There's no nice way to say this, ASUS has a history bloated software and taking too much time with updates. I imported and owned the monstrous (and glorious) Zenfone 3 Ultra and my only real complaints with the device were the amount of pre-installed garbage and how slowly it got the Nougat update. It took me a full hour when I was setting up the device to turn off all the duplicate features and applications.
According to Android Police, ASUS will be rectifying that. With its ZenUI 4.0 — launching with the Zenfone 4 series and coming later to the Zenfone 3 series — Asus will be cutting down on pre-installed applications significantly. ZenUI 3.5 currently includes 35 pre-installed applications, while ZenUI 4.0 will only include 13. The company also states certain apps will get some percentage faster but did not quantify those measurements.
ASUS also confirmed the entire Zenfone 3 and Zenfone 4 series would be upgraded to Android 8.0, though the company states its goal is to have all devices upgraded by the second half of 2018. That's about the time Android P will be launching, so ASUS isn't going to break any speed records with these updates.
As for Zenfone 4 itself, the device is supposed to feature a dual camera system common on most late 2017 flagships. Asus has not hinted at availability for the Zenfone 4. Sadly, it also appears for now there won't be a Zenfone 4 Ultra.
Is ASUS making the right moves here, or do we need to wait and see? Shout out in the comments!
