During the press launch of the ASUS ZenFone Zoom, the Taiwanese manufacturer announced news that the ZenFone Max will finally be making its way to Philippine shores, several months after its announcement in August of last year.

The “Android-phone equivalent of a Judd Apatow movie” takes a fresh approach to the ZenFone formula, focusing on battery life instead of performance, as hinted at by the generous 5,000mAh battery ASUS managed to cram inside its plastic form factor. The Max promises hours upon hours of usage time that, frankly, might be second to none among today’s Android phones.

The ZenFone Max takes a fresh approach to the ZenFone formula, focusing on battery life instead of performance.

Unfortunately for the Max, the rest of the internals, as well as the 5.5-inch, 720p display, fall short of being interesting. The phone relies on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset bearing 2GB of RAM to run Android 5.0 Lollipop. Around the back, you’ll find a 13-megapixel, f/2.0 camera guided by laser autofocus.

The ASUS ZenFone Max is priced at P8,495 in the Philippines and will arrive in stores in the first quarter of 2016, though I wouldn’t consider an Android Lollipop phone in 2016 a good purchase. But hey, if you need something that won’t disappoint in the battery-life department, the ZenFone Max might be a decent option.

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Ramon Lopez

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Reviews Editor: Ramon "Monch" Lopez is an 18‑year media veteran who has helped shaped content for Yahoo and other top publications. He first dove into PR and marketing for an automobile brand, then ran the gadgets‑merchandising arm of a Philippine retail giant — proof he knows wheels and tech from the warehouse to the web. Now REVU's Reviews Editor, Monch balances his obsession with specs with a "quality over quantity" mindset, usually fueled by coffee, photography, videography, video games, basketball, and the occasional deadline chase.