How to Root Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL and Install TWRP Recovery

If you are an owner of a Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL smartphone, and also want to customize this rugged smartphone, then you have visited the right page.

The Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL is the budget device from a premium brand, Asus Computers Inc. The device is designed offers the ‘Ultimate Energy’, thanks to the whopping 5000mAh battery, which makes it boundless without letting the device goes dry. The device comes with 3 variants, with Snapdragon 3140 processor, Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB and 3GB of RAM (each). The device supports 4G VoLTE, making it fully compatible with the Reliance Jio 4G VoLTE. Under the beautiful frame, a 5000 mAh battery is fitted, which is a lithium-polymer battery to deliver the longer backup of up to 38 days of standby time, as claimed by the company.

The company rates the phone to provide up to 37.6 hours of 3G/4G Web browsing, up to 32.5 hours of WiFI web browsing, and 22.6 hours of video playback. ASUS ZenFone Max can also act as a power bank, using which other devices can be charged. On the back side of the device, there is a 13 megapixels ultra-fast laser auto-focus camera, with f/2.0 aperture lens to capture the stunning quality pictures without zero shutter lag. The low-light mode in the phone, is industry’s leading, thanks to the ASUS Pixelmaster technology, who can forget ASUS Zenfone 5 and ASUS Zenfone 2? Yeah!?. The low-light mode captures the up to 400% brighter photos at night in low light, without flash.

It’s worth mentioning here that the Zenfone Max uses the Toshiba camera sensor, and further provided with Blue Glass Filter and Dual-LED Real Tone Flash. The Zenfone Max has the metal-effect bezel, which makes it look sharp and makes it fit into the pocket easily. The embossed leather finish at the back cover makes it beautiful, and provides the great tactility for the added grip, making it a desirable aesthetic. A 64-bit Qualcomm 650 processor powers the device, along with up to 3GB of RAM, and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The device supports LTE Cat4 150Mbps VoLTE, while the 3 Satellite GPS navigation systems are supported by the device.

If you are an Android Enthusiast, and want to Root and Install TWRP recovery on your beloved, then you have landed on the right page. In the due course of the article, we will guiding you through the process to install TWRP and root Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL.

The TWRP features the material design, and attractive user interface (UI), and by following this guide you can install latest TWRP for Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL. You can download TWRP Recovery from the links provided in the pre-requisite section of this article. Kindly note that this is a official TWRP recovery and is only for Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL (Kindly confirm the model by going to Settings>About). The process given below is merely for rooting and installing TWRP on Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL, do not try out this method on any other device.

If you want to unleash the full potential of the hardware of your Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL, then rooting and flashing the TWRP is the main concern. The Stock ROMs have often limited and unsupported features in the sense of Customization. When you have a rooted device and also flashed TWRP recovery, then you are free to install any Custom ROMs, Mods, Kernel, and Xposed etc., as well as many apps which requires root access to work properly.

Brief Details and Advantage of TWRP Recovery

TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project) is an open source, community development project. By flashing the TWRP, your device will be enabled to install any custom firmware, rooting your smartphone, mod zip files for customizations, Xposed Modules for customized features, one click root and unroot processes. Apart from that, it allows you to take Full Nandroid Backup and restore it later, one click image file flashing, remove bloatware, overclock and underclock. Using TWRP, one can easily clean Wipe, Cache and Data after flashing any image file to reflect the changes and rectify minor errors due to cache.

For installing the TWRP, your Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL phone must have the Unlocked bootloader. That means you have to firstly unlock the bootloader to root your device as well doing any customization.

Disclaimer: The AndroidWeblog.com covers although everything in a very neat and a processed manner so that our readers get exactly what they want, still there are meager chances of basic issues that may arise out of the listed steps here. Hence it is in sole interest of the user to follow the steps very cautiously so as to stay away from any mishappenings with your device.

Rooting and flashing the Custom ROM firmware, certainly without any doubt voids your devices warranty and AndroidWeblog.com in no way will be held responsible for warranty void or your bricked device.

Prerequiste

Ensure to check your model number, which must be:

• Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL

You must have to ensure that prior to rooting your phone , you have read thoroughly the disclaimer and you agree to proceed further on your risk.

• Phone Should be Charged

Your phone must be 70% charged atleast else, it may lead to complications sometimes while experimenting. Why to take risk, try to charge it fully.

• Back Up

If you are either going to root your phone or install a Custom ROM, it is a good habit to make a back up of your phone. Make a back up of all your media like images, videos and all on your PC and your contacts on Cloud.

• Enable USB Debugging

You must enable USB debugging option by going in to Settings, Applications and Developer options.

Downloads For Rooting Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL

Download ADB Setup from here

Download Android USB Drivers from here

Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot from here

Download ASUS Bootloader and Unlock Tool for 8939 device from here

Download TWRP Recovery 3.1.1 for Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL from here

Download SuperSU by Chainfire from here.

Steps to Flash/ Install TWRP on Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL

Step 1: Assuming you have already downloaded the adb and Android USB Drivers, and minimal ADB and Fastboot on your PC. The tools contains the required adb and fastboot binaries.

Step 2: Now, install the Asus Bootloader unlock (.apk), as provided in the prerequisite section above, as a normal app. This is mandatory in order to root unlock the bootloader of the device (Just keep following the on-screen messages).

Step 3: Now boot the device into the CSC Mode (fastboot/bootloader), by pressing and holding the Volume UP+Power keys together. Now, connect device to the computer.

Note: If Developer Settings and USB Debugging settings are already enabled on your device, as suggested in Prerequisite section, then simply skip the Step 3 and Step 4, and follow Step 5 directly.

Step 3: Now, enable the developer settings on your Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL Device. To achieve the same, just navigate to the Settings -> About and then find the ‘Build Number ‘, and then tap on ‘Build Number’ for 7 times, this will enable the developer settings on your device.

Step 4: If you have USB Debugging already, then skip this step. If you have not, then open the Developer Options and then enable USB debugging option.

Step 5: Now, open the command prompt in minimal ADB and fastboot Terminal, and simply type the command:

fastboot devices

Now, hit enter on the keyboard, and it should display the serial number of the device. If in case the serial number is not displaying, then USB drivers are not correctly installed.

Step 6: Now, enter this command:

fastboot flash recovery

after running the above command, press ‘SPACE’ key on the keyboard, and then drag the ‘Custom Recovery/ TWRP’ image to the Minimal ADB Window, press enter. This should have started the flashing process, and it will take few moments to complete the process.

Step 7: After flashing the TWRP, your have to boot your device into the recovery mode, press Volume Down+Power Button, and allow the device to boot into home screen.

Step 8: As soon as the TWRP flash process gets completed, follow the same process to file the ROOT file immediately.

Important Note: If you skip to flash the root file, then your device may encounter a bootloop. If there is a password prompt displayed, as reported by some users, then simply ignore it and flash the root.

Congratulations, now you have rooted Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL and also flashed the TWRP. Now, you can install Xposed Framework, and customize your smartphone as per your preference. If you wish to verify, you may download and check the Root Status through Root Checker app.

Credits: jide1

Source: XDA