Mid-range Asus ZenFone 5Q receives Android 9.0 Pie update months after its high-end siblings
Asus was hardly the quickest Android device manufacturer to deliver an official Pie-flavored goodie pack to one of its smartphones, but at least the "regular" ZenFone 5 and the ZenFone 5Z received their over-the-air 9.0 OS builds pretty much simultaneously during the early stages of 2019 and later stages of 2018.
Meanwhile, the lower-end ZenFone 5Q, known by different names in certain markets, including ZenFone 5 Lite and ZenFone 5 Selfie Pro, has been kept waiting all this time, finally kicking off its own Android 9.0 Pie rollout on Thursday, as confirmed on the company's ZenTalk forum.
Even though this is the very first major software update sent out to the Asus ZenFone 5Q after making its US commercial debut more than a year ago, you shouldn't be too annoyed that the OS promotion didn't happen earlier. After all, we're talking about a mid-range handset with decent but far from impressive specifications in tow, like a Snapdragon 630 processor, 6-inch 2:1 LCD panel with generous bezels, 4GB RAM, a 3,300mAh battery, and four cameras in total (two on the back and two on the front).
Instead, what you're absolutely entitled to feel right about now is anger with yourself if you passed on the opportunity to purchase the ZenFone 5Q at a killer $180 price as part of a recent Best Buy clearance deal. The retailer has managed to clear out all inventory in the meantime, so if you're tempted to buy the phone now that it's getting Android Pie goodies, you'll have to pay its full $299 retail price at B&H Photo Video.
Keep in mind that the update is being delivered in batches to "different serial numbers", which means patience is advised if you don't get the OTA installation notice right away.
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