ASUS ZenFone 6 Android 10 Update Inspires Some Confidence

ASUS is not a name that would immediately pop up in conversations about smartphones but it has two killer phones this year. The rather eccentric ZenFone 6 puts a new spin, or flip rather, to the popup camera design problem while the ASUS ROG Phone II definitely puts the game in gaming smartphones. But while ASUS has made impressive hardware this year, it has yet to prove it can pull off something similar with software. It may be trying to do exactly that with an Android 10 update rolling out to the ZenFone 6 now.

Things are sadly so bad in the Android update front that companies are given praise for being one of the first few to roll out the latest version, three months after said version was released to the public (longer for OEMs that participated in betas). That's not going to change any time soon so companies might as well bask in the glory.

The ASUS ZenFone 6 is special in more ways than one. Of course, there its flip camera that solves the bezel problem while also removing the need for a front-facing camera entirely. Its high-end 2019 specs and $500 price tag definitely also make it a formidable contender in the smartphone rat race as well. Now, it may have one more thing boast about.

Very few, including flagships from Samsung, officially run Android 10 today. The ASUS ZenFone 6 just joined the thin ranks, which is a bit impressive considering how its Zen UI is notorious for bloatware and modifications. It is, perhaps, more a testament to Android's Project Treble than a U-turn on ASUS' part.

It does spark hope that the company may also show the same attitude towards its other interesting devices, namely the ROG Phones. The first one, launched in 2018, is still on Android 8.0 Oreo while the ROG Phone 2 launched with Android 9.0 Pie. It does have more customizations so it could take more time. If ASUS pulls it off, however, then it might be able to prove that it is, indeed, an Android phone maker to keep an eye on.