Oh, fuck off. I'm not one to root my phone, but you own the damn thing. Once it's in your hands, the maker should have no right to tell you what to do with it.
Yeah, I'm really tired of this.
We should be able to root and install any OS on our phones like we can do on PC.
I don't use root or custom ROMs on my phone anymore but this is something that should always be possible.
Well there goes any compelling reason to buy their phones lol
I was genuinely thinking about going with an ASUS phone next because of the unlockable bootloader, this really sucks to see.
There are plenty of makers doing unlockable bootloaders. Honestly, just avoid Samsung.
My EU S9+ (Exynos chip) is running a custom Android 13 rom without flaws. A lot of Samsung phones can be unlocked. Seems US models (Snapdragon) are the ones that can't be unlocked, few exceptions. Most other countries have the Exynos chipset and are perfectly unlockable.
i think this might be related to samsung knox and its efuse, once set not really being able to be undone and that stuff
Considering their crappy major release and security update support, rooting and flashing custom images is basically a requirement.
Locked bootloader and only 2 years of upgrades? Is not like Zenfones are cheap either. Hard pass!
And there I was seriously considering getting one. Greed is ruining good things again.
This is such an anti-consumer move, by refusing to unlock the bootloader Asus hinders the ability of users to extend their devices' life beyond Asus's original support window by flashing alternative ROMs...
I'd like to see right to repair laws expanded to right to unlock. I think you could make a reasonable argument that a working device that's not receiving security updates is just as broken as a device that's experienced a hardware failure.
Simple fix: stop buying Asus phones. Once their profit drops they will let you unlock bootloader
Why do so many phone manufacturers hate letting you unlock their bootloaders? Every Google phone lets you do this, and they probably have the most secure Androids of them all.
Google shouldn't be our shining light on phone rules lol
pixels are by far the best to degoogled your phone and to have privacy/security/freedom actually
they go above and beyond letting you unlock your bootloader
Very easy way to remove an almost perfect phone from my list of upgrade considerations.
Do consumer friendly phones exist at this point?
Pixel phones are the few ones that you can unlock the bootloader and lock again.
Sony allows unlocking the bootloader on a lot of their devices. Except two new US-specific models, according to their site.
fairphone is fully repairable and rootable
... aaaand another brand I'll be avoiding when looking for a new phone. In my eyes a phone that can't be rooted is kind of like a computer without access to an administrator account - you can do stuff with it, but at one point your hands are tied.
This is exactly why I sent my Zenphone 9 back. Shame because it was such a good little phone and one of the few flagships with a headphone jack.
asus has killed the possibility of me being a potential customer then lol
The end of an era. Companies also locked the bootloader back then and you'll need to find a vulnerability to exploit in order to unlock it. When custom roms starting to become popular, companies relaxed their stance and allowing their customers to unlock the bootloader using an official channel instead of utilizing a security exploits, perhaps as a competitive advantage so power users would recommend them to their friends and family.
Now with declining popularity of rooting and custom roms, companies are starting to stop allowing their customers to unlock the bootloader again. From their perspective, allowing bootloader unlocking is nothing but trouble (support-wise) and might even cannibalize sales (why upgrade your phone every two years when you can install a custom ROM with the latest version of Android), so declining popularity of custom ROMs is a perfect excuse for them to stop allowing bootloader unlocking.
It's my device. I will do with it whatever the fuck I desire
Looks like my current Zenfone running LineageOS is my last Zenfone.
Oh come on. I wanted a zenfone, I wanted the compact phone with a headphone jack and actual components. But if they're being cocky about it, there's no point. I guess I'll have to find another brand
I dropped OnePlus for this reason last year, after having 5 models starting the OnePlus 1, and ending with the 8T. Apart from OxygenOS being a buggy mess, I should be able to do what I want with my phone's software
In a while ASUS won't be able to sell its phones in the EU. I guarantee it.
Which means, legally, you can no longer own even the hardware of a Zenfone you bought, you now only license it. Since their OEM software is proprietary and in nearly every software's TOS they can revoke your license to it at any time for any reason, which would effectively brick the phone if bootloader unlocking is not possible.
My biggest problem with unlocking the bootloader is that many apps look for an unlocked bootloader as "Its rooted" according to that app but unlocking the bootloader and being rooted is 2 different things. I only want to run a custom rom I dont want to root. But you end up having to do the whole thing and running Magisk to hide the root and unlocked bootloader.
It's funny that looking around almost every single piece of ASUS hardward I bought over the years, I chose them because I could do more with their kit than I could do with the cheaper stuff and a lot of that had to do with access to the hardware (overclockeability of things like motherboards and graphics boards, much more configurable and better hardware for routers and media players and so on).
So I'm wandering what exactly is their unique value proposition on smartphones versus brands which are much more well known and well established in the regular consumer segment if they're ditching being the superior choice for the more technical users: what exactly is the point of "same shit as everybody else" hardware for premium prices?!
The problem with companies trying to stop this is the fact that there will be at least one person/team who will find a way to bypass this.
No amount of corporate software devs/engineers can stop the might of a determined team on the internet from achieving their goals when it comes to this kinda stuff.
Some here are mixing bootloader unlocking with rooting. They're not the same thing.
Asus broke bootloader unlocking, so you can only use the original ROM in the original state. You can't install a custom ROM or flash something like Magisk to root your device.
You can unlock without rooting or without installing a custom ROM. You can install a custom ROM without rooting. You can use stock and root. And you can use a custom ROM and root. But all this is only possible if you can unlock the device's bootloader.
So they will just be bricks in a few years
Don't these phones only have 2 years of security updates? I believe samsung S23 is a better choice as a small phone as it has 5 years of security updates.
I can't believe this shit... I was planning on getting the Zenfone 10. with it's headphone jack, small size, and Android feel.
Buy motorola edge 30
Put lineage on it
???
Profit
OK. Pixels forever it is.
Tbh, it has been years since I last rooted a phone. There is hardly any reason left to do it tbh.
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