What’s going on with the ASUS Zenfone 6? The phone is only up for pre-order in the US but it’s been around in other key markets since last quarter. Unfortunately, the device needs a motherboard replacement, especially after the 16.1220.1906.167 firmware update. It was the last release for the flagship phone from the Taiwanese tech giant. It was only meant to improve the camera features but the results were the opposite. Reports of shutdowns, reboots, and crashing have been reported.
Supposedly, the release note lists improved Camera Rotation Stability and the addition of Mobile Manager & Cleanup Launched Shortcut. The update was also expected to optimize Camera Quality EIS for video recording, Supernight mode texture and noise-reducing, flip mechanism on panorama mode, power consumption, and Translation Strings. Also improved are Call Quality and general system and app stability. While most of these improvements were delivered, the problem of rebooting and randomly crashing happened.
Some even reported their phones completely died after several crash sequences. An ASUS rep acknowledged the problem at a ZenTalk forums page and said: “We have concluded that all devices with these issues must be sent into your ASUS Service Center. It’s most probably related to hardware issue even though it started with the latest update for some customers.”
No cause was provided but it could be related to the motherboard, at least, in some Zenfone 6 units. So instead of an upgraded ASUS phone, the last update made things worse. If you happen to own the said Zenfone model, visit a service.
ASUS will replace the motherboard for you. We’re guessing it’s not something fixable by another software update but it’s something that should be considered. No word if the replacement will be covered completely by ASUS.
