2.5 KiB
Asus
- Verdict: ⛔ Avoid at all costs!
Asus originally allowed you to unlock your bootloader via their website; however, in November 2023, the website went down "for maintenance". Asus claimed it would come back, but it never did.
Someone eventually found a way to unlock the bootloader on the Zenfone 9, and Asus responded, not by finally bringing the site back, but by patching the method and introducing anti-rollback.
Following Asus's false claims of a bootloader unlock eventually coming back, a UK customer sued Asus for a refund of their phone, and Asus lost.
Asus claimed the bootloader unlock program would come back for two years; however, in October 2025, upon someone asking when the unlock program will return, an Asus employee finally confirmed it's not coming back, saying "Regarding the Bootloader Unlock Tool for mobile devices: ASUS phones released after January 2024 will no longer actively provide the Bootloader Unlock Tool. For models released in 2023 or earlier, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused, as the Unlock Tool has been discontinued from the ASUS official website due to stability considerations. Thank you for your understanding and support."
In 2024, an XDA user had their Zenfone 9 bricked following a borked update, Asus denied warranty and refused to replace the phone due to the bootloader being unlocked. After Asus's "RMA Revamp", Asus offered to replace the phone, but the bootloader would be relocked and would not be able to be unlocked again due to the unlock program shutdown. After the OP of the thread said it was an advertised feature and they just can't remove it, Asus offered to unlock their bootloader, but for the absolutely outrageous price of 200 USD.. Extremely sketchy behaviour from Asus, and that is a ridiculous price just for a bootloader unlock.
In addition, Chinese ROG phones sold under the Tecent ROG brand were never officially unlockable at all.
Authored by Ivy / Lost-Entrepreneur439.