ASUS ROG Phone is finally getting updated to Android 9 Pie

ASUS is rolling out the first major OS upgrade for the ROG Phone nearly 16 months after its announcement.

What you need to know

• After a long wait, ASUS has finally released the Android Pie update for the original ROG Phone.
• ASUS had launched the phone in July last year with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.
• In addition to the usual Android Pie goodies, the update brings a few minor UI changes as well.

ASUS began recruiting Android 10 beta testers for its ROG Phone 2 earlier this month, just days after rolling out the stable Android 10 update for the ZenFone 6/6Z. The first-generation ROG Phone, however, has been stuck on Android 8.1 Oreo ever since its launch in July last year. Fortunately, ASUS today finally announced the rollout (via XDA Developers) of the stable Android 9 Pie update for the gaming smartphone.

The Android 9 Pie update for the ROG Phone is arrives as version 16.0410.1910.91 and comes with several minor tweaks and UI enhancements. ASUS says the update will be pushed to different serial numbers by batches, so most ROG Phone owners may have to wait at least a few days before they receive the major update.

To check for the update manually, you can open the Settings app on your phone and tap on 'System Updates' under System. Along with all the Android Pie features, the update comes with new Armoury Crate gaming hub, upgraded Game Genie panel with new features, support for 24-hour forecast in the Weather app, redesigned volume control panel, and a few revamped apps. Here's the full changelog:

• Upgraded system to Android P
• Removed Page Marker, ZeniMoji, Report Location in Safeguard, weather animation setting, AI charging
• Removed the Yandex cloud opetion of File Manager Application
• Upgraded Game Center to Armoury Crate with whole new design
• Added "Adaptive brightness", "Adaptive Battery", "New notifications", "Status bar icon manager", "Screen recorder", and "Local backup" in Settings
• Upgraded Game Genie panel with new design and features
• Added Android P "Swipe up on Home button" gesture
• Support 24-hour forecast in Weather application
• Revamped Mobile Manager, Contacts, File Manager, Calculator, Clock, Gallery, and Weather applications
• Redesigned volume control panel following Android P

ASUS ROG Phone 2

$900 at Amazon

Powered by a Snapdragon 855+ chipset and featuring a large 6.59-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, the ASUS ROG Phone 2 is one of the most impressive gaming smartphones available right now. It offers a fantastic gaming experience and also delivers stellar battery life thanks to the massive 6,000mAh battery.