Asus no longer lets you unlock the bootloader of your Zenfone
- YUKI93
- K1F
- 18 Aug 2023
Sony might not give unlocked bootloader out of the box, but they still allow you to do it yourself in the first place. There's even tutorials for it on Sony's official Open Device website page.
If this move translates to longer first-party software support, i.e three or four OS update, then I don't mind. But if ASUS maintains their current two OS update policy, then I'm not sure if this is a welcome move.
- Z
- Zpy
- 0fw
- 16 Aug 2023
Anonymous, 09 Aug 2023Not necessarily, sorry to say but your understanding is out... moreHonestly most updates have been making things worse, and most of what I do with root is bring back features android has taken away. If I could use a phone with Android 9 with updated security patches I'd take it over 13.
- P
- Phone Critic
- gIP
- 11 Aug 2023
Anonymous, 07 Aug 2023Rising warranty is different then software support. Electro... moreI dont have a Asus Phone, my Concern is, bootloader is mandatory for Phones (Huawei excluded), i want to Put Custom ROM and Features on my Phone and make him the best possible Thing to Play with it
My POCO F4 has 51 Custom ROMs that are updated Latest Software and it Shows Capability of These Phones that they deserve Something Like that, what Asus is doing making alot of People Angry (me included) give me a Oppoturnity for Modding your Device how i want and dont restrict me like i would Break the Software entirely
- D
- AnonD-454049
- X@K
- 10 Aug 2023
Anonymous, 09 Aug 2023Not necessarily, sorry to say but your understanding is out... morenot just adaway - you also have microg which allows one to minimise google's data collection and still let's you use google apps, overclocking and/or undervolting, adding features with magisk/xposed modules etc.
- S
- SuperSpruce
- 0Y6
- 10 Aug 2023
AnonD-454049, 09 Aug 2023locked bootloaders is a security feature but yes I agree th... moreI should've said un-unlockable bootloaders instead of locked bootloaders, but yeah.
- D
- AnonD-454049
- X@K
- 09 Aug 2023
SuperSpruce, 09 Aug 2023Locked bootloaders genuinely should be illegal (unlike most... morelocked bootloaders is a security feature but yes I agree that unlocking it should not void warranty on samsung phones. samsung is stupid.
- D
- AnonD-454049
- X@K
- 09 Aug 2023
MRSTEK, 09 Aug 2023This is because they only work on Pixel devices, Pixels are... moreno one asked
- z
- zoro6
- rpW
- 09 Aug 2023
MRSTEK, 09 Aug 2023This is because they only work on Pixel devices, Pixels are... morelooks like you're not used to modding, most if not all android phones that can be unlocked can be relocked, i tried with 3 brands already.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 39x
- 09 Aug 2023
Anonymous, 09 Aug 2023If it's true, it will be a teribble decisions .. Asus ... moreOn top of that, their UI has strange bugs not found in any other phones in my experience. Unskilled software developers
- ?
- Anonymous
- fI%
- 09 Aug 2023
If it's true, it will be a teribble decisions .. Asus track record on bugs fixing with software update are not good ..
- ?
- Anonymous
- nU2
- 09 Aug 2023
Anonymous, 08 Aug 2023They're correlated things, having few OS updates offic... moreNot necessarily, sorry to say but your understanding is outdated. Yes, there was a time when a major aim of unlocking bootloader would be to get latest Android. Today though, it's hard to tell apart android 12, 13 and 14. None genuinely cares about having latest Android. What matters is a bug free, stable OS that just works. Unfortunately, everyone keeps talking about number of updates and how many years they'll be updated, rather than quality of each update. None talks about how many bugs are fixed or how much improvement is made in one update.
I think the a far more important, or maybe the most important aim of bootloader unlocking is to root and install adaway.
- M
- MRSTEK
- PWc
- 09 Aug 2023
AnonD-454049, 08 Aug 2023incorrect. You can relock bootloaders after you reinstall s... moreThis is because they only work on Pixel devices, Pixels are special.
- S
- SuperSpruce
- ILu
- 09 Aug 2023
Locked bootloaders genuinely should be illegal (unlike most other calls for stuff like 2MP cameras lol). You buy the phone, so you should get to do whatever to it.
This move promotes planned obsolescence and people should be more aware of this.
- D
- AnonD-454049
- XRx
- 08 Aug 2023
bhikaru, 08 Aug 2023there's policy with this thing, after you unlock bootl... moreincorrect. You can relock bootloaders after you reinstall stock rom and even on some custom roms like grapheneos and calyxos. not sure about samsung phones though.
- J
- James
- 3JL
- 08 Aug 2023
One day android will be iphone,
- ?
- Anonymous
- TRB
- 08 Aug 2023
Anonymous, 08 Aug 2023The article is about not being able to unlock bootloader, b... moreThey're correlated things, having few OS updates officially make enthusiasts eager to go for unlocking bootloader, rooting and third party software (best known as custom ROMs for years), as in this way they can update the OS to as new as they can, once the phone can afford, and not limited to the companies' official update decisions.
- A
- Anon
- JHM
- 08 Aug 2023
That's really disappointing...
- ?
- Anonymous
- nU2
- 08 Aug 2023
Main problem with Zenfone is poor software quality which is full of bugs. Don't be deceived by the fact that the UI looks stock, Asus tries to make add Samsung like UI features but introduces bugs in that process. They don't have Samsung's expertise. All these bugs have been reported into Asus forums and they fixed almost nothing. Now inability to unlock bootloader has been added to that. The phones remain expensive. This is absolutely unacceptable.
I'll suggest getting a Poco F5, it's cheaper, bootloader unlockable, better display, no pointless 128gb and obviously has much better custom ROM support.