Weekly poll results: the Zenfone 12 Ultra suffers because Asus offers only 2 OS updates

Overpriced, short software support window, large size – last week’s poll shows that there are many reasons not to buy the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra, but you only really need one.

The phone is available in only a few regions right now, but that proved not to be a huge issue – though that is probably a reflection of just how few people want to buy the Zenfone 12 Ultra (4% is the lowest we’ve seen in a long while).

Asus stopped making small Zenfone models a couple of generations back, likely due to poor sales. Even so, many voters would like to see Asus give it another go – there are very few small smartphones these days. But there is no shortage of large ones and the Ultra doesn’t have many stand-out features.

The improved gimbal-like stabilization feature was quite good as we note in our review and the new AI features that permeate the software are good enough to challenge Samsung. However, Asus is well behind Samsung (and many other brands) in terms of software support.

Maybe gamers are more likely to upgrade more frequently than other users, so the ROG models may be less affected by this, but the Zenfone doesn’t have that excuse. And it’s quite pricey too, which makes frequent upgrades less likely.

People had a variety of other issues with the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra – some didn’t like the design, others questioned the 1080p+ resolution on the large 6.78” display. But the top issue for most commenters was only getting 2 OS updates and Asus really needs to rethink its strategy if it wants to attract more buyers.