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The ASUS Zenfone 9 and the ROG Phone 6 series were launched this year. The Zenfone 9 was praised as a great overall package thanks to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Chip. The 8+ Gen 1 was based on TSMC’s 4nm fabrication. It was more efficient and powerful and offered better sustained performance with better thermals.
The other highlights are a 120Hz AMOLED screen, 50MP (Primary, OIS)+ 12MP (Ultra wide) dual camera setup that can shoot up to 8K rear videos and can also do 4K on the front. The central selling point for this phone is its compact 5.9″ display size. It caters to people who want a flagship Android phone, crunched down with no gimmicks, to fit into a small form factor.
The display size is probably why ASUS prioritizes the Zenfone 9. The ROG phone 6D that launched this year will still get the Android 13 update, but it hasn’t been made as big a priority as the ASUS Zenfone 9. The ROG 6D was an excellently specced phone with a whopping 165Hz refresh rate and the Dimensity 9000+ SOC, making it a performance beast that’s excellent for gaming and multimedia.
However, the Zenfone 9 seemed to be the better-selling smartphone due to its broader appeal, gaming that was nearly just as good, effective pricing strategy, and focus on an audience that wanted a small phone with most of the latest and greatest.
Asus Android 13 Update
This year’s ASUS Zenfone 9 series and the ROG Phone 6 series will get the update, and so will last year’s ROG Phone 5 and 5S series and the Zenfone 8 series. If you have an older ASUS phone launched in 2020, you won’t get the Android 13 update. For the 2021 models, this is the last major Android update. For the 2022 models, this is the first of two major updates.
The Android 13 Beta program for the Zenfone 9 was announced in August, so the software has been in developer testing for over two months and is nearly ready for a widespread stable launch. ASUS has never been great with update consistency, update cycles, or support length.
They only give two years of updates, which isn’t a lot. Their inconsistency and delays have improved this year since the phones are at least getting official rollout announcements.
Release Timeline for the ASUS Zenfone series
ASUS announced their rollout plans of Android 13 for their phones, and the Zenfone 9 will be the first phone to receive Android 13 in December 2022. Last year’s ASUS Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip will receive the Android 13 update in January 2023. Since the ASUS Zenfone 8 series launched with Android 11, they already got one major update to Android 12. This will be the end of their update cycles, and Android 13 is the last major update they will get.
The ASUS Zenfone 7 and 7 Pro launched with Android 10 already got the Android 12 update. This means their cycles have already ended. These two phones shall not receive Android 13.
ASUS made four gaming phones this year, and the portfolio does look convoluted, with many overlapping phones. To simplify, the ROG Phone 6D and the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate house the Dimensity 9000+ SOC. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 powers the ROG Phone 6 and ROG Phone 6 Pro.
Release Timeline for the ASUS ROG series
The entire ROG Phone 6 lineup will get the Android 13 update sometime in the first Quadrant of 2023. The ROG Phone 5 and ROG Phone 5 Pro are expected to receive the Android 13 update in Q1 2023. The ROG Phone 5S, 5S Pro, and ROG Phone 5 Ultimate are supposedly getting the update in Q2 2023. Users of the ROG Phone 5 should note that the Android 13 update will be the last major update. Their cycle ends with Android 13. The phones launched with Android 11.
Unfortunately, the still capable ROG Phone 3 models will not receive Android 13 since they launched with Android 10. The update cycles for those phones have already ended.
All ASUS users should note that the update isn’t on the first of every month. Also, this update isn’t on the same day for all phones. The update will roll out gradually and in phases. There also may be delays due to technical difficulties.
List of Asus phones that will get Android 13:
- ASUS Zenfone 9: December 2022.
- ASUS Zenfone 8 & Zenfone 8 Flip: January 2023.
- ASUS ROG Phone 6, ROG Phone 6D, ROG Phone 6 Pro, ROG Phone 6 Ultimate: Q1 2023.
- ROG Phone 5 and ROG Phone 5 Pro: Q1 2023.
- ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, ROG Phone 5S, ROG Phone 5S Pro: Q2 2023.
