[Update: Feb. 04] ZenFone 5Z Android 11 & ZenUI 7 under evaluation; ZenFone 6 won't get bouncy UI effects & force HDR+

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on September 12, 2020) follows:

The Asus ZenFone 5Z was an excellent smartphone, however, the OnePlus 6 overshadowed the device. It launched with Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box and recently picked up its second major update which was the update to Android 10.

Android 10 also brought along the company’s custom skin dubbed ZenUI 6. And as expected, ZenFone 5Z users were greeted with a host of new features and improvements over the previous Android Pie update.

That said, taking into account past update cycles for Asus smartphones, Android 10 is expected to be the last major Android update for the device. Traditionally, Asus only pushes two major Android version updates for its smartphones.

Therefore, since the ZenFone 5Z launched with Android 8.0 Oreo and picked up the Android 9 Pie update as well as the update to Android 10, it’s highly unlikely that Asus will release Android 11 alongside ZenUI 7 for the device.

Of course, many users aren’t staying silent and are demanding Asus release Android 11 or ZenUI 7 for the device. And ZenFone 5Z user asking for the same got an interesting reply from an Asus mod.

The Asus mod responded to the user by stating that the ZenUI 7 and Android 11 update for the device is still under evaluation. We’ve added the moderator’s exact response below:

For ZS620KL, ZenUI 7 and Android 11 are still under evaluation.

This does give some hope that Asus may consider rolling out the Android 11 and ZenUI 7 update for the ZenFone 5Z. However, if the 2 update logic is to be followed, the device isn’t eligible for Android 11.

But considering that Asus is even evaluating bringing Android 11 and ZenUI 7 to the ZenFone 5Z is a good start. That said, while the ZenFone 5Z may not get Android 11, its successor, the ZenFone 6 is eligible for the update.

Moreover, the Android 11 update is expected to bring some new features that were introduced with the ZenFone 7. But certain other features will not be present in the upcoming update for the device.

According to an Asus moderator, the ‘bouncy UI effects’ will be left out from the update. Further, the mod claims that the camera application will not get any new features such as the ones found on the ZenFone 7 like the force HDR+ option and more.

We’ve broken up the moderator’s response in relevant sections that you can check out below:

We’re also not going to add any bouncy UI effects. That’s not our way.

Same thing with force HDR. The normal HDR function won’t necessarily result in a better image and we want to have as few buttons/options as possible for a cleaner UI. This question has already been discussed and considered many times but the conclusion is that it won’t happen.

We’re definitely going to do some of the stuff you want but I can already now say that the camera features won’t change. ZF7 and ZF6 camera are not the same so the code base is different. Meaning that we can’t just lift over features like pro video mode from ZF7.

This means that while the ZenFone 6 will get Android 11, it will not come with all the new features that were introduced with its successor — the ZenFone 7. That said, the update will bring several new features thus users should look forward to it.

Unfortunately, we do not have an ETA for the rollout of Android 11 for the device. So stay tuned to our dedicated tracker to know when the company begins seeding the new Android version on any of its devices.

Several months later, Asus is still evaluating the possibilities of upgrading the ZenFone 5Z to the latest Android 11 OS, as per a recent comment by a ZenTalk forum mod.

Hi there, for 5z, ZenUI 7 and Android 11 are still under evaluation.

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