Asus' ZenFone 3 Max gets the ZenUI 4.0 update it was promised

Asus‘ attention in the smartphone space might be mostly on its ZenFone 4 series, but the company has not forgotten about the ZenFone 3 series, namely the ZenFone 3 Max. Today, the Taiwanese company announced it has kept its promise and update the battery-focused smartphone to ZenUI 4.0.

As a recap, ZenUI 4.0 is ASUS’ Android skin that hopes to shed some of the bloat from previous iterations. When ASUS first announced ZenUI 4.0 back in August, the company said it brought the number of pre-installed apps down from 35 on ZenUI 3.5 to 13. The updated Android skin does have Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram pre-installed, but there were likely to be downloaded anyway.

ASUS also touted ZenUI 4.0’s speed gains relative to previous iterations, with performance gains ranging from 34 to 61 percent compared to ZenUI 3.5.

The company’s newest Android skin does bring some new features, such as Twin Apps, which lets you have two social media accounts on one device, and Page Marker, which is a bookmarks app. There is also a new Game Genie mode that increases performance and macro creation, a gallery app that somehow uses AI, and a visual overhaul.

Do not confuse this with the Android Oreo update, however. ASUS says that will make its way to the ZenFone 4 and ZenFone 3 series by the second half of 2018, which is a bit baffling. By then, Android P will have been a thing, at least in preview form, so I’m not sure what ASUS is playing at with such a generous deadline.

ASUS says that ZenUI 4.0 for the ZenFone 3 Max will be rolling out to devices during the next week. As such, don’t freak out if you don’t see it available for your device yet.