Zenfone 4 Max ZC554KL 5000mah battery

[anon(141613)]

I picked up a Zenfone 4 Max ZC554KL at Best Buy for $199, and they threw in a $1 Simple Mobile BYOD Sim Card and a $40 Mobile Plan card and knocked $50 off.

So far so good, but I'm just putting it into full service. Battery life is really, really good so far - I've had a Blu R1 Plus and a Huawei Mate 8 recently, both with 4000mah batteries, and this is much better in the real world. I use hundreds of apps and Google navigation and am hoping this may finally be a phone that can handle a full day without a charge.

The phone has the rare LTE Band 12 (and all the other US GSM bands) which I need for service with MetroPCS. Cases and screen protectors are available on Amazon and AliExpress with a decent variety for a newer phone. So far I haven't noticed any lag to speak of with the octa-core Snapdragon 430 and the 3GB of RAM. I don't game so that doesn't matter.

The only things I find missing or annoying are the reversed Micro USB port (larger side to the front/screen) and the lack of 5Ghz Wi-Fi. Beyond that, I might actually keep this phone in service for awhile - the battery life is the key for me, and it will charge okay even without using the 2A factory charger - another plus for my usage. The phone has fast charging and it shows.

The Moto E4 Plus is the other phone now available with a 5000mah battery and LTE Band 12, but it's got 2GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 427 Quad-Core, and for the same money the Asus is a better bet for me.

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks for the info! I think ASUS makes good phones -- I enjoyed my ZenFone 2. How's the camera?

 

[anon(141613)]

I haven't used it yet... The rear camera is a dual setup with a separate wide angle lens. Reports online are that the cameras are good, not great, which I'd expect at this price point. Will post back after I actually shoot some with it.

 

[anon(141613)]

And as expected...good if not great on the camera. The wide angle lens option is nice, but it's only 2MP, so just when really needed.

 

[B. Diddy]

The ZenFone 2 was really good for macro photography, since it had a pretty short minimum focus distance (significantly better than the Nexus 6P). How is it with yours?

Off topic, I wonder what ASUS is going to do for the next generation of ZenFones. The ZenFone 5 was released in 2014, so they can't use that name (unless they call it something really stupid like the ZenFone 5 II -- bad flashbacks of the HTC One Mini 2!:-\).

 

[SharkyNY]

Question. Do you get VoLTE? I got one to mess around with as a secondary phone and I was hoping that it'd be able to get VoLTE since it has band 12.

 

[anon(141613)]

I have not gotten Wi-Fi Calling to work, and I have switched it on. I have yet to see a report that anyone has it working... A couple of other people have said the same thing.

 

[SharkyNY]

Yeah, no luck on my side so far. If the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is anything to go by chances are that the ZF4M probably doesn't support it for T-Mobile or At&t.

 

[anon(141613)]

ASUS Taiwan tells me they consider Wi-Fi Calling and VoLTE as seperate, which I never have prior, at least in practice. They have also suggested I check with MetroPCS to see if it's enabled for this phone, which I have no reason to believe it would be through them as it's not a phone sold by MetroPCS or T-Mobile directly. I was of the belief if a phone had wi-fi calling built-in, especially if it was being used with an ASUS router optimized for same, that it would work. I've had unlocked Nexus phones with wi-fi calling enabled that worked without issue.

 

[SharkyNY]

If I'm not mistaken, manufacturers usually have to get some sort of approval/certification to be able to do WiFi Calling and VoLTE on T-Mobile. That's what's come up in the past when certain manufacturers list Band 12 on their phones, but no VoLTE on the phone. As a matter of fact:

"We are all about giving customers the best wireless experience possible. That includes the latest and greatest devices, with the latest technology," T-Mobile said in a statement to FierceWireless. "To ensure a high level of quality in all of our devices, we require every device go through a rigorous certification process.

"Specifically, we require phones using Band 12 on T-Mobile to support E911 and VoLTE in order to be certified on our network," T-Mobile added. "We do this in the interest of our customers' overall experience and safety."

T-Mobile: All Band 12 LTE devices on our network must support VoLTE, E911 | FierceWireless

 

[anon(141613)]

I've made an inquiry over at T-Mobile Forums on this, as the phone has service on LTE Band 12.

https://support.t-mobile.com/message/618564#618564

 

[anon(141613)]

Here's the ASUS support thread for reference:

https://www.asus.com/zentalk/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=185396