If you follow closely on ASUS Malaysia’s Facebook page, you won’t be missing out all the interesting activities that revolve around their upcoming ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M1). So, we actually got the chance to play around with the device and here is some information you might find interesting.

3 Variants for ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M1)

First of all, there will be 3 variants of ZenFone Max Pro (M1) coming into Malaysia. The key differences among the 3 models will be the RAM, Storage and Camera. The highest spec model will get 6 GB RAM with 64 GB internal storage, followed by the mid-spec model gets 4 GB RAM + 64 GB internal storage, while the entry spec model gets 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage. The camera on the top spec model will get the exclusive 16 MP + 5 MP on the rear as well as another 16 MP sensor at the front. Meanwhile, the mid-spec and entry spec model gets the modest 13 MP + 5 MP rear camera config with 8 MP sensor for the selfie shooter.

Snapdragon 636 + 5000 mAh Battery

The rest of the specifications will be the same. The processor will be the power efficient Snapdragon 636 and powered by the humongous 5000 mAh battery. Now we understand why the tagline for this phone is “Limitless Gaming” because you get great performance CPU+GPU as well as long battery life! Besides, you also get the identical display on all the 3 model – 6-inch 1080p IPS LCD panel with great colour reproduction.

Vanilla Android 8.1 Oreo

The most interesting decision ASUS taken for the ZenFone Max Pro (M1) is no other than choosing the Pure Android OS. Now, I don’t mean ZenUI is bad. Well, honestly speaking, it WAS bad during the days of ZenUI 1, 2 and 3 but when ASUS announced that ZenUI 4 & ZenUI 5 will be a complete redesign and dropping most of the useless bloatware, all the previous problems went away instantly.

Now, back to the Vanilla Android. ASUS has told us the decision is due to the request from their users and they thought why not give it a try. If users like it, they might be coming up with more phones with pure Android OS.

If you have no idea what pure Android is, well, it is basically the original form of Android by Google. Just that many manufacturers decided to customise the OS to match with their own brand identity. Most of the time, the customisation and added bloatware ended up slowing down the phone significantly. I mean, nowadays you can get all your required functions from any app you like on the Play Store. So why not manufacturers just stick to what they expert in – manufacturing the hardware and leave the software to the app developers instead.

On Sale Starting 1st June 2018 in Malaysia

The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M1) will come in 2 colours – Silver and Dark Blue. No solid pricing at the moment yet, but ASUS has been teasing that the entry variant (3GB + 32GB) will come in at even more attractive price than RM 799.

One thing for sure is that the phone pricing will be revealed on 31st May during the launch event and they will be available for sale starting 1st June 2018, just in time for the enforcement of 0% GST.