ASUS ZenFone 4 Max Lite Whenever a Lite version is released by any smartphone maker, the very first question that pops up the internet is ho...
Whenever a Lite version is released by any smartphone maker, the very first question that pops up the internet is how different it is from the original version. So here, let me talk about some major differences between these two Battery King ZenFone devices from ASUS - the ZenFone 4 Max and the ZenFone 4 Max Lite.
As the name suggests, the ZenFone 4 Max Lite is a slightly toned-down version of the original both in specs and, of course, price point. So let's find out what those things are.
At first glance, you will be hard pressed to distinguish the differences between the original ZenFone 4 Max (hands-on review) that was released in August of last year and the super brand new ZenFone 4 Max Lite (unboxing and early impressions), especially in their outside appearance.
Display
It actually appears that they seem to have shared the same casing material and design, as they really look exactly the same with both back and front panels. While that maybe the case here, they do not sport the same screen size, and probably the dimensions too. The 4 Max offers a much larger 5.5-inch display while the 4 Max Lite has 5.2-inch panel, both are in HD resolution. None of them sport the taller 18:9 aspect ratio display, but the new ZenFone Max Plus does.
Battery and Dimensions
In fact, most of the variations between these two handsets take place on the hardware inside. And one of those biggest changes is in the battery department. The 4 Max has the gargantuan 5000mAh battery pack, while the 4 Max Lite has 4100mAh. That also means the latter is much thinner and lighter compared to the former in terms of dimensions, 8.73mm/156g (Lite) and 8.9mm/181g (4 Max).
In case you are wondering as well, the Zen 4 Max has metal finish and the Zen 4 Max Lite faux-metal. If you haven't touched both or any of them, it is also hard to tell which one is metal and which one is not. Both were solidly created and put together.
Reverse Charging technology, a feature very unique to Max series of smartphones, is still present on both of these devices.
Software / Operating System
In terms of software or operating system, nothing has changed. We still get the Android 7.1 Nougat with the latest ZenUI 4.0 on top, which is way better than the previous iterations of ZenUI, less bloatware and much snappier that's because. I heard, ASUS is working on the Android 8.0 Oreo update, we just don't know when the update is going to release for these models and some of the old ones. The newly announced ZenFone 5 and 5Z smartphones all running Android 8.0 out of the box, I guess based on that we can assume it's not that far away from today.
Processor, RAM, and Storage
This is also where we can see a lot of differences between the two. And when deciding which one to get, you may also need to consider these changes here. These two handsets are clocked at 1.4GHz with eight cores each, but the Lite has the Snapdragon 425 as opposed to ZenFone 4 Max's Snapdragon 430. The Lite version is equipped with 2GB of RAM and the original with a much bigger 3GB RAM, and then for storage we have 16GB and 32GB, respectively.
Good thing is, they both support microSD card for storage expansion of up to 256GB. And in case you wonder, both have non-hybrid type of SIM trays, meaning, you can use two SIM cards and a microSD card all at the same time.
Camera
Camera wise, it appears that every thing remains the same from the rear camera configurations (13MP+5MP), apertures, phase detection autofocus (PDAF), LED flash, down to the front facing shooter's 8MP system and its Softlight LED flash. Except for one thing on the back camera. Based on my observation so far using the ZenFone 4 Max Lite's cameras, it does not seem to have an EIS or electronic image stabilization feature. So when you capture videos or photos with it, try your hands to be as still as possible to avoid shakes in images and video clips.
Pricing
Of course this one is very obvious already. As I have already mentioned in my previous posts about the brand new ZenFone 4 Max Lite, it is officially priced at just Php7,995. In case you would like to get the bigger brother, you will need to shell out additional Php2,000. ZenFone 4 Max is priced at Php9,995.
ASUS ZenFone 4 Max Specs:
As the name suggests, the ZenFone 4 Max Lite is a slightly toned-down version of the original both in specs and, of course, price point. So let's find out what those things are.
At first glance, you will be hard pressed to distinguish the differences between the original ZenFone 4 Max (hands-on review) that was released in August of last year and the super brand new ZenFone 4 Max Lite (unboxing and early impressions), especially in their outside appearance.
