Asus Zenfone 5Z is one of the most competitive mid-range phones available in India as of now. For a starting price of Rs 29,999, the 5Z offers Snapdragon 845 octa-core chipset, ample amount of good quality RAM and Storage, intuitive software, and reasonably good camera performance.
But you probably know all that by now. In case you are planning to buy the new Asus Flagship or have already bought it, here are a few things you can try to make the most of the Zenfone 5Z.
Also Read: Asus Zenfone 5Z Full Review with Pros and Cons
13 Cool Zenfone 5Z (Zen UI 5.0) Tricks
1. Customize Zenfone 5Z Display
There are a numerous display customization options available in ZenUI 5.0.
Select display Gamut: Go to Settings>>Display>> Splendid. From here, you can choose Wide Color gamut in ‘Color Mode’ if you prefer vibrant and oversaturated colors or standard if you’d like recessed colors.
Auto color temperature: Although we are already quite satisfied with the default white point of the Zenfone 5Z screen, you can anyways turn ‘Auto color temperature’ option on to further ensure that the display is light on your eyes with a change in ambient lighting conditions.
Hide the notch: If the notch isn’t your thing, you can go to settings>>display and ‘Hide the notch’.
Turn on Smart Screen: Smart Screen is an alleged AI-feature that keeps the display awake while you are looking at it, even if you haven’t touched or interacted with the display for the set sleep time.
2. Use Face Unlock To View Notifications On Lock Screen
Apart from Unlocking your phone, you can put the Face Unlock on Zenfone 5Z to another good use.
On most Android phones, you have to choose between showing your notifications on the lock screen or not (or to hide sensitive information). With the Zenfone 5Z, you can turn on the option to show notifications only when the phone detects your face. This is convenient and secure at the same time.
3. Tap on the status bar to expand it
The Zenfone 5 has a wide notch, which means there is even lesser space to view system and app notifications. Also, status bar and system icons lay randomly in the available space.
To check for important system settings or icons of Apps that are pushing notifications, you can simply tap anywhere on the Status bar to Unfurl it. You can also swipe down on the fingerprint sensor on the rear to pull down the notification shade.
4. Camera Tricks
Portrait Mode – The Zenfone 5Z has excellent portrait modes for both front and rear cameras. You can open portrait mode by tapping the icon in the top bar as shown in the image above.
Pin a mode: Most of us shoot in Auto mode. However, if you frequently switch to any another shooting mode like the Pro mode, Beauty Mode, or the GIF mode, you can pin that to your viewfinder by long pressing the mode icon.
Beautify in video calls – Just open the Selfie Master app in the app drawer and you can use live beautification in video calls and in live videos you make on popular third-party apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Whatsapp.
Make GIFs – Asus Zenfone 5Z also has a GIF mode that you can use to shoot expressive GIFs. You can drag different modes out by swiping on the left edge of the viewfinder.
5. Run dual apps on Zenfone 5Z
Like most custom interfaces today, the ZenUI 5.0 also has the option to run dual apps. Just go to Settings>> Advanced>> Twin Apps.
Just toggle on the apps that you wish to use with two separate accounts and separate icons will be added for the same.
6. One Hand Mode on Zenfone 5Z
To operate Zenfone 5Z comfortably using just one hand, you can also turn on the ‘One hand mode’.
To do so, go to Settings>>Additional Features and scroll down to ‘One hand mode’ and turn it on. Once toggled on, you can simply tap on the home button twice to switch to One hand mode. You can then resize it and drag it to the left or the right edge (by using the title bar).
Alternately, you can also use quick settings tile to switch to one hand mode.
7. Gestures on Zenfone 5Z
To access gestures on Zenfone 5Z, you can access Zenmotions from Settings>>Additional settings. You will also find the fingerprint gesture option in the same menu.
Here, you will find options to wake and turn off the screen with double and swipe, and you can also turn on options to draw letters on the lock screen to wake and launch particular apps directly. For instance, you can turn on ‘Draw ‘C’ to launch camera’ and straight away jump to shooting images (without even unlocking the phone).
8. Recent Apps Key to fire multi-windows and to take screenshot
With ZenUI 5.0, you can use the recent apps key to launch multi-window or to capture a screenshot as well.
The option is hidden deep in settings. Go to Settings>>Advanced and look for ‘Screenshot’ option under ‘Quick Actions’. Now tap on ‘Recent Apps Key’ and decide what you need it to do.
9. AI Features
AI is currently one of the most used phrases in the tech domain and Asus too bundles a slew of AI features in the ZenUI 5.0. Now, the propriety regarding the use of the ‘AI’ phrase is debatable, but a couple of these features are quite useful.
You can access all AI features in one place from Settings>>Advanced>>AI features. You can use Optiflex option to program certain apps, the ones you frequently use, to open up faster. AI charging can be used for safer overnight charging and for safer, slower charging when your battery already has enough juice in the tank.
10. Access Battery Profiles
Asus Zenfone 5Z comes with different battery profiles that you can smartly use to extend your mileage. If you have unknowingly switched to a power saving profile and are experiencing networks being disabled after your phone’s display sleeps, you can fix it from here by switching to ‘Normal’ profile.
To better manage battery performance, go to Settings>> Battery>> Power Master. From here, you can access battery modes. You can also access battery modes from quick settings.
11. Zenimoji
And yes, the Asus Zenfone 5Z also has Zenimojis, which are Asus’ version of animojis or AR emojis. You can access Zenimojis from a separate app.
They don’t work too well, but you can still use them to create animated stickers of your choice that you can later use across different messaging and other apps. You can also add Zenimoji’s to the phone dial pad background (Open Phone app>> Settings>> personalization).
12. Access Call recordings on Zenfone 5Z
You can record calls from the dial screen on the Zenfone 5Z. And to access these recorded calls, open the Phone app (dialer). Now tap on the tripled dot menu on top right and select call recordings.
13. Gaming mode on Zenfone 5Z
If you are into gaming, ZenUI 5.0 also has an elaborate gaming mode. From here, you can decide the apps in which you wish to use the gaming toolbar, apps where you wish to live stream your games and more.
The gaming toolbar expands from a button in the navigation bar and has quite a few handy options. You can turn on and manage Game Genie from Settings>> Advanced.
13 Cool Zenfone 5Z Hidden Features, Useful Tips, and Tricks
These are some of the best ZenUI 5.0 features that you should know. The new ZenUI is quite convenient to navigate and you won’t have much trouble finding particular options that you are looking for. If there is something we missed, share the wisdom with us in the comment section below.
Also Read: Best Zenfone 5Z Cases, back covers, and tempered glasses.
Is there any option to display network speed on status bar in 5Z.