Its been a long time since ASUS launched their budget smartphone previously, users have been waiting for it eagerly as the Max Pro series brought a stock Android-like interface, great build and a gigantic battery onboard. Since Asus’s CEO Jerry Shen had previously resigned back at the end of 2018, the brand has completely abandoned the budget smartphone segment completely giving it off to Samsung, Redmi and Realme. The brand has now been continuously focussing on flagships and the gaming smartphone lineup. A piece of good news for users, According to new reports, ASUS might change the situation soon.
Asus has been reported to be currently working on four new devices, with chipsets codenamed “Lito”, “Lagoon”, “Bengal”, and “Scuba”. These chipsets have been previously spotted on other smartphones and certifications sites and al of these correspond to mid-range and budget SoCs.
In brief, the chipset codenamed “Lito” is likely the Snapdragon 765/765G as seen on the OnePlus Nord, whereas the chipset codenamed “Lagoon” is probably the Snapdragon 690. Both of them are mid-range SoC’s and are built-in with efficient 5G modems included right with the chipset itself. To make things interesting, the monikers “Bengal” and “Scuba” are either the Snapdragon 662 or the Snapdragon 460 whereas the latter is probably part of a very budget Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 family of chips.
As of now, there is no other information on these four mysterious ASUS smartphones. A good introductory naming guess to throw out there would be the Asus Max M3 series where the devices could be the ASUS Max M3, Max Pro M3, and the Max M3 Lite. But, that’s just speculation at this point. We will keep you posted.
Previously Launched Asus Budget Smartphones
ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 Specifications
6.3-inch FHD+ 2280 x 1080 IPS display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core CPU
Adreno 512 GPU
Corning Gorilla Glass 6
4GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB, 128GB storage
microSD up to 2TB (dedicated slot)
12MP Sony IMX486 F1.8 + 5MP dual rear cameras
13MP F2.0 front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 5.0
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS
3.5mm audio jack
5-magnet speaker with NXP smart amplifier
FM Radio
Fingerprint scanner
Face Unlock
micro USB
Android 8.1 Oreo (Stock)
5,000mAh battery
157.9 x 75.5 x 8.5 mm
170 g
Under the hood, the more powerful Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 gets the Snapdragon 660 and 4/64 GB RAMstorage option, while the base variant has under its hood the Snapdragon 632 chipset coupled with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage that’s expandable through a dedicated microSD slot.
ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) ZB633KL specs:
6.3-inch HD+ 1520 x 720 display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 octa-core CPU
Adreno 506 GPU
3GB, 4GB LPDDR3 RAM
32GB, 64GB storage
microSD up to 2TB (dedicated slot)
13MP F1.8 + 2MP dual rear cameras
8MP F2.0 front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
3.5mm audio jack
5-magnet speaker with NXP smart amplifier
FM Radio
Fingerprint scanner
Face Unlock
Android 8.1 Oreo (Stock)
4,000mAh battery
158.41 x 76.28 x 7.7 mm
160 g
