Asus released its first Gaming Phone last year – Asus ROG Phone. Overall, the hardware of the device was pretty good, but software was whole another story. No, it wasn’t too bad or anything, but it was surely outdated. While several devices were having Android 9 Pie, Asus ROG Phone was launched with Android 8.1 Oreo. And now, Asus ROG Phone is finally receiving the Android Pie update when other devices are receiving Android 10.
This new update arriving on Asus ROG Phone has the model number – v16.0410.1910.91. Making the situation even worse is that the update is still being rolled out in stages meaning every device won’t be receiving this update straightaway. I don’t mind staged rollouts as such, and I understand why brands prefer staged rollouts. But it’s already over a year after the Android 9 was initially announced and that makes this a worse situation.
Here’s the complete changelog:
- Upgraded system to Android P
- Removed Page Marker, ZeniMoji, Report Location in Safeguard, weather animation setting, AI Charging
- Removed the Yandex cloud operation of File Manager application
- Upgraded Game Center to Armoury Crate with whole new design
- Added “Adaptive brightness”, “Adaptive Battery”, “New notifications”, “Status bar icon manager”, “Screen recorder”, and “Local backup” in Settings
- Upgraded Game Genie panel with new design and features
- Added Android P “Swipe up on Home button” gesture
- Support 24-hour forecast in Weather application
- Revamped Mobile Manager, Contacts, File Manager, Calculator, Clock, Gallery, and Weather applications
- Redesigned volume control panel
Well, with the current situation, it makes me wonder about the update cycles on the Asus ROG Phone 2. It’s a good device and it was launched at a competitive price in India – at ₹37,999. But if the update cycles aren’t good, then it’ll be a tough sell due to the competition.
