One week after Google officially released Android 7.0 Nougat, ASUS has finally upgraded the ZE551ML model of the ZenFone 2 to 6.0 Marshmallow. ASUS had originally promised that the ZenFone 2 would receive Marshmallow before the end of Q2 2016, but that deadline was clearly ignored.
Oddly, ASUS chose to update the ZenFone Zoom and ZenFone Selfie, two handsets based off the ZenFone 2, to Marshmallow nearly two months before the base phone received the same update. The Zoom and Selfie also missed the Taiwanese company's self-imposed deadline, but not nearly as severely.
As far as we know, only the ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) is being upgraded right now. The ZE551ML name includes ZenFone 2 models with 1080p screens in both the Intel Z3560/2GB of RAM and Intel Z3580/4GB of RAM configurations. The firmware version is 4.21.40.134. The update includes the removal of over 20 apps but also the addition of five more from Google and Facebook.
UPDATE: 2016/08/31 11:50am PDT BY
ZenFone 2 4.21.40.134
The apps listed below will no longer be pre-loaded once your device has been upgraded to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).
Thanks for your support.
1. ASUS Backup
2. Data Transfer
3. Dr. Eye (TW SKU)
4. Jawbone UP
5. EZTABLE (TW SKU)
6. Google Play Books
7. Google Play Games
8. Google Play Newsstand
9. Google+
10. Mirror
11. Omlet
12. Party Link
13. PC Link
14. Photo Frame
15. Remote Link
16. TripAdvisor
17. What's Next
18. Yahoo Shopping (TW SKU)
19. ZenFlash (Can be downloaded from Google play)
20. Zinio
21. Asus Game center
Multi-user and SnapView will not be supported. If you wish to continue to use multi-user, please keep using current account
Remove Asus Email, Asus Calendar, Asus Messaging, Asus Browser and Asus Music after Factory Reset. You could use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Chrome and Google Play Music for relevant services
Add new features and new apps:
- Google Calendar
- Google Messenger
- Facebook messenger
If you don't get the update notification on your phone and you don't want to wait for it to show up, you can download the file manually and install it from ASUS's support website here.
Source: ASUS ZenTalk