Qualcomm, the company that makes Snapdragon processors, wanted to go big for the launch of its first smartphone, punching a $1,500 price tag on an Asus-designed device that is supposedly suited to the geekiest of Snapdragon fans. But almost a year after its release, the superfan’s dream phone is still running Android 11 and has not received a security patch after the January update, being the first indicated by XDA Developers †through android police†
In a Reddit thread indicated by XDAusers are wondering if the device, called the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders, has been abandoned by Qualcomm. The last software update for the device was in March (18.1055.2201.203), and while it does mention “updated Android security patch,” it reportedly pushed the now six-month-old January update to the phone. In the meantime, google and Samsung have already started rolling out the June 2022 update for select devices.
Qualcomm still hasn’t upgraded the phone to Android 12 either – something that really shouldn’t be the case for a flagship device that costs over $1,000. Android 11 is now almost two years old and a number of companies have already started allowing users to download the Android 13 beta test at their phones†
A Qualcomm representative responded to Redditors’ concerns, at least about the frequency of the security updates. “The next security patch will be released on 6/20 and after that, new ones will be released every 2-3 months,” u/Snapdragon_Asa said† The representative did not answer questions from users about the Android 12 rollout, and Qualcomm and Asus did not immediately respond to The edge‘s request for comment.
As noted by android policeAsus – the company that designed and manufactured the device – may have something to do with the overall slowness of updates. Asus may simply not prioritize this device for updates. It’s unclear how many of these devices Qualcomm managed to sell, but it’s likely less than Asus’ more affordable ZenFones lines.
Asus also doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to rolling out updates in a timely manner. Last September, Asus released the Asus ZenFone 8 with Android 11 and started rolling out an Android 12 update in December. It didn’t push Android 12 to ZenFone 7 Series Devices until last month, and the Asus Rog Phone 5, a device similar in specs to Snapdragon Insider’s smartphone, did not get Android 12 until March this year†
In comparison, other newer devices like the Pixel 6/6 Pro came with Android 12 when they came out in October, while Samsung made Android 12 available for the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra in November.