The wait for Asus owners to see Android Marshmallow come to their devices trudges on but it looks like next quarter is the light at the end of the tunnel. According to a post made in the Asus Zen Talk user forums, a long list of devices are expected to see the Android 6.0 update in Q2 2016. That means really anytime from April through to the end of June. Yes that’s a big window but it is at least a target and it is likely, given the number of devices they plan to update, Asus will roll them out over the entire quarter.
In the post, Asus indicates that the following devices will see the Marshmallow update in Q2:
- PadFone S (PF500KL)
- ZenFone 2 (ZE550ML, ZE551ML)
- ZenFone 2 Deluxe (ZE551ML)
- ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition (ZE551ML)
- ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE500KG, ZE500KL, ZE550KL, ZE551KL, ZE600KL, ZE601KL)
- ZenFone Selfie (ZD551KL)
- ZenFone Max (ZC550KL)
Asus ZenFone 2
- ZenFone Zoom (ZX551ML)
That’s a reasonable swath of the Asus lineup which is great to see as some other manufactures have been a bit more selective in which devices they update.
Another interesting note in the post is that Asus will be replacing their calendar, email and messenger apps built into the apps with those from Google.
Google Messenger, Calendar, and Gmail apps will automatically be included with the Android M update. These apps will replace three ZenUI apps—ASUS Messenger, ASUS Mail and ASUS Calendar—as the default apps in the Android M version of ZenUI if you restore to factory settings after the update.
Asus notes users can download the Asus apps from the Google Play Store should they want them still.
This standardizing on Google apps is great to see as it gives users a more Android-the-way-Google-intended-it experience.
