Asus ZenFone 9 starts to upgrade to Android 13 worldwide

Asus launched its Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1-based 'mini' (well, compared to the ROG Phone 6 series at least) ZenFone 9 flagship in July 2022. It debuted with Android 12 out of the box, but has only just now officially upgraded to Android 13.

The latest addition to the ZenFone family has technically had this newest version of Android since August 2022, albeit as a public beta and not a stable release. Now, however, Asus has quietly added a new release post to the device's official community forum. Then again, despite the fast the ROM is now out of beta, the OEM concedes that it might be buggy with some third-party apps.

Nevertheless, many ZenFone 9 owners might appreciate the new Quick Settings that give the option to switch to small circles for pull-down menu items rather than the large tiles from Android 12. Asus also claims that this new 33.0804.2060.65 firmware will make the 9 more private and secure with improved per-app permission options and media-sharing controls.

The new OTA also introduces cross-device copy-and-paste to the ZenFone 9, updates its media player and "adjusts" its haptics settings. The smartphone's series has been perceived as having a record of relatively clean Android installs; however, this update adds "Asus customization preferences setting" as well as a "revamp" for a whole list of first-party apps.

Asus indicates that this upgrade is available to ZenFone 9 units both inside and outside the EU, which is backed up by reports of its OTA popping up for users in the US as well as other countries such as Romania. Then again, its roll-out might prove a little erratic, as the OEM tends to push updates by serial number rather than market.

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