ZenUI is part of Asus' renewed efforts at making an impact on the smartphone market. It accompanies the company's Zenfones and tablets.
Since the inception of the Zenfone series by Asus, the ZenUI has been synonymous with the company. The UI runs on all its smartphones and tablets and adds some handy features, while not hindering the performance of your device.
Pixel Master
Perhaps the biggest element of ZenUI though is Pixel Master, which is Asus’ take on making the best smartphone camera. The company combines software algorithms, hardware and optical design in order to improve the pictures taken by its devices. In fact, the Zenfone 5 is a good example of that, with its 8 MP camera, which is quite good.
On the UI front, Pixel Master offers a Camera app with a number of modes. While the auto mode is the simple point and shoot mode, there’s a separate low light and night mode as well. In addition, you can also use the Beauty Face, Panorama, Selfie, Smart Remove and other modes.
The Selfie Mode for example, allows users to use the rear camera to click selfies. For group selfies, you can choose the number of faces that the camera needs to detect and then point the rear camera at yourself. When the positioning is right, the phone starts beeping and takes a picture automatically.
The Smart Remove mode is also quite useful, allowing you to remove elements from an image after you’ve clicked it. But perhaps none of the features of the Camera App is as interesting as the Time Rewind mode, which lets you click a picture and then go back or forward to the state of things a few seconds before clicking or after clicking.
Other elements
ZenUI wouldn’t be much if it was only about the camera though. There’s more. The What’s Next feature for example, is a very easy way to keep a track of your tasks. It shows you meetings and other tasks in your calendar, like birthdays, meetings etc. The What’s Next widget is placed on your home screen, allowing you to keep a track of things very easily.
ZenUI is also very easy to learn, making it simpler for you to switch from any phone to the Zenfones. The lockscreen includes your dialler, messaging and camera apps, so that you can get to them faster. The What’s Next widget will also appear on the lockscreen so that you don’t have to unlock the phone to get to your schedule. There are also flashlight and file manager apps, which users need often in their phones.
Despite all of the above if you still feel that the UI is complicated, then there’s a solution for that too. Just go into the Settings menu and choose the Easy Mode. This will allow you to put your apps on the home screen and use a much simpler version, without widgets and other features. The UI becomes much easier than it already is and you can add your chosen apps where you want, or access them from the ‘More Apps’ option.
Last but not the least, you can use the battery saver t extend your battery life. Just tap on the Power Saver app and choose from the different modes.
What’s so Zen about it?
ZenUI is easy to learn and use and it is designed to make things easier for you. While ZenUI focuses on functionality, it doesn’t ignore the looks factor either. The colourful icons and notifications dropdown makes it one of the best looking UIs out there. There’s a lot that you can do without going through a lengthy learning process.
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