The Asus ZenFone 3 line was appreciated for the features and build quality but the price was a bit high for the average user. The king of the hill was the ZenFone Ultra 3, a massive device that was almost on par with a tablet, offering a giant 6.80-inch display that is able to beautifully render video content.
Upon release the device arrived with Android 6 Marshmallow. Asus offered several small updates for the device and one major OS update that brought Android 7 Nougat.
Some users thought that another major update seemed unlikely but Asus may have something else in mind. The Wi-Fi Alliance recently certified a version of the device that uses Android 8.1.
It is likely that this is the last major update planned for the device. Those that dream of an official Android Pie update will be disappointed since the chances are quite slim. The update should be rolled out in the following weeks but some time will pass until is available globally.
Here are some of the features offered by Android Oreo:
The device will be able boot faster.
Background app activity will be limited in order to increase battery life and performance.
A new Autofill feature will automatically enter your data when an app requires you to sign-in.
A new Picture-in-Picture mode will allow you to do two things at the same. For example, you could be hold a normal video call conversation and send a text message at the same time.
The new notification dots will allow you to quickly view notifications and swipe them away when done.
A new accessibility button will allow users to quickly access functions like magnification directly from the task bar.
Notification can now be snoozed for a limited time period.
Asus may release a few additional security updates in the future. The update will be available via OTA once the release window begins.