In field applications, to represent the degree of voltage unbalance, the maximum voltage deviation from the average is preferred to the voltage unbalance factor based on symmetrical component analysis. This paper first clarifies the relationship between the voltage unbalance factor and the maximum deviation factor showing that the maximum deviation factor approximates the voltage unbalance factor under relatively low unbalanced conditions. Several alternative ways of approximation are introduced and examined by comparing with the conventional maximum deviation factor. It appears that these alternatives provide more accurate approximation to the voltage unbalance factor over wider range of voltage unbalance while maintaining simplicity in their formula.