Design
By far, the RealMe 1’s biggest highlight is its shiny exterior which might seem like glass but is made out of plastic and a polymer composite material. The Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Zenfone Max Pro (M1), on the contrary, feature a rather traditional aluminum shell. Clearly, the RealMe 1 is the one which will stand out in a crowd especially if you opt for the Diamond Black variant.
Display
The display is one of those aspects which is entirely common among these three. All of them have a 5.99-inch tall screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and 1080p resolution. However, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is the only one to have a Gorilla Glass protection.
Hardware
While the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro and Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M1) are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset, the RealMe 1 has a MediaTek Helio P60. Both of them are octa-core and nearly identical as far as real-world usage is concerned. There’s a 6GB RAM variant available for each of them but the RealMe 1’s highest-end option has 128GB of onboard storage as compared to 64GB on the others. The lowest end model of the RealMe 1, however, comes with 3GB of RAM instead of 4GB. Both the Zenfone Max Pro and RealMe 1 feature a dedicated slot for the MicroSD card slot, while the Redmi Note 5 Pro has a hybrid one. The one key feature which the RealMe 1 completely misses out on is a fingerprint sensor. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro and RealMe 1 are also compatible with Dual 4G VoLTE. The Redmi Note 5 Pro might receive the same in a later update.
Battery
The Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M1) has the longest lasting battery among the three with its 5000mAh pack. The RealMe 1 and the Redmi Note 5 Pro, on the other hand, run on a 3410mAh and 4000mAh battery respectively. Except for the Redmi Note 5 Pro, all of them are incompatible with quick charging.
Software
The feature which is drastically different on all of these three is the software. For starters, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is the one which comes with the most dated version of Android — 7.1. The RealMe 1 and the Zenfone Max Pro run on Android 8.1. The Redmi Note 5 Pro and the RealMe 1 have a custom skin, while the Asus Zenfone Max Pro comes preloaded with stock Android.
Cameras
The Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 and Redmi Note 5 Pro have a dual-camera setup on the rear, whereas the RealMe 1 settles with a single sensor. The Zenfone Max Pro features 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel pair (16-megapixel on the top-end variant). The Redmi Note 5 Pro has a 12-megapixel sensor and a similar secondary snapper. Lastly, the RealMe 1 comes with only a 13-megapixel shooter. On the front, you’ll find a 20-megapixel sensor on the Redmi Note 5 Pro, 8 or 16MP lens on the Zenfone Max Pro M1 and an 8-megapixel camera on the RealMe 1. All of them are capable of producing bokeh effects in your pictures.
The Price
Lastly, the price. The RealMe 1 starts at Rs 8,990 for the base variant (3GB RAM, 32GB storage) and goes all the way up to Rs 13,990 for 6GB RAM, 128GB storage. The Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M1) is priced at Rs 10,999 for the 3GB/32GB variant and Rs 12,999 for the 4GB/64GB variant. The Redmi Note 5 Pro pricing starts at Rs 14,999 for the 4GB/64GB variant while the top of the line 6GB/64GB is priced at Rs 16,999.
