera setup on the Max Pro M1 makes sure that it wasn't an easy victory here for Xiaomi.
While testing the two phones, we generally found the Redmi 6 Pro's 12-megapixel (f/2.2 aperture) + 5-megapixel (f/2.0 aperture) camera setup to perform pretty much on the same level as the Asus phone. The pictures clicked on both looked vibrant and captured good detail for a phone being sold in the budget segment of the market. Even under low light, the cameras did fare well — although Xiaomi's device, because of its software optimisations, did do a little better.
But overall, the Redmi 6 Pro, because of its easier to use and faster camera application, won the particular round in our tests.
Which one should you buy?
It's a tough choice here — and to be honest, either of the two phones would make for a good buy at the Rs 10,999 price point. But, if you really have to choose a winner here, then the answer will depend on what you want from your phone.
If overall performance is what you crave from your device, then the Zenfone Max Pro M1 is your pick.
Asus' use of the Snapdragon 636, bigger battery and close to stock Android all but guarantees the device will be much better at handling tasks, not just today, but a year on too, when the device starts to age. In this regard, the 625, to be honest, does not inspire as much confidence.
However, if a more modern looking and a better point and shoot camera is what your heart desires, then go with the Redmi 6 Pro.
Either way, you won't be making a bad choice.