Asus Zenfone 9: Android 13 beta becomes available for the 2022 compact flagship smartphone

Asus has unveiled an upgrade to Android 13 for its flagship smartphone via its ZenTalk community website...sort of. Then again, the software is not a stable major upgrade so much as it is a public beta. A prospective tester can download it via their new phone's settings.

The Android 13 for Zenfone 9 Beta Program can be accessed via the device's current UI by clicking the little gear icon under the System update page in the System menu in the 9's Settings. This will bring the program's confidentiality agreement up for the user to sign (after reading it first, of course).

That is not the only step, however: the user will have to use their existing Asus Membership (or sign up for one, if necessary) to apply for a place in the program. Should they be successful in this application, they will be sent a link to the beta via email.

The user may then gets to "experience the Android 13 system on ZenFone 9 at the first stage", while critically analyzing it for bugs and reporting the same to Asus' development team. On the other hand, the OEM notes that a 9 on this software will not be able to roll back to Android 12 if necessary without assistance from its official software team.

Nevertheless, this is a potentially encouraging step forward in Asus' track record for Android software updates. Then again, the OEM only seems to have 1 other device in its 13 Beta Program at present, and that is the 9's 2021 8-series predecessor.

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