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Through a post on its official forms, Taiwanese technology company AsusTek Computer has announced on Monday, the list of smartphones and tablets that will receive the Marshmallow update. The company has named five devices as being eligible to receive the latest flavor of Android, all of which are currently on Lollipop – either 5.0 or 5.1, as the case may be. The list includes one tablet – the PadFone S (PF500KL) and multiple versions of the four smartphones the company has launched over the past few months this year that includes the current flagship handset of the company, the ZenFone 2 (ZE550ML / ZE551ML), a pricier ‘luxury’ version of the same device dubbed the ZenFone 2 Deluxe / Special Edition (ZE551ML), the laser-autofocus laden ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE500KG / ZE500KL / ZE550KL / ZE600KL / ZE601KL) and the selfie-focussed ZenFone 2 Selfie (ZD551KL). While the company has promised to roll out updates to the aforementioned devices, no ETA has been given for the same.
The one thing that is unclear at this point is whether the list is exhaustive, because there’s no mention of the ZenPad-branded mid-range tablets the company had launched globally only a few months back. Also, the first-generation ZenFones from last year, ZenFone 4, 5 and 6 and their variants, aren’t on the list, which might signal the end of the road for those devices as far as major version updates are concerned. Earlier rumors, however, had suggested that the first-generations ZenFones will get updated to Marshmallow, albeit, at a later date. The devices have already received two major version updates thus far, and are currently on Lollipop, having originally been launched with Jelly Bean. While the KitKat update was rolled out to those devices last year itself, the handsets got their first taste of Lollipop earlier this year.
One thing to remember however, is that the list given may not be exhaustive, seeing as the ZenPad tablets released just a few months earlier, are not on the list. It remains to be seen if Asus will drop support for the devices so soon after bringing them to the market, or if it will add the tablets to the list at some stage in the future. Also waiting with bated breath will be owners of last year’s ZenFones, to see if Asus eventually decides to roll out Marshmallow for their devices as well. Either way, it will also be interesting to note how long it will take for Asus to roll out the Marshmallow updates to all users globally.