ASUS says it's cutting the bloat and boosting the speed with ZenUI 4.0

Alongside the six new Zenfone 4 smartphones that Asus launched during its event in Taiwan, the company also announced ZenUI 4.0, its latest Android skin that will make its debut in the Zenfone 4 series.

Previous ZenUI versions were known for their bloatware, and though it did not generally affect a phone’s performance, it’s not as if we were thrilled to see so much of it. ASUS hopes to change that with ZenUI 4.0, which brings the number of pre-installed apps down from 35 on ZenUI 3.5 to 13. In addition to those 13 apps, ZenUI 4.0 also has Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram pre-installed, though those are three apps the majority of folks will likely download anyway.

ASUS also touts ZenUI 4.0’s speed boost when it comes to app usage, with boosts ranging from 34 to 61 percent relative to ZenUI 3.5. In addition to the performance gains, ZenUI 4.0 features Twin Apps, which lets you have two social media accounts on one device, and Page Marker, which is a bookmarks app. I’m not really sure why ASUS would make a separate bookmarks app, but to each their own.

After debuting on the Zenfone 4 range of devices, ZenUI 4.0 will head to the Zenfone 3 series, though specific dates were not given. The Zenfone 3 and 4 series will also get updated to Android O, with gradual roll-out expected to be completed by the second half of 2018.