Asus ZenFone 5Z Gets Improved Camera, June Security Patch, and More With First Major Update

Asus ZenFone 5Z was among the three smartphones that the company launched in its ZenFone 5 lineup in January this year. The ZenFone 5Z, ZenFone 5, and ZenFone 5 Lite were announced with AI-based features, "all-screen" 18:9 displays with 90 percent screen-to-body ratio, dual camera systems, and ZeniMoji. The smartphone went on sale in India for the first time today, and the company is already pushing out the first major update for the Asus ZenFone 5Z. While the firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) update does not bring massive changes, it is claimed to improve a few key functions. To recall, the Asus ZenFone 5Z was launched in the country last week.

As per information shared by Asus in a Zentalk thread, the update with software version 80.11.37.79 is currently available over the air. The company has provided the complete India changelog to Gadgets 360, mentioning the changes in the update. The changes in the latest update include improvements in notification LED, NFC, and secure album. The camera of the ZenFone 5Z has also been upgraded with the latest update. Asus has also fixed the occasional screen flicker problem that would arise after starting or stopping a video recording. It has also enhanced the focus speed during video recording as well as the quality of video calls.

In addition, the update to the Asus ZenFone 5Z comes with the Android security patch for June 5, 2018. Other changes include an improvement in the stability of the operating system and enhanced power management.

The Asus ZenFone 5Z update is available for automatic download. As the latest update will be rolled out via OTA, all ZenFone 5Z smartphones will get the download notification in a few days. Alternatively, you can look for a manual update by going to Settings > System > System updates. You can also try to manually update the firmware by downloading the firmware onto your PC. Now, connect your smartphone with a PC via USB Type-C cable, and copy the ZIP file to the root directory of internal storage of the phone. You will now have to detach the USB Type-C cable from the smartphone to make the notification for firmware update pop up on the status bar. Finally, tap on System Update File Detected and follow steps to update the firmware. More detailed instructions can be found on the Asus forums.

In terms of pricing, the Asus ZenFone 5Z costs Rs. 29,999 for the 6GB RAM and 64GB storage variant, while its 6GB RAM and 128GB storage model carries a price tag of Rs. 32,999 and the top-notch variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage is priced at Rs. 36,999.

To recall the specifications, the dual-SIM (Nano) Asus ZenFone 5Z runs ZenUI 5.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo and features a 6.2-inch full-HD+ (1080x2246 pixels) Super IPS+ display with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, coupled with an Adreno 630 GPU and up to 8GB of RAM. For capturing images and recording videos, there is a dual rear camera setup that includes a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture lens and OIS support and an 8-megapixel OmniVision 8856 sensor along with a fixed focus, f/2.2 aperture lens that has a 120-degree field of view, paired with a single LED flash. The handset also has an 8-megapixel OmniVision 8856 sensor at the front. There is also a Face Unlock feature that leverages the frontal camera sensor to let users conveniently unlock the screen.

Will Asus Zenfone 5Z force OnePlus to slash the price of the OnePlus 6? We discussed that on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.