Asus rolls out Android 13 update for Zenfone 9

TAIPEI: Taiwanese multinational tech company Asus unveiled its official Android 13 update timeline in November. The first device slated to get it was the Zenfone 9, which now has received the new software.

According to GSM Arena, a tech news website, multiple reports from Zenfone 9 owners from a bunch of countries over on Reddit confirm that the rollout is underway.

Unlike other companies, Asus stages its rollouts by serial number, not by country or territory, so it's basically all luck of the draw. However, it might help to manually check for the update.

The new build has the December 5, 2022 security patch level and is labelled WW 33.0804.2060.65.

Even though it occasionally offers some useful features of its own, Asus' ZenUI has stayed quite close to stock Android, especially in terms of appearance. Nothing too custom, though, and the overall feel of the UI is eerily similar to what you'd get on a Pixel, reported GSM Arena.

After updating the software, users will get a quick tutorial mentioning some of the new features. This seems to have been made by Google, but it's impossible to tell for sure.

It highlights the new notification permission, cross-device copy and paste, and increased privacy when it comes to apps' media access, among other things.

As per GSM Arena, the next Asus devices in line to receive the Android 13 update are the Zenfone 8 and Zenfone 8 Flip, which will get it next month.