Qualcomm’s $1,500 Snapdragon Insiders phone finally gets an update, but not the one everyone was hoping for
Qualcomm is known for its Snapdragon chips and modem. But last year, it decided to start selling smartphones under its own brand. This marked the debut of the “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders”—an Asus-manufactured phone packing high-end internals. With a wallet-busting $1,500 price tag and the chipmaker being directly at the helm, you’d expect the phone to get regular updates. That happened for a few months after release, but since March this year, the device has been stuck on the January 2022 security patch running Android 11. Following thebacklash from a handful of device owners and the media, Qualcomm has released a new update for its phone, but even that seems like a half-hearted attempt.
OnAsus forums, the post detailing the latest firmware for the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders only mentions “updated Android security patch” and improved system stability in the changelog. You’d expect Qualcomm and Asus to at least bump the phone to the May or June 2022 security patch. However, they have rolled out the April 2022 patch all while Samsung and Google are likely preparing to release the July update in a couple of weeks. As if that’s not enough, there arereports on Redditthat the update breaks Google Pay for certain users who installed the OTA.
Qualcomm previously confirmed that it will release new updates for the Snapdragon smartphone “every 2-3 months” after the April firmware. There’s no word on when—if at all—theAndroid 12update will be released. It’s likely that not a lot of folks paid for Qualcomm’s first smartphone—the company gave the phone away for free to Snapdragon 888 event attendees. That cannot justify the poor software support, but at least you did not pay anything for the device. And if you did purchase the $1,500 phone at its full price, consider this a learning lesson. Next time, stick to some of thebest smartphones aroundfrom Samsung or Google, as these companies are known to offer the best software support in the Android ecosystem.
Thanks:Mishaal Rahman
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