Display
It actually appears that they seem to have shared the same casing material and design, as they really look exactly the same with both back and front panels. While that maybe the case here, they do not sport the same screen size, and probably the dimensions too. The 4 Max offers a much larger 5.5-inch display while the 4 Max Lite has 5.2-inch panel, both are in HD resolution. None of them sport the taller 18:9 aspect ratio display, but the new ZenFone Max Plus does.
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| ASUS ZenFone 4 Max |
In fact, most of the variations between these two handsets take place on the hardware inside. And one of those biggest changes is in the battery department. The 4 Max has the gargantuan 5000mAh battery pack, while the 4 Max Lite has 4100mAh. That also means the latter is much thinner and lighter compared to the former in terms of dimensions, 8.73mm/156g (Lite) and 8.9mm/181g (4 Max).
In case you are wondering as well, the Zen 4 Max has metal finish and the Zen 4 Max Lite faux-metal. If you haven't touched both or any of them, it is also hard to tell which one is metal and which one is not. Both were solidly created and put together.
Reverse Charging technology, a feature very unique to Max series of smartphones, is still present on both of these devices.
Software / Operating System
In terms of software or operating system, nothing has changed. We still get the Android 7.1 Nougat with the latest ZenUI 4.0 on top, which is way better than the previous iterations of ZenUI, less bloatware and much snappier that's because. I heard, ASUS is working on the Android 8.0 Oreo update, we just don't know when the update is going to release for these models and some of the old ones. The newly announced ZenFone 5 and 5Z smartphones all running Android 8.0 out of the box, I guess based on that we can assume it's not that far away from today.
 |
| LEFT: ZenFone 4 Max Lite | RIGHT: ZenFone 4 Max |
This is also where we can see a lot of differences between the two. And when deciding which one to get, you may also need to consider these changes here. These two handsets are clocked at 1.4GHz with eight cores each, but the Lite has the Snapdragon 425 as opposed to ZenFone 4 Max's Snapdragon 430. The Lite version is equipped with 2GB of RAM and the original with a much bigger 3GB RAM, and then for storage we have 16GB and 32GB, respectively.
Good thing is, they both support microSD card for storage expansion of up to 256GB. And in case you wonder, both have non-hybrid type of SIM trays, meaning, you can use two SIM cards and a microSD card all at the same time.
Camera
Camera wise, it appears that every thing remains the same from the rear camera configurations (13MP+5MP), apertures, phase detection autofocus (PDAF), LED flash, down to the front facing shooter's 8MP system and its Softlight LED flash. Except for one thing on the back camera. Based on my observation so far using the ZenFone 4 Max Lite's cameras, it does not seem to have an EIS or electronic image stabilization feature. So when you capture videos or photos with it, try your hands to be as still as possible to avoid shakes in images and video clips.
Pricing
Of course this one is very obvious already. As I have already mentioned in my previous posts about the brand new ZenFone 4 Max Lite, it is officially priced at just Php7,995. In case you would like to get the bigger brother, you will need to shell out additional Php2,000. ZenFone 4 Max is priced at Php9,995.
ASUS ZenFone 4 Max Specs:
- 5.5-inch HD IPS Display
- 1280 x 720 resolution
- 2.5D Curved Glass
- 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor
- Adreno 505 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB internal storage
- Supports microSD card up to 256GB
- 13MP + 5MP dual rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 120° wide-angle lens, PDAF, and LED flash
- 8MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture and Softlight LED Flash
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat with ZenUI 4.0
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, GLONASS
- USB OTG Support
- Dual-SIM (non-hybrid)
- 4G LTE
- Fingerprint Scanner
- Reverse Charging Technology
- 5000mAh battery
- Php9,995
- 5.2-inch HD IPS Display
- 1280 x 720 resolution
- 2.5D Curved Glass
- 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 425 processor
- Adreno 308 GPU
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- Supports microSD card up to 256GB
- 13MP + 5MP dual rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 120° wide-angle lens, PDAF, and LED flash
- 8MP front camera with Softlight LED flash
- Android 7.1 Nougat with ZenUI 4.0
- WiFi,Bluetooth, GPS, GLONASS
- 4G LTE
- Dual-SIM (non-hybrid)
- Fingerprint Scanner
- USB OTG Support
- Reverse Charging Technology
- 4100mAh battery
- Php7,995
