Qualcomm, which is famous (or infamous, depending on the model) with its Snapdragon processors, has already limited the number of potential buyers for its first smartphone, with a $1,500 price tag for a device developed by Asus, and stating that its for Snapdragon Superfans only. But, almost a year after its release, the dream phone for superfans is still running Android 11 and has not received a security patch since the January update.
Users are asking if a device called the “Snapdragon Insider Smartphone” has been abandoned by Qualcomm. The last software update for the device was released in March (18.1055.2201.203), and although it mentions the “updated Android security patch”, instead, it is reported that the update comes with a January security patch, which is now 6 months old. Meanwhile, Google and Samsung have already begun distributing June 2022 patches to some devices.
Qualcomm has not yet upgraded the phone to Android 12, which should not be the case for a flagship device worth more than $1,000. Android 11 has been around for almost two years, and a number of companies have already started allowing users to download the beta version of Android 13 to their phones.
A Qualcomm spokesman responded to users’ concerns, at least about the frequency of security updates. “The next security update will be released on June 20, and then new updates will be released every 2-3 months,” he said. The representative did not answer users’ questions about the distribution of Android 12.
According to Android Police, Asus, the company that designed and built the device, may have something to do with the overall slowness of updates. Maybe Asus just doesn’t give priority to this device for updates. It is unknown how many such devices Qualcomm has managed to sell, but most likely less than the more affordable ZenFones from Asus.
Asus also doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to timely updates. In September last year, Asus released the Asus ZenFone 8 with Android 11, and in December began distributing updates to Android 12. The ZenFone 7 series received Android 12 only last month, and Asus Rog Phone 5 received Android 12 only in March of 2022.
By comparison, other new devices, such as the Pixel 6/6 Pro, came with Android 12 out-of-the-box, when they were released in October, 2022, and Samsung made Android 12 available for the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra in November. 2021.
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