Both Blender and 3ds Max have ok polyreduction tools. I'd wager that blender may still be slightly better, but that's just a guess, because I've seen people mention blender's tools, and not so much 3Ds Max's. As for zbrush, what do you mean by importing smooth polys? Do you mean all the edges export as sharp? In which case…
is it possible to reduce it just with 3ds max or blender? which one has better polyreduction quality? issue with zbrush is it doesnt import smooth polys