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ASUS’ focus may be on the newly announced ZenFone 3 lineup of devices, which includes the ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Ultra, and the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, but they still have one eye focused on the older ZenFone 2 lineup and have just started pushing out software updates to the ZenFone 2 Laser and the ZenFone Max, both of which should be receiving updates to Android 6.0 Marshmallow from today. This means that ASUS is living up to their promise of pushing out Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates to a handful of their devices within the time frame they set, which was essentially the start of the Summer.
In total there are three ZenFone devices which should be seeing the updates come through, and this includes the 5-inch and 5.5-inch models of the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser, as well as the ASUS ZenFone Max device. As usual, software updates tend to be staggered so those who own either of these three devices should expect that the software may or may not show up today, and if it doesn’t, there shouldn’t be any worry as it will likely surface on the device before the weekend. Alternatively, users who have the ZenFone 2 Laser 5-inch, or 5.5-inch, or the ZenFone Max, can check the status of the Marshmallow update manually by heading to the settings menu and then scrolling to about phone and tapping on “software updates.”
Since this is Android 6.0 Marshmallow, owners of these three devices can expect all the Marshmalow-specific features like Doze Mode and App Standby, both of which are aimed at helping users save on battery life, as well as Now on Tap, and more granular permissions control so you only have to grant permission to apps once you open them for the first time as opposed to immediately upon installing them. This update also reportedly removes some of ASUS’ own pre-installed applications such as ASUS Email, ASUS, Calendar, and ASUS Messenger. That may only be a few apps, but there is actually a fairly large list of apps which are currently pre-installed that will be getting removed post update, so if nothing else, users can always look forward to a slightly smoother user experience on the device going forward.