Asus ZenPad S 8.0 receives Android Marshmallow

Asus was never fast when delivering firmware updates or new drivers and utilities for its hardware products, but is always great to see they do such things, even after a not-so-short delay. The Asus ZenPad S 8.0 made its debut last summer as one of the few 2K Android tablets on the market. Back then, it launched with Android 5.0 Lollipop on board. Now, the users of this quite capable slate finally get Android Marshmallow.

This tablet has good specs even today, as it features a quad-core Intel Atom Z3560 or Z3580 processor, 2 GB or 4 GB RAM, up to 64 GB internal storage, and even a USB Type-C 1.0 reversible connector. The models that receive the update are Z580CA and Z580C, but there is no OTA notification to wait for. The firmware is only available for manual download and, in addition to the usual Marshmallow features, it eliminates a long list of bloatware. Programs like Clean Master, Free Games, PhotoFrame, Puffin Browser, Yahoo Shopping, or Zinio should now be downloaded separately now by those who need them.

Android Marshmallow does not support APP2SD, unfortunately, so apps should be moved back to the internal storage before updating. The usual Android 6.0 features are all included - Google Now on Tap, Doze mode, granular app permissions, new emojis, a rich set of minor tweaks, fixes, and security patches. Please check the video below for a quick installation guide.