I am FINALLY BACK from my business trip in Japan! The experience was great and everything but it’s always good to be back home. I didn’t want to lose all that momentum I got from last month. Of course, I took a short break before doing this. Now that I’m here, I’ll get into reviewing gadgets again starting with this ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2!
I’ve been curious about gaming phones for some time now. While I personally don’t play a lot of games on my phone, I love that this is a trend already. Since phones basically look the same now, companies are looking for the next big trend to ride on. Gaming on phones is probably one of the best trends today. If there’s one phone that’s gonna make me get back into mobile gaming, it’s the ZenFone Max Pro M2.
The Unboxing Experience.
Even the box looks like it’s for gamers! 
There’s that “We Love Photo” slogan they’ve been carrying for a while now. 
Apple should just put a free jelly case in the iPhone box. Seriously. 
Yup. A worthy successor. 
I don’t understand why this phone still uses microUSB though.
I didn’t really want to focus on a straight-up unboxing thing. It feels so old and it becomes less and less interesting. I’m just putting a section of the first impressions post for this. I’ll probably be doing this format moving forward.
A Really Great Feel in the Hand!
There’s something about this phone that makes me want to hold it more. The ZenFone Max Pro M2 feels like it’s the perfect size for my hands. Its curved sides make holding it easier. I have fairly big hands but get really uncomfy when holding the iPhone XS Max or Note 9. Good thing this phone is just right!
The LEGIT Battery King.
I have to admit: I keep charging my iPhone at least once a day. That has been a pain in my butt for a very, very long time! The first thing I had in mind when I got this was to test its battery life. It’s only been 5 days, but its endurance is probably the best thing going for it!
Camera’s No Slouch!
This was a night shot taken from the ZenFone Max Pro M2. Funny enough, it was one of the easiest Manual modes I’ve tried so far. Daylight shots are great as well, but that’s becoming more common even in entry-level phones.
Other Tidbits
If you’re noticing a theme in this post, I don’t actually say much. I just wanted to give my first impressions and save the meaty stuff for the full review!
Here are other tidbits I noticed during my first few days:
- Signal strength is noticeably better on this than even the iPhone X! (Apple should either make their own cellular modem or surrender to Qualcomm.)
- I forgive ASUS for having a traditional notch on this phone. Other phones are steering away from this at comparable (or even lower) prices.
- I actually have the 6GB model with me so performance has been super snappy. Most of the problems I have are mostly Android app problems.
- Here’s the list of games I played with this phone so far: PUBG Mobile, Ragnarok M, DB LEGENDS, Temple Run 2, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links. Still downloading Asphalt 9: Legends. Hehe.
- I found that Ragnarok M: Eternal Love is cropped on this phone. There are elements which I cannot see. I probably need to adjust something and the app is more to blame. This is worth noting to developers of this game though, so I’m putting it here.
Do you guys have any suggestions on what games I should try? Would you guys want camera comparisons as well? Sound off in the comments below!