Asus ZenFone 3 Max ZC502TL Philippines Price and Release Date Guesstimate, Specs, Features

I've just received an email from Asus Philippines confirming that the launch of Asus ZenFone 3 Max will be sometime within this month, August 2016. So for Pinoys who are planning to purchase this particular model because of its extraordinarily large battery, there you have it.

The message, however, didn't include the exact release date nor the official suggested retail price of the handset. For now, we can only speculate on those details.

Asus ZenFone 3 Max - as its very name suggests - is the follow-up to the best-selling Asus ZenFone Max ZC550KL, which was launched in the Philippines last January. In terms of actual upgrades, however, it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Lookback: Asus ZenFone Max Philippines

The area where you'll really feel the improvement is when it comes to raw processing and multitasking performance. Whereas the earlier model merely had a Snapdragon 410 chipset and 2GB of RAM, ZenFone 3 Max runs its ZenUI-flavored Android Marshmallow OS with a MediaTek MT6737T that's complemented by 3GB of RAM. On top of that, the new release has 32GB of internal storage versus its predecessor's 16GB of ROM.

Additionally, this fresh release sports a Fingerprint Scanner which lets the user unlock the device with but a touch of finger -- a feature that ZenFone Max lacks.

Another department where the upgrade is resounding is in terms of build quality. Compared to Asus ZenFone Max that has a shell made predominantly of plastic, this new model's exterior is crafted from real metal and even has a contoured 2.5D glass face, making it look and feel more sleek.

As for its imaging capabilities, this latest iteration flaunts a 13 MegaPixel camera at the back with LED flash and a 5MP front cam for selfies, which would have been exactly the same as what's the older Max if only ZF3Max's main shooter also had laser autofocus.

What's most interesting is that, whereas ZenFone Max has a big 5.5-inch HD IPS display and a massive 5,000 mAh battery, ZF3Max only has a 5.2-inch HD IPS screen matched with a smaller 4,130 mAh pack. This got me wondering if ZenFone 3 Max will also come in two sizes just like the regular ZenFone 3, which comes in 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch versions. Hmm. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Well, anyway. Whatever the case, as someone who uses Asus ZenFone Max as one of his reliable daily drivers because of its sheer uptime and stellar selfie camera, I'm greatly looking forward to giving this updated version a test run. Apart from the more attractive design and construction, I'm excited to see the performance improvement that the combination of 64-Bit Quad Core MediaTek MT6737T chipset and 3GB of RAM offers.

Going back to the ZF3Max's SRP, I'm guessing that the handset would have a price tag in the range of Php 8,500 to Php 9,000, which is comparable to that of ZenFone Max during its launch earlier this year.

Update:

I've just arrived home from #ZenvolutionPH, which was held earlier today - August 14, 2016 - at Sofitel Luxury Hotel in Manila. At the event, Asus Philippines officially announced its new ZenFone models -- and the ZenFone 3 Max is the most affordable of all of them.

This handset comes with an official suggested retail price of Php 8,995 and it will become available nationwide within this month, August 2016